Heads still groggy from jet lag, we stumbled into the kebab restaurant Zübeyir Ocakbaşı from Istanbul. An expert griller sits behind the huge copper bell, spinning the lamb skewers over the heat of burning embers; a lamb that does not take long to reach our mouth. Its delicious juices blend perfectly with the rough skin of green peppers and raw onion sprinkled with sumac . As soon as he tastes it, Andy understands why I wanted to bring him here.
An important trip to celebrate an important birthday; when Andy, my partner of 20 years, turned 40 last August, I gave him a surprise vacation to Turkey , a country that he had never visited but that I love.
On my first visit, three years ago, I tried things—pieces of bread simit freshly baked dipped in cream Bal Kaymak; kept granny soaked in chilli butter —that were unlike anything he'd ever tasted before. Andy is the foodie in the family, so I knew he would appreciate the wonders of a Turkey food tour.
As he planned the trip, it was clear to him that food would be our top priority . I asked Ansel Mullins, co-founder of tour operator Culinary Backstreets, to put together a custom itinerary that reflected the essence of the turkish cuisine in all its glory. This ambitious two-week route spanned three provinces, from istanbul to the coastal city of Izmir and the highlands of Black Sea.
Balık ekmek, or grilled fish snacks, in Istanbul.
Sultan Ahmet Camii, also known as the Blue Mosque, is one of the main monuments in Istanbul.
The first five days run as follows: we eat, we keep eating and, when it seems that we can't take it anymore, we eat again . Backstreets culinary guide Uğur Ildız takes us to Karaköy Güllüoğlu, a bakery known for its borek , puff pastries stuffed with cheese or minced meat. We left delighted from our first contact with the aromas of the zaatar fresh, although not so much with the mushy texture of the tavuk göğsü , a milk pudding made with chopped chicken breast, which leaves us quite bewildered.
At Borsam Taşfirin, a family-run neighborhood store in southeastern Turkey, we tried the lahmacun , a flatbread filled with minced meat that is eaten with a splash of lemon a generous handful of parsley and a pinch of pepper isot. At Yeni Meyhane in Kadıköy, Ildız serves glass after glass of raki , a grape brandy flavored with anise and diluted in ice. Between drinks, he teaches us the phrase çok lezzetli, an expression that we use a lot throughout the trip. What does it mean? "This is to die for."
The excursion with the Belgian based in Turkey Benoit Hanquet begins with a breakfast in a secluded garden hidden from view. Dursun and Kezban, a married couple of farmers from the province of Kastamonu , welcome us next to the ruined walls of the medieval fortress of Yedikule . The two of them make up one of the 32 families that have come together to work this previously abandoned land.
The couple has prepared fresh garden tomatoes, cucumbers and sorrel drizzled with olive oil; bazlama , a hot and fluffy flatbread that is prepared in the pan, and tulum , a sheep cheese whose particular flavor comes from the goat skin in which it is cured. There are bowls of fresh zaatar and blackberries picked directly from the trees in the garden, as well as the fragrant chestnut honey Y apple molasses , both specialties of Kastamonu. The figs mature put the finishing touch to the food.
After this incredible breakfast, and noticing how tight the waist of our pants is, we walk through the Wednesday market in the historic neighborhood of Fatih Carsamba to see the vibrant colors of the fruits and vegetables, before heading to 'little Aleppo', an enclave inhabited by Syrian refugees. We entered the Saruja looking to try the künefe , a melted cheese cupcake; We accompany it with an invigorating coffee whose flavor is dominated by the cardamom pod with which it is served, and finally we take our time with the Damascus kibbeh dumplings cooked in sour labneh.
We also find a privileged perspective of the bustling neighborhood of grand bazaar from istanbul thanks to Senem Pastoressa, the granddaughter of towel merchants who has been walking the labyrinthine corridors of the souk since she was little. She takes a asks , Turkish pizza stuffed with cheese, with us at Pak Pide & Pizza Salonu and talks about politics, religion and the future of democracy. The conversation is enlightening, but everything he tells us also breaks our hearts.
Soon we are heading to Izmir , a city on the Aegean coast, as the next destination on our gastronomic route through Turkey. I was struck by this place after reading with interest the recipes in the book Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant, by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich. Before Israel was established, This ancient Roman city was home to more than 60,000 Sephardic Jews.
Today, the figure is close to 1,200, tells us the guide Nüket Franco, a descendant of Sephardim, as we walk through the street of the synagogues . We walk past the silver mounds of sardines and squid for sale at the fish market and of the baby mannequins that exhibit the ornate circumcision suits , adorned with feathers and beads.
During breakfast in the courtyard of a teahouse , discover us the boyoz , a Sephardic pastry with tahini , and the gevrek , Izmir's version of Istanbul simit bread. The square piece of baklava that falls into our hands at Tarihi Basmane Öztat Lokmacısı is so tender that it gives us goosebumps.
The ornate domes and arches inside the Blue Mosque.
Oranges and pomegranates at a juice stand in Istanbul.
At one point, we sneak into the private house of the exceptional cook Leyla Ozturker, on Nüket's recommendation. On a rooftop decorated with stuffed foxes and period swords, the woman wraps the mercimekli köfte (lentil balls) in lettuce leaves as she regales us with stories of her daughter, who just got engaged, and her military son, who is stationed near the Syrian border.
Our last stop is trebizond , in the mountainous eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. This area was an excellent suggestion from Mullins, a corner of the country that tourists rarely visit. We spent the next five days at Plato'da Mola, in Çamlıhemşin , where the Şişman clan runs two remote guesthouses. One, in the rustic village of Ortan It is only accessible on foot. The other, a 200-year-old farm, crowns the Pokut elevations and requires an SUV to climb the treacherous road that leads to it.
Yasemin takes care of Plato'da Mola's reservations, but it's his mother, Zeynep, and two of his aunts who do the cooking. Day after day, they delight us with the most opulent breakfasts and dinners. There are muhlama , a traditional cornmeal dish with local melted cheese and lots of butter; dolma wrapped in cabbage leaves; baked potatoes with kaymak (curd cream) and thick White beans seasoned with mint.
Trying these dishes is like waking up and discovering for the first time the true flavor of things, intense and natural. As if until now I had never known what a tomato really tastes like. The egg yolks are the deep orange color of a traffic cone and highly viscous, and the cheese has a pungent herbal aftertaste, as if it had been left to age in a barn. And so it has been: the Şişmans own four cows and make all their dairy products from scratch, using the milk of their own cattle and letting it curdle within the same enclosure.
Our last breakfast is simple but unforgettable: scrambled eggs with blackberry seeds and pieces of hot and still steaming bread spread with homemade strawberry jam . After what seems to be the umpteenth perfect meal of the trip, we can only offer our sincere congratulations to the cook. Zeynep doesn't speak our language, nor do we know Turkish, but it doesn't matter: all you have to do is say çok lezzetli.
This article was published in the January 2022 International Edition of Condé Nast Traveler.