The Turkish way

I am writing my blog whilst sitting on the patio in the morning sun, having had the first swim of the day around 7.30am, when it is cool and the sea is silky smooth.  Returning to England tomorrow is going to be tough!

Last night I had dinner with my Turkish neighbours (so had to go armed with a phrase book!), and was amazed at how much fun you can have with people when you can only exchange a few words – sign language and throwing in the odd bit of French also helped!  Previously I had invited them to my house for dinner, and was corrected when I told them the time to arrive – I said 7pm and they told me that they would normally arrive between 7.30 – 8pm!  They also asked for salt to put onto their grilled fish and, as I didn’t have a salt-cellar I gave it to them in a little dish.  The next day a cruet set was presented as a gift – nothing goes unnoticed!

The order of food is always meze (lots of great tasting dishes such as stuffed peppers, stuffed vine leaves, fresh anchovies, aubergine cooked in a tomato sauce, yoghurt with aubergine and garlic, samphire, chillied yoghurt, plus many more depending on the restaurant or the season), followed by a large chunky salad and freshly cooked fish or seafood.

I spent the morning yesterday in the restaurant of a friend, learning how they cook some of their meze.  Fava, a broad bean dip made with dried broad beans, is cooked like a lentil soup them mashed, literally by hand, with huge amounts of chopped dill, before being served, drizzled with olive oil - it's delicious.  But the main thing I wanted to learn was how they made their famous Halva, a very sweet hot dish that is served for dessert sprinkled with chopped nuts.  Grated pistachio halva is mixed with milk and a little oil which is then poured into a shallow oven-proof dish and grilled – it’s like spooning hot caramel into your mouth – if you don’t have a sweet tooth please be warned! 

Turkish delight!

I needed a week of relaxation, so have travelled back to my house in Foca, near Izmir in Turkey.  It is a simple little fishing town, with a seafront full of little restaurants and lots of tiny backstreets with unexpected treasures tucked away.  One of the main reasons I love Foca is that it is not so easy to get to, so only the Turkish people use it as their summer retreat, and not often will you hear another English voice - perfect!
Little did I know when I booked my flights that I would be arriving in the midst of Foca Festival - a celebration of the town and its' people.  This included the biggest barbecue I have ever seen, cooking fresh fish which was then put into huge chunks of bread and given to everybody free of charge.  This was followed by the fishermen racing their boats in the harbour and then a net mending competition - it was amazing to watch, the concentration on their faces showed what skill they really have.

After this was Turkish folk dancing, not only by the experts, but the crowd were also expected to join in, and did so with great enthusiasm!
Later at night they held a concert in the town square, with music and singing by well-known musicians.  The grand finale was a firework display over the bay - amazing.  Unfortunately I missed the concert, although I had every intention of attending.  Instead my Turkish neighbours invited me to a celebration dinner - their son had just returned home after 5 months conscription to the Turkish army (every day of which he hated he later told me).  But we were not without our own concert as the son Murat plays classical guitar and his friend who had arrived with him was an opera singer.  I felt I had landed in a completely different world  - it was amazing.  I am not sure how I will be able to host a dinner party as impressive in return!

Since then my days have been filled with swimming in the beautiful sea, eating out late at night, and wandering around the backstreets of the town with my camera - my days are pretty busy, as you can see!

I had been told to look for one certain shop whilst on my wanderings, and this has turned out to be such a great find - Meltem craft shop is run by a lovely Turkish lady and her English husband.  The shop is full of local crafts and Meltem's wonderful home-made jams and chutneys, with such unusual flavours as crunchy pumpkin and molasses, crunchy apple, or even carrot jam.  Next year they are intending to open a coffee house and private dining, which I will certainly be visiting.
Each time I come here I learn new things about the people and their culture, and each time it makes me want to come back and learn and experience more.
Last night I was invited to another dinner party, this one just as delicious as the last.  Each meal starts with a mezza, which goes on for quite a long time and has to be accompanied by Raki!  Lots of little dishes of amazing flavours - fava, houmous, bean salad, green salad, stuffed peppers, cheese pastries, anchovies....the list goes on.  And then, just when you think you are full, the main dish arrives!  Sometimes it will be meat, either kebabs or meatballs, but last night for me they cooked local fish, it was so tasty.  And the great thing about Foca is the cats - when you want to clear your plate of fish-heads you just throw them over your shoulder!

An easy routine.......

The only downside of having a property in another country, that you only visit occasionally, is that you spend the first couple of days cleaning and repairing and making it feel like home again. In our case it was two days of weed clearing - the garden looked like a meadow, when in reality it should be crazy paving (whoever invented that dreadful phrase and concept was certainly crazy). So, yesterday morning I cycled down to the local garden centre and tried to explain, in my non-existent Turkish, to a very sweet man, with non-existent English, that I needed weed killer. The killer bit was easy, katil. But when it came to weeds ise yaramaz ot, ayrik otu, I was a little stumped! Despite this, after 15 minutes of gesticulating, I had a coke bottle with some dubious looking liquid in it, that we had agreed needed to be topped up with water, 1:5. And after all this debate, he refused to let me pay for it! That is what I love about this place, everybody wants to help and there is no ulterior motive, ever. A couple of hours spent in the internet cafe trying to download lectures I have missed, came free with Turkish apple tea and a bunch of geraniums! Sometimes being female is just the best!

So, a routine is very soon settled into. I am woken by the local military base....my alarm can be anything from the morning drill being called (perfect for getting me out of bed!), a boogle, a round of rifles or a full brass band! The base is only about 500 meters from the house

and if the wind is blowing the wrong way it sounds like we have thirty soldiers in our back garden. A thirty minute run to the headland is followed by a swim in the sea (bit of a shock this time as we are here earlier than normal and it's pretty cold!). After a quick shower, a breakfast of muesli, fresh local strawberries and local natural yoghurt. Unlike the Greek yoghurt we get at home, this Turkish yoghurt is thick and creamy, but also very smooth. It also has a crust on top like that of a home-made rice pudding - almost chewy, and absolutely delicious. If I was cast on a dessert island and only allowed one meal it would be this yoghurt and honey....forever!

After that the day consists of laying on the patio, strolling into town to do odd jobs or buy more food, and walking the two minutes to the sea for another swim - it's hell!

The other thing that has to be mentioned is the cats. They are everywhere. And I mean everywhere - there are hundreds, all colours, and sort of semi wild - they will let you feed them but are unlikely to let you touch them. We have adopted a couple at the house in the short time we have been here and already they feel comfortable enough to sleep on our chairs, but not for us to get too close.

Tonight is our last night so we are going out to dinner. We will go to the same place we ate in on our first night, despite saying we would try different ones.......the problem is they are so nice and constantly give us more than we order or ask for, so it seems rude not to give them out custom. Obviously this is why they do it but what the heck!