Food for Thought

We were all chatting today and saying that one of the best reasons to come to Turkey (and the Middle East in general) is the food. The whole Mediterranean food experience is like one has died and gone to heaven. We would all like to have months to experience it in all its glory, but for now we have to get as much (food) in as we can in these 2 weeks! The cheeses, the olives, the breads, the various "meze" type foods, the kebabs, the sweets all just feel so basically healthy, and they taste so fantastic! We have been indulging over long slow meals and keep discovering new and different things. We have all really been appreciating the various eggplant dishes, and have vowed to learn to make some when we get home.
Here is a picture of a plate of Meze that we regularly inhale at the various eating establishments with good fresh Lavashe (a hot pita-like bread with sesame seeds on top).

The Turkish people also seem to have a particular love for their sweets. Everywhere one walks, one is confronted with stunning displays in windows of all their treats. So you will find in the following photographs a little bit of a bias towards the sweet end of things. Of course, if I am honest I (Ronato) should admit that I do love my sweets, too, and so I may have taken just a few pictures to show how much I admire their handiworks.
Check out all the stunning varieties of Halva. Sooo yummy! Entire shops are devoted to all the variety they offer in terms of sweets.
Then there is all the Baklava. Ian purchased a whole box with about six different varieties for us to try out. Very sweet, but we all enjoyed them tremendously.
We are not sure what this is but it looks rather enticing, we think it is another form of Turkish Delight.
Skye and Kai have been eating a lot of these Lamb Kebabs on fresh pita pockets. They both claim they are very delicious. In fact, they have been eating them almost daily.
We stumbled on this dried fruit and nut store yesterday, and we almost lost ourselves in it. Why don't we have this type of store in Canada? Much of the dried fruit is sun dried and not sulphered, which makes it taste so much better than the stuff we typically can get in Canada -- one can really taste the actual flavour of the fruit, including the tangyness. Someone could make a killing if they opened a shop like this in Victoria.
The spice bazaar! The picture speaks for itself. This place was really a feast for the senses -- we'll be back before we leave.

Just so you know we did two blog entries today. . .

Ronato, Skye, Kai & Pippin