Meat Meat Meat

We tried to end Turkey with a bang. It was time for some meat- some seriously huge chunks of meat that would put us in a bloated coma for the plane ride. The restaurant was in the middle of a fish market; we walked up windy roads wet from the water used to spray the fish. I think we probably smelled of sardines by the time we entered the restaurant. The hotel had made us a very special reservation, but we didn't know what that meant. The waiter took us up the stairs... and then up another flight of stairs... and then another... we just started laughing because the stairs did NOT end. After SEVEN flights, not kidding, we entered a room completely made of windows, looking out over the market and the Bosphorous. The center table had our name on it, and we sat down to a very special meal.

We wanted to save room for the meat, a tactic we hadn't yet tried in Turkey. That meant, sadly, skipping the appetizers. We ordered just a salad. I know, I know, where's our integrity? But we had to, for the sake of our poor bodies.

All the mezes we had to skip...

The food all came with puffy bread, which we loved. It felt so much more ethnic than the toasted baguette that usually comes with the meals.

My dad let me indulge and order Turkish pizza, something I've been wanting to try the whole trip. It's just a flat bread covered in tomatoes, peppers, and minced meat. But when it came, I knew I was in trouble. The meat was barely visible, but the smell made its presence known. I think I've developed a fear of lamb on this trip, and the meat was just a little too reminiscent of the infamous lamb intestines of two days before. The pizza would have been good if I didn't have such a scarred palette.
I didn't know which kabob to order, but the "eggplant kabob" seemed right up my alley, because, duh, it had eggplant. But when it came, I was once again overcome by the lamb smell. Damn, I wish that my food memory allowed to me to try things as if I had never eaten them before!

I started to cut the meat, covering it with eggplant and other veggies, when the waiter literally ran over to me, grabbed the utensils out of my unknowing hands and said "no no, I help." He completely took over- cutting the meat into fine pieces, peeling and smoothing the eggplant, and then adding tomato, peppers, oregano and curry into the fine mixture you see before you. I'm not sure whether he was supposed to arrange this for me, or whether he just jumped at the sight of my ineptness, but either way, this was clearly how it was supposed to be done. I added some onions out of my own preference, and then wrapped the whole concoction in a pita to make a sort of burrito like hunk of Turkish finery. If I liked lamb more, it would have been perfection, but even so, it was enough to make me very full.
I didn't want to order dessert- this meal left me DONE and ready to fly. But when I glanced at the menu, I noticed Kunafe, and I knew I was in trouble. Kunafe is a desset I had loved in Israel- thin crispy noodles baked with a salty cheese inside and covered in honey. I had to have it, no questions asked. I love this dessert because you get the sweet side of the honey and noodles, but the salty cheese makes the whole thing feel not as gross (although the cheese probably makes it just that much worse for you...) It was so worth it. Although not as good as the ones I remember from Israel, which are orange in color and filled with a less-salty cheese, it still lived up to its name. I think it's my favorite dessert in the world.

mmm... gooey cheese innards....

So now that I've left Turkey, here's what I've learned:
1. Turkish people only eat Turkish food, and they don't seem to mind. Our driver to the airport told us that he might eat Chinese food once a year, Italian food 4 times. But mostly it's just Turkish. Turkish all the time.
2. I would get really really fat if I lived here. The excessive amounts of oil and butter that coat everything I ate left me feeling tired every day. I wonder if that's something you can get used to...
3. If there were no eggplant, I wouldn't have eaten a single vegetable for four days. I think that might be my own fault. But still, weren't there supposed to be markets filled with fresh produce? The markets I saw had only nuts, candy and fish.

I like Turkish food, but I wouldn't say it was my favorite. The whole experience of eating here is what gave me the most pleasure- amazing service, trays of choices, unknown sauces and surprise presentations. Still I don't think I would trade a single meal I ate here for anything, except of course those diabolical lamb intestines.

And now off to Ireland...