bought this afternoon the latest issue of "newsweek". the title on the cover says: THE DINNER GAP... ("fine food is the new measure of the class divide")... something that inspired me some scattered reflections and random ideas -
mainly to do with the fact that - after one year in turkey - my taste buds and palate seem different...and now (kind of) accustomed to flavours i initially could not, even in my wildest dreams, expect to come to like.
my (turkish) culinary conversion has so far led me to embrace:
- tea, the way the locals drink it - strong, harsh, steaming hot. something that, in the beginning, made my stomach go veeeeeery queasy...;
- ayran -- a salty yoghurt drink that, when i first tasted it, i described as "liquid feta cheese" and kind of disliked. i now love it (to say the least) and can have it instead of water to go with any of my meals;
- turkish soda - the fizziest drink i have ever had in my entire life. when i first tried it -- it literally "stang" my tongue. i now kind of enjoy it and find it perfect to wash down practically anything...my personal favourite is the apple-flavoured one (sweet and sour);
- lemon juice added to a hot veggie soup - especially lentil and tomato soups. just lovely...
- mayonnaise in unreasonable doses. turkish people add it generously to their pizza too -- which i have yet to master...but would not completely rule out;
- the local simits (or, in izmir...gevrek) - a kind of "bagel" sold in bakeries and tiny stalls along every street. at first i found this type of bread tasteless and far too chewy... but i am a convert now, especially after discovering the flakier and softer "sutlu" (milky) variety.
but, most of all................
- the local way of having breakfast -- a feast of eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, olive paste, thickened milk cream, sesamy sauce, fresh cheese, cheese rolls, sausage, focaccia bread, honey, cherry jam, tea, hard boiled eggs, salami omelette...
however - few turkish flavours i still seem to have a (very...) hard time with:
- red meat -- a national passion i have yet to warm to... being especially immune to the charms of beef and steaks...
- the local mania for carbs and pastries -- especially the ones baked with heaps of butter;
- the countless recipes using offals, tongue, brains, liver... (just cannot. just cannot "go there"...!, honest)
- midye (mussels) - served in their shell, stuffed with a mix of raw mussel pulp, garlic and rice and sold in the street with a slice of lemon. granted that i cannot stand any kind of clams, oysters, raw seafood or mussels in general...to me seeing a street vendor of turkish midye around town is like seeing a billboard advertising hepatitis a! and this despite legions of local friends and students worshipping this delicacy and claiming they can eat up to 20, 30, 60 in a row...
will need to rephrase the newsweek's cover caption...: fine food is the new measure of the culture divide!
