Turkish food

The food in Turkey was absolutely amazing. Our first night there we stayed in the Sultanahmet district which is very touristy. We were hungry and tired by the time we arrived and checked in and so we were going to just eat at the hotel (by the way there are four Best Westerns in a two block radius in Sultanahmet), but they wouldn't serve us outside and so we went across the street. That was the best random decision ever. I usually don't gravitate towards the vegetarian menu because they are kind of hit or miss, but this was a definite hit. My dish was a bed of pureed eggplant that was cooked with a Bechamel sauce with roasted vegetables on top. That started the search for a Turkish cookbook.

Every meal we had, even if it was just from a fast food place was fresh and tasty. I was constantly amazed by the food and the service we received. One night we went out to a posh place and I had the grilled octopus that was served on the perfect bed of spinach. It, along with the view from the restaurant, was just sublime. One of my favorite dishes, wasn't even one I ordered, but I stole a bite, and was a sort of tortellini pasta served with a tomato yogurt sauce. I know it sounds odd, but it was amazing.

In our little Kurdish grocery store tonight we found the Turkish pasta. It was in the refrigerated deli section and looked relatively fresh. So tonight we cooked up the pasta, called manti (it is kind of like tortellini) and I made the yogurt sauce. Cook the manti like any other pasta. To make the sauce (for 4 people) you put a 3 Tblsp of butter, a smidge of crushed red pepper, and 1/3 of a cup of tomato paste in a saucepan and cook it until it is hot and bubbling. I put in a bit of paprika too. Crush two cloves of garlic and mix them into about 2 1/2 cups of plain yogurt. A nice tart yogurt would work nicely. Then once your pasta is cooked drain it, scoop it in a bowl, put a generous dollop or two of yogurt on top and a generous scoop of tomato sauce on top of that. Then mix it all up and enjoy.

After dinner have some Turkish delight and a bit of Raki, which tastes a bit like Sambuco or ouzo.  Just remember to water the Raki down first!