Bursa Kebapçısı: Good İskender, No Debating It
2 responses - Posted 06.28.10
According to the website of its registered trademark holder, Kebapçı İskender , it was a moment of great culinary revelation when the ingredients of İskender kebap first came together on a plate in Bursa back in the late 19th century. But we imagine this kebab’s creation as an elaborate ploy ...continue

A Turkish Wine Report
no responses - Posted 06.22.10
The Scotsman has an article that takes a look at some of the developments in Turkish winemaking and offers up some recommended bottles. You can find the article here. continue

Pamuk Usta’s Nohut Dürüm: Garbanzo Gone Gonzo
3 responses - Posted 06.21.10
In previous posts, we’ve reported on the unusual eating habits in Turkey’s hot and dusty Southeast. In Gaziantep, we noted the “wake and flake” baklava breakfast. In Urfa it was a morning dose of grilled liver. But in the town of Nizip (and elsewhere in the area), the favored first ...continue

Istanbul Eats on the Road: In the Republic of Köfte
1 response - Posted 06.18.10
(Editor’s Note: This guest post – from the far reaches of the former Ottoman Empire – came to us courtesy of Sevin Turan, an Istanbul-based journalist and translator and a member of the Istanbul Eats team.) “Welcome the youngest republic of the world!” This is how we were greeted when our ...continue

Inci Pastanesi: Cream Puff vs. Wrecking Ball
10 responses - Posted 06.16.10
We’d like to like the profiterole at Inci Pastanesi on Istiklal. And we’d like to believe their claim that the profiterole was invented on the premises in the 1940’s. But we like Inci for non-culinary reasons. This old school Beyoglu pastry shop has been spooning out cream puffs covered in ...continue

All Aboard: Eating in Istanbul’s Haydarpaşa Rail Station
no responses - Posted 06.14.10
Today's Zaman has a great article today looking at the traditional Turkish restaurant in the lovely and historic Haydarpaşa rail station on Istanbul's Asian side, a kind of meyhane for those about to ride the rails. The article makes the restaurant sound like such a fun spot to eat that ...continue

Istanbul Eats on the Road: Bahce Balik in Kaş
1 response - Posted 06.11.10
The sign on the glass cooler at the Kaş Fisherman’s Cooperative reads like a huge Bible passage on a billboard beside an interstate promising salvation, “Balik var!” We’ve got fish. It was a promise of false hope. Inside that glass-fronted case there were no fish. Nor were there any at the fishmonger ...continue

Bilse Restaurant: Paleo Kebab
4 responses - Posted 06.07.10
(Editor's Note: A reader has written in to inform us that due to a lack of demand, this restaurant is no longer serving cağ Kebab. For those interested in trying this great meat dish, Şehzade Erzurum Cağ Kebabi in Sirkeci is worth a try. It has great cağ and a steady ...continue

Istanbul Eats in Zaman
no responses - Posted 06.06.10
We recently sat down for a chat and some kofte with the good folks from the Turkish-language Zaman newspaper, where we talked our work as "taste detectives" (as the headline of the resulting article puts it) and our work in general. After the interview, we took the Zaman folks to ...continue

Antebi: Straight Outta Antep
8 responses - Posted 06.04.10
On Saturday afternoon, in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep, our baklava was neatly wrapped with plastic and then paper, tagged “Antebi, Istanbul” in black marker and escorted to the bus station by either Levent or Bülent of Zeki İnal Baklavacısı. While we slept that night, our baklava passed through ...continue