Join our mailing list!
Email :  


Reviews (Eats) - Category Archive

May 13
Monday

Göreme Muhallebicisi: The Milkman Stayeth

Filed under Reviews (Eats)

Tavuk göğsü at Göreme Muhallebicisi, photo by Ansel Mullins
In the world of chicken breast pudding (a traditional Turkish dessert made with thickened milk and thin strands of poached poultry), elasticity is the quality that the confection is judged upon above all else. Tucking into a real tavuk göğsü requires full concentration, a good bit of dexterity and the proper tool. A special spoon with a flat chopping nose – much like a spade – was designed just to deal with the situation and, as far as we know, this utensil is found exclusively in Turkish pudding shops.

So when we got a tip about a muhallebici where “the tavuk göğsü stretches off the spoon much farther than you could fathom,” we knew we’d be dealing with the genuine article. We set out for the Kurtuluş neighborhood and Göreme Muhallebicisi like bloodhounds on the trail. As we made our way up Ergenekon Caddesi, we suddenly found ourselves within the cozy fold of this unique district.

The rest of this previously published post can be found on CulinaryBackstreets.com, here.

Share on Facebook
Post to Google Buzz
Bookmark this on Google Bookmarks
Bookmark this on Yahoo Bookmark
Bookmark this on Digg
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on FriendFeed

All entries filed under Reviews (Eats)


Liman Uykuluk: Sweetbreads for the People
no responses - Posted 04.30.13
Though it may seem bewildering or even exotic to outsiders, Istanbul’s commercial life is actually organized according to a very old, guildlike system that assigns different neighborhoods to the sale and sometimes manufacture of different types of products. If you bottom out in a pothole and need a rot balans, ...continue
Perazin: That Old Meyhane Magic
1 response - Posted 04.15.13
In an opinion piece published recently in the Latitude blog of The New York Times, veteran Turkey correspondent Andrew Finkel’s brutally honest appraisal of the state of “New Turkish Cuisine” called much of Istanbul’s restaurant establishment – down to the customers – into question. We’ve had similar misgivings after meals ...continue
Heyamola Ada Lokantası: Island Time
no responses - Posted 04.09.13
Editor’s note: This post was written by “Meliz,” an intrepid explorer of Istanbul’s culinary backstreets and frequent Istanbul Eats guest contributor who would like to keep her anonymity. While the Princes’ Islands make for a great escape from the city, it used to be hard to think of them as a ...continue
Siirt Şeref Büryan Kebap Salonu: The Lamb Underground
2 responses - Posted 04.01.13
Kadınlar Pazarı – a pleasant, pedestrian-only square in Istanbul’s Fatih neighborhood – is the closest thing the city has to a “Little Kurdistan.” The area is populated by migrants from Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast region, and small market stalls and butcher shops selling honey, cheeses, spices and other goodies from ...continue
Çukur Meyhane: When Liver Met Hamsi
no responses - Posted 03.18.13
It wasn’t quite as dramatic as Meg Ryan’s big moment at Katz’s Deli in When Harry Met Sally, but a low-register, guttural moan of pleasure was detected from our table when we tasted the shredded celery root in yogurt, a house specialty meze at Çukur Meyhane. And we weren’t faking ...continue
Meşhur Filibe Köftecisi: Keeping Their Eye on the Meatball
no responses - Posted 02.25.13
Where we come from, flipping burgers is a time-honored tradition among pimply teenagers looking for a summer job and troubled short-order cooks looking for a place to land in between firings. It’s work that promises mobility, not stability. But don’t tell that to Ziver Usta, who’s been turning the köfte – ...continue
Beşaltı Kirvem Tantuni: Turkish for “Taquería”?
1 response - Posted 02.04.13
One of the big downsides to Istanbul’s otherwise great food scene is the lack of a credible Mexican option. We’re not asking for anything special, just a place that serves simple, tasty tacos or burritos. But when the craving for Mexican gets strong, we don’t despair; we just head down ...continue
Mekan: The Cosmopolitan
4 responses - Posted 01.29.13
In the great multicultural Anatolian kitchen, questions about the ethnic or national origins of foods are often cause for forks and knives to fly. A porridge called keşkek is a hot-button diplomatic issue between Turkey and Armenia, and we won’t even get started on the ongoing baklava debate. So what ...continue
Çakmak: Breakfast of Şampiyons
no responses - Posted 01.21.13
When it comes to the first meal of the day in Beşiktaş, it’s hard to pass up the institution that Pando’s lovely old kaymak shop has become. Yet as much as Pando is the neighborhood’s culinary standard-bearer, there is another side of breakfast in Beşiktaş that feels more contemporary, more ...continue
Altan Şekerleme: More Than Just Eye Candy
no responses - Posted 12.31.12
Just up the Golden Horn from the Egyptian Spice Bazaar is Küçük Pazarı, a rarely explored warren of market streets and Ottoman-era caravanserais that are home to scissors sharpeners, saddle shops, vendors selling axle grease (by the vat) and purveyors of axes. From this potpourri of run-down yet extremely photogenic ...continue

Copywright by Istanbul Eats 2009 Istanbul Eats | Original theme by Zidalgo.