Editor’s note: While the fate of the Gezi Park occupation is being hotly discussed, we’ve been spending our time sipping deeper into Turkey’s other great debate: what is the country’s national drink? In the spirit of national reconciliation, below is our report.

The recent protests that raged across Turkey may have been sparked by the government’s ham-fisted efforts to bulldoze a precious stand of trees in Istanbul’s Gezi Park, but the country’s eaters and drinkers had already gotten a taste of Ankara’s increasingly meddlesome overreach during the weeks and months before.

In January, kicking off a new campaign to tackle the previously undiscussed problem of food waste, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – who had previously shown little interest in culinary affairs – unveiled himself as Turkey’s dietician-in-chief. “From now on, we must enter a new period in the business of bread,” Erdoğan said at a ceremony in Ankara. “Let’s remove the so-called white bread from our tables, let’s produce pure, genuine wheat bread and, in addition, let’s bring to the table bread with a high ratio of bran in it.”

“Let them eat whole-grain!” might be a welcome command in these health-conscious times, but not necessarily so in white-bread-loving Turkey. For many Turks, used to their fluffy, crusty white loaves – all the better for sopping up the juices of a hearty stew or for cradling a row of grilled meatballs – this seemed like nothing more than the capricious edict of a mad king.

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

For almost a week now, demonstrations have been building up a momentum that still has yet to be exhausted. What started as a demonstration against the destruction of a small park near Taksim Square in order to make way for yet another shopping mall quickly turned into the Alamo of the disenfranchised.

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

Çiğ Köfteci Ali Usta
In the Turkish Republic, where military service is mandatory, being a soldier is something that is – love it or hate it – an integral part of the Turkish male identity. As good as Ali Usta’s çiğ köfte (literally, “raw meatballs”) may be, we think it must be the soldier’s love of orders that have made Ali Usta and his çiğ köfte such a celebrated street food.

A line often forms outside of the building where Ali Usta’s stand is set up on a side street in Sirkeci. Regulars who know the protocol can usually get their order without summoning the wrath of this peculiar usta. First-timers, take note: hold your bag open to catch flying lemons or risk being pelted; stand back or you’ll get sprayed by chopped lettuce; accept Ali Usta’s gift of one çiğ köfte while you wait, but step out of line in any way and you will be reprimanded. For those who follow the rules, there is a small exclusive seating area just behind Ali Usta, known as the VIP salon.

The rest of this feature can be found on CulinaryBackstreets.com, here.

The month of June is dedicated to revealing and enjoying the hidden (or sometimes very visible) treasures of Perşembe Pazarı, a hardware-selling neighborhood in the middle of Karaköy. Sure, you may have eaten in the area’s guidebook-recommended standards (also well worth the visit), but until you have found yourself seated on a streetside stool, scarfing down pide while surrounded by tubes, chains, buoys and metal sheeting, you have not really “experienced” Karaköy!

Come join us in an homage to the lunchtime eateries that keep Beyoğlu’s lively hardware-trading neighborhood fueled and working.

Details of the celebration/competition:

» You must stop by Caravansarai Art Space in Perşembe Pazarı to pick up (and drop off) the “Evidence Bags” that you will need to document your visits to the neighboring food establishments.

» Pick-up and drop-off hours are Monday – Saturday, 11am-2:30pm from June 1-22.

» The “Evidence Bags” must contain a souvenir or some physical proof you have visited the restaurant. Photographs and napkins (unless artistically soiled) are not allowed.

» Prizes of free meals will go to the winners with the Most Restaurants Visited, as well as for the Most Creative Souvenir.

» A party for all participants will be held on June 22nd at Caravansarai, and will include an exhibition of the evidence and the awarding of prizes. Attendance at the party is by invitation only.

When:
June 1-22, 2013
Monday – Saturday, 11am-2:30pm

Where:
Caravansarai Art Space
Bankalar Caddesi, Banka Sokak 3, Tan Han
Perşembe Pazarı, Karaköy
questions: info@caravansarai.info

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.

Dear Istanbul Eats,

We happen to be of the opinion that Istanbul is the greatest city in the world for parents traveling with kids, especially when it comes time to eating. The truth is, save for perhaps the fanciest places in town, almost every restaurant in the city is very “child-friendly,” because Turks happen to be some of the most child-friendly folks around. There are few places in town where other customers will shoot you a dirty look if your kids get out of line or spill their ayran.

In some restaurants, you may even find the entire waitstaff oohing and aahing over your children and offering to take your kids on a tour of the premises, allowing you to have a few quiet moments to actually enjoy your food. And while most places may not have an actual kids’ menu, our experience has been that almost every kitchen in town will go out of its way to make kids happy, either by whipping up something that’s not on the menu or sending one of the busboys out to grab an order of french fries or a tost (pressed cheese sandwich) from a fast-food spot down the street.

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

We recently asked our friend Şenol Bey, a taxi driver with a passion for backstreet eating, to take us to his spot for uykuluk. A moment later, we were swerving madly through traffic as he cackled about how we’d soon be tucking into something so delicious that we’d “eat our fingers” along with it.

The rest of this new review can be found on CulinaryBackstreets.com, here.

At Tunçlar Lokantası, not far from Istanbul’s downtown area of Taksim Square, the workers from the small shops on Cumhuriyet Caddesi would share tables with the bureaucrats from TRT Radio. At the next table, an old locksmith from the streets off of Elmadağ Caddesi might share a loaf of bread with an independent bookkeeper who was still around thanks to paying stabilized rent in a charitable foundation-owned building. For all of the people who crowded the room on a regular basis, Tunçlar was the center of their Venn diagram, the point at which disparate lives overlapped for some good, honest home cooking.

The rest of this news story can be found on CulinaryBackstreets.com, here.

When trying new restaurants these days, we are rarely reminded of the time when we first fell in love with a table here. That place may have had a white tablecloth, but it was one freckled with cigarette burns. There was certainly a bottle of rakı in the center of a pile of mezes and a crowd drinking, laughing and even dancing around it. Tables were dragged around to accommodate the social cross-pollination that happens when such a room is in full swing.

The rest of this new review can be found on CulinaryBackstreets.com, here.

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 culinary destination. That is, until Heyamola Ada Lokantası opened. The restaurant is a perfect storm of inspired food, chill ambiance and small-label Turkish wines, all at ridiculously low prices. Heyamola is reason in and of itself to organize a day trip to the islands, and if you’re already planning your island adventure, the place is a compelling argument for jumping off the ferry at Heybeli Island, often overlooked in favor of the more popular Büyükada.

At Heyamola, the meze tray rolls 20 deep and changes with the seasons. The selection often revolves around the herbs and greens chef Semra Hanım forages on the island. On one visit, a wild fennel sauté and a nettle and nigella seed salad truly blew our minds. Semra Hanım ran one of the best places on the Datça Peninsula for years, and she has a genius for innovative takes on Aegean standards.

The rest of this previously featured review can be found on CulinaryBackstreets.com, here.