Friday
Istanbul Eats on the Road: Breakfast in Bursa

With all of the hype around Bursa’s claim to fame, the Iskender kebab, you’d think Bursans persisted on a diet of thinly sliced doner, pide, tomato sauce and frothy melted butter. But in between the spinning meat-sicles, the very icon of Turkish fast food, the markets of Bursa offer a bounty of traditional syrupy sweets, fresh fruits and berries, farm cheeses and hulking loaves of village bread. The mighty Iskender might have conquered Bursa in name, but, thankfully, Bursa’s culinary backstreets, the verdant farming villages that encircle the city, are keeping the region’s larder stocked with a wide array of delicious food. The untold culinary story of Bursa unfolds around the breakfast table in serene, leafy village gardens, before the doner even hits the spit over at Kebapci Iskender. Continue…
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2 responses - Posted 04.15.10
We are proud to announce the fourth weekly winner of our 2nd photo competition, which is focusing on portraits of people working in the food business. The weekly winners will be among the group of “top 10” submitted images, from which our readers will select a final winner. The contest ends ...continue
5 responses - Posted 02.26.10
With its outings along the Bosphorus, one thing that the recent Istanbul-centric episode of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” television show made us realize was how much we tend to get stuck in our own little Beyoglu bubble. Granted, Istanbul’s “downtown” zone has enough restaurants to keep all but the most ...continue
11 responses - Posted 02.08.10
(Editor's Note: The New York Times' travel section recently ran a "36 Hours in Istanbul" feature that was low on good eating suggestions. Prompted by the Times piece, today's post is a food-centric "48 Hours in Istanbul" guide we prepared a few months ago for a local magazine.) Day One: Turkey’s ...continue
1 response - Posted 09.29.09
The arrival of fall usually finds us heading instinctively, like a salmon swimming towards its ancestral headwaters, to Beyoglu’s Balik Pazar, the neighborhood’s old fish market. Autumn is quince season in Turkey and that means the appearance – for a limited time only – of one of our favorite desserts, ...continue
1 response - Posted 06.05.09
We usually steer clear of the touristy old city district of Kumkapi, where you are more likely to be accosted by an aggressive maitre d’ trying to corral you into his overpriced fish restaurant than to find something simple, tasty and reasonably priced to eat. Sadly, in order to beat ...continue
10 responses - Posted 04.01.09
In our imagination, kaymak - the delicious Turkish version of clotted cream - is the only food served in heaven, where angels in white robes dish out plate after plate of the cloudlike stuff to the dearly departed, who no longer have to worry about cholesterol counts and visits to ...continue






