Ah, once I was also seduced by a cheap Gucci silk scarf, overpaid for a bag of apple tea and had a beautiful ceramic plate foisted off on me. All these goodies were then shipped to my parents’ place and stored in a large cupboard. Thanks God, I have managed to avoid buying a carpet. In time I have developed a more practical approach to my Istanbul shopping and whenever I go back home I get only things that would definitely be used and enjoyed by my near and dear. And yes, I am talking about food.
February 2011
An obsession, an addiction, a daily routine, a ritual, a welcome gesture, a conversation starter, a break from work, a Turkish breakfast companion, a pastime favorite and what not. These are many roles and faces of the Turkish tea. As a visitor to a shop, a public office, a friends’ house in Turkey you are often served a tulip-shaped glass of hot crimson tea with two tiny sugar cubes on a saucer and a little spoon to stir. And the pleasure of hugging that beautiful glass with your fingers and feeling the warmth of the tea on your palm does its magic as it comforts you and lets the conversation flow.
One of the dearest memories brought home from Istanbul (often packed in boxes and eaten away quickly) is the taste of baklava, a syrupy sweet made with numerous layers of paper-thin dough, or yufka, brushed with butter and sprinkled with honey and ground pistachio, hazelnut or walnut. It is no surprise that so many countries in the Middle East, the Balkans and the Caucasus claim it was them giving birth to baklava long time back and ever since they have been having their fingers in every baklava tray.
