Have not you missed updates from our farmhouse so outrageously absent from this blog? I kept silent about it for a while to come back with exciting news: together with talented photographer and Turkey enthusiast David Hagerman we are doing a cooking and photography workshop at our Sapanca farmhouse in September. I can’t wait to give you heads up on the what will be going on and how you can join our small class.
I got to know David from Eating Asia, a must-read blog for Asia bound travelers, written by Robyn and photographed by David. This couple got on my radar when their definition of Asia expanded to Turkey and they started frequently traveling here and reporting back on their blog and various other publications that many (including me) are drooling over. David’s photographs of markets, people, street life and food in Turkey go beyond thoughtfully composed and skilful shot images: in each you see a story, a significant moment and David’s own enthusiasm about the object. I was thinking: how could a foreigner get such a deep insight about everyday life in Turkey?
Until I saw David shooting. He and Robyn arrived to Sapanca on Thursday after two weeks in Sinop (“Two weeks in Sinop?” – my husband asked bewildered. “Sinop is such a small town“): but then this is how David and Robyn travel taking the time to get to know the place and to immerse themselves into the local life. Friday morning we all drove to the big weekly market, and as me, Robyn and Özgür were examining seasonal produce we lost David out of site. Until we spotted him interacting with a chatty local man happy to be photographed: the man was talking about the beauties of Trabzon (where David recently visited) and as he man realized we are David’s companions he was about to order a round of tea for everybody.
It occurred to me that to take those stunning photographs you don’t need to be a local or be fluent in the local language but you must know how to quickly become a local and gain trust – and David is a master at that. During the workshop in September he will be sharing many of the tricks he is using to create candid portraits, lively market scenes and stunning food shots for publications like Saveur, the New York Times Travel Section and Food & Wine.
Me .. I will get you busy cooking. Being at the countryside we will have a luxury of high quality seasonal produce we will be sourcing from the farmers’ markets (and September is the harvest season). We will have large stone oven, mangal (traditional Turkish BBQ) and huge rolling pins at our disposal and just by the sound of it you could tell there will be plenty of fun at the kitchen. You will learn about Turkish cuisine that for centuries has honed principles so timely today – using local ingredients, cooking with the season and making nourishing meals with even most humble ingredients.
Together with David we will also take you beyond our farmhouse – to the markets, people’s homes and gardens, mountain valleys and small villages to meet locals, learn about their food and photograph as you go. We are going to show you the Turkish countryside in the way we know it and love it. In many of those places you will be first yabancı (in Turkish, foreigner but also a stranger, a person not from this place or community) to visit, but we hope that you will not stay yabancı for too long. And there we will help.
So here is the deal: a 5 day workshop packed with market visits, cooking, eating, photographing and photography coaching that will take place September 2-7, 2013 at our family-run property in Sapanca, 2 hour drive away from Istanbul. Please, have a look at the program and practical details and pass the word around. I hope to see you there with us this September.
