The opening of Yeni Lokanta (literally - New Canteen) is undoubtedly a signature event for Istanbul. Not only because the city has got one more restaurant serving very good food, but also because this eatery may be the first robin of the culinary revolution in the city. We do have a few restaurants that had pioneered New Istanbul, if now New Anatolian, cuisine such as Mikla, Lokanta Maya, Kantin and others. And it is important that those places broaden culinary horizons of their eaters, but it is also critical that they teach their chefs to experiment so that some of those young chefs could continue their bold experimentation in their own restaurants and further popularize the idea of the New Istanbul cuisine.
June 2013
What happens when I go to the countryside these days? Not much. I switch on the autopilot mode and get plenty of sleep, eat, play with the dogs, read, hang out, occasionally set up a table for a meal, wash up afterwards and generally act a visiting relative rather a tiresome member of my family undertaking various garden and kitchen projects under the fearless leadership of my mother-in-law. I migrate into the autopilot mode naturally as I find myself at a safe place where unconditional love and good food are awaiting for me.
Zucchini, poor zucchini, your popularity fades as soon as the other fruits of summer appear at the markets. Who wants to eat zucchini when the eggplants are nice and plump, and can’t wait to be roasted and savored in style? Even my husband was unprecedentedly supportive when I started writing this post. “Hm, why are you repeating yourself? Have you not already written about zucchini?” pointing to the 2 year old post about infamous zucchini fritters of my mother-in-law that I shamelessly deconstructed. Telling you: zucchini, poor zucchini..
After the recent vivid discussion on my Facebook page I feel relieved and not guilty any more to continue writing about Istanbul food. Because it will not be fare to say that while spending a lot of time at the barricades - physical and literal - Istanbulites have stopped eating and enjoying food. And it is not fair to miss the new places opening their doors to the hungry customers in the city itself and around.
Before my friend Marina, resident of Büyükada, the largest of the Prices’ Islands, left for Tokyo she took me around the island to show the culinary gems that start their full-fledged operation as the season kicks off on the island. And despite the common belief Büyükada boasts quite a few worthwhile eateries that justify a boat trip. A very early morning boat trip if you don’t want to miss one of the best breakfasts around.
I was going to my friend Marina living in Büyükada, and because we all know that there is no place serving decent dinner on the biggest of the Prince’s Islands we were going to cook. I paged through Jerusalem, Ottolenghi’s cookbook that I use for inspiration more often then I do for the actual cooking. I scanned through the fish section hoping for a recipe that requires minimal preparation and least ingredients since I have already devastated Marina’s kitchen and transported a good part of her exotic for Istanbul kitchen pantry to my house. We have cooked from the book with Marina before, and I hoped to find a winner this time as well. And the winner presented itself soon - sea bass marinaded in harissa, a Tunisian spicy hot pepper paste, and cooked in a Middle-Easter version of the sweet and sour sauce. Yes, please!
Summer calls for light meals cooked in no time. As the days become hotter my cooking class menus have lighted up and shifted its focus from the hearty mains into the appetizers (meze) showcasing the bounty of the available produce. And when I cook for myself I rarely spend on a meal more than 5 minutes (hands-on) because the summer ingredients are so good and self-sufficient that the only thing they are calling for is chopping them up. So my knife skills are improving day by day.
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Due to the protests in Istanbul and pretty much elsewhere in Turkey it has been hard to write or read anything protest-unrelated. News are mostly crowd-sourced through Twitter and Facebook before they appear on the media, so it has been taking a lot of time to fetch and process the bits and pieces into a story. What a lovely reason to procrastinate! And while the issues that have urged so many people to take a stand remain, the violence settles: after cleaning up a few days ago the peaceful protestors are distributing tea, kandil simit and helva at the Taksim square this very night. So I can’t have any excuse not to get back to the blogging. From our countryside house in Sapanca that is not unlike the Taksim square where unexpected turmoil turns into the utter peace and communal tea drinking.
