When on holiday all I need is peace, space, good food and inspiring people. That’s why when choosing where to stay I prefer small family-run hotels with thoughtfully done rooms, enthusiastic owners and lovingly prepared breakfast. What could be better? Only a vacation house - your own or rented from a nice host. I found Sara’s house almost immediately when I was looking through the listings in the Aegean region where we were heading out with Özgür, my visiting parents and sister, and at once I knew we had to stay there. Our whole trip was planned in a way to make it to Köyceğiz by the time Sara had her house available.
Sara bought the house and the plot around it a few years ago, and in fact was offered to demolish it as she set on building a beautiful Ottoman-style köşk but thankfully Sara and her husband Chris did not agree with the Turkish builders. This spring they re-plastered and refitted the original village house, and as Chris explained , “We put it on Airbnb, and the next day somebody has already rented it”. They are booked well into November, and it’s easy to see why this property is so popular: the small house is a dream of the idyllic countryside living, and renting it lets you live it for a few days - wake up to the crowing rooster, pick fruits from the branches coming to the terrace and marvel the sunrise over distant hills.
The small house has two bedrooms, an open-plan kitchen, a large terrace as well as an outdoor kitchen plus another terrace at the entrance. It was designed by Sara who is a painter with her impeccable sense of aesthetics. Old wooden furniture from Turkey and England is tastefully mixed and matched with the finds from IKEA. All the rooms are full of details - hand-embroidered table runners, woolen rugs, fresh flowers and the most beautiful dishes I have ever seen. The overall feel of the house is unmistakably Turkish without imposing too much on you: Sara puts pestemals next to the terry towels to give you a choice of how much you want to be submerged into this countryside fairytale.
The terrace is wood and marble with curtains for shade and long divans along the perimeter where one can sit down for tea, linger with a book and sleep soaking in the dense air and sounds of the village night. The garden, baby of Chris, is blooming with citrus trees of all sorts, two olive trees giving enough fruit to make olive oil for the year ahead, fragrant herbs as well as a rooster and his chickens grazing around.
Sara also kindly showed us the Ottoman-style köşk that she and Chris has recently built for themselves - the most peaceful, spacious and beautiful living space I have seen. Inspired by the old Greek houses of Ayvalık and the old Ottoman mansions on the Bosphorus it is marble and wood. Large rooms with high ceiling are filled with many details ranging from the plastic rugs Sara picked at the local market to the old carved wooden doors she hunted down at an antique seller. And of course Sara’s paintings on the walls.
Sara used to paint landscapes and still life before. Now she recalls the happy feeling and ease of being a hunter: you find your scene, paint it and take it home in your bag. A drastic change in her style took place over 15 years ago when she started doing abstract paintings. Her works full of uninterrupted lines, elaborate figures and color pulsate with energy. She said she did not know where the ideas for the painting and their titles (she has title for every single work) were coming from: she draws almost automatically as if guided by something. Sara also confessed she did not always understand the meaning of the symbols she drew, neither she tried to find the explanation for all of them. She pointed to a painting with many figures and a human figure lying on her back, “That’s my friend who has recently died. I drew the painting when she was still ill, and then I understood it was her dead body on it”. As Chris put it, Sara operates in the language we may not understand, but the figure generations will be able to read her paintings as books.
Both houses and the garden radiated infinity, light and creative energy. I understood why I wanted to meet Sara who was able to connect with a source that empowers her to create, realized their vision of a perfect living space in the country that is not our own and then generously opened the doors of her house to the visitors.
Vacation can be a lot of work especially with the whole family on board, and by the end of the trip we were getting tired of the complex decision making, overload of impressions and being so close to each other. But as we arrived to the Sara’s house in Köyceyiz everyone notably relaxed. On the second day I sent the family off to the beach and stayed at the house: no sea, mountains, lake, ancient ruins or atmospheric towns nearby were good enough for me to leave the place. I hanged around, I napped, and I cooked.
After many dinners out in Ceşme and Alaçatı I was happy to get back to cooking our own; we also invited Sara and Chris to join the meals. I had my travel kitchen pantry, my knife and board with me. We have procured plenty of seasonal produce at the largest open air market in Tire on the way to Köyceğiz. And Sara’s kitchen was joyful to cook at: cast-iron pans, real oven, spacious counter and lovely serving bowls. Plus the fresh thyme, sage, basil and rosemary from the garden and their fantastic olive oil pressed from the garden’s olives.
While still in Alaçatı we were right in time for the courgette flower season: it was abundant at the market stalls and on the menus of the local restaurants. We ordered it for every single meal, mostly stuffed with rice, until at one restaurant we came across the courgette flowers stuffed with lor (Turkish ricotta) and fresh herbs, dipped into a thin batter and deep-fried. Despite the loveliness of the idea I was not pleased with the restaurant’s version that was too bland as all the food we ate there (what a pity that popular restaurant often equals overhyped one). So when I saw the freshly picked courgette flowers at - listen to me - 1 Turkish lira a dozen at the Tire market I knew I had to do justice to the dish I liked so much. From the same market I procured excellent lor peyniri that I used to find boring before I tasted its creamy version of the Aegean coast.
The flowers spent a bit too much time in the car (5 hours) and a bit longer in the fridge (2 daya) than they should have two but eventually I cooked them for the final breakfast we shared with Sara and Chris. That’s what I love about Turkish breakfast: anything goes! So why not the stuffed courgette flowers? Me and mom stuffed them with the mix of crumbled cheese and parsley (the herb that I had on hand while you could add dill, mint and what not), prepared the batter while dad and sister joined Sara for the morning swim in the lake and Özgür went to fetch fresh bread and simit that my dad has developed a definite liking for. When everybody arrived we fried the stuffed flowers and served them (in one of the Sara’s most beautiful dishes) with the rest of the breakfast fare.
Sara came to breakfast with a few sheets of thick white paper and ink pen. Once we were done she announced that she would like to show us how she works. She pulled a piece of paper and started drawing without lifting her ink pen from the paper until she was done with the central figure: it was mesmerizing to watch the confident moves of her beautiful hands. She was not saying anything and yet she was talking. Watching her draw was like peeping into somebody else’s dream with a few complications, seemingly unrelated events, few magical beings and enchanting sights. My dad asked Sara if she does abstract portraits, and she kindly agreed to do one for each member of our family. The portraits stirred a good discussion and provoked much thinking in our family. Dad was busy writing about that in his dairy the whole 10 hour drive back to Istanbul.
You could tell Sara was exhausted after she produced 9 drawings in less than 15 minutes. She said that abstract painting tired her, but she felt she was meant to do that. I thought how that sounds familiar: I feel exhausted after every single meal I cook for others or I teach others to cook, but I feel that’s my call. I also thought about the exchange we just had with Sara that tired but also empowered each of us at the same time: we offered each other what we do best - I cooked food and Sara created a few drawings. Doing what you do best takes a lot from you, but reminds you that you are just one link in the chain and you are meant to pass it to the next guy. So I thought it was only right to pass the baton further and share this travel experience and my new favorite recipe with you.
Courgette Flowers Stuffed with Cheese and Herbs
Note: Pick fresh male flowers on a stem for stuffing; female flowers still attached to a young courgette are too small for this dish. Don’t be like me and use the flowers immediately after purchase/picking up.
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the stuffed courgette flowers:
12 medium courgette flowers
150 gram lor peyniri (can be replaced with strained ricotta), crumbled
15 gram parsley, finely chopped
10 gram mint, finely chopped (optional)
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the batter:
1 large egg
2 tbsp thick yogurt
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp vinegar
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
enough water or milk to make thin batter
plenty of sunflower oil, for frying
Directions
1. Stuff courgette flowers: Mix the cheese and herbs, season with salt and pepper, taste and adjust the seasoning, if required. Take a flower, open its petals and place 1-2 tsp of the stuffing depending on the size of the flower - you want to stuffing to go only to the point when petals start separating. Now fold in one petal after another over the stuffing until all the petals are folded and you are holding a neat parcel. Place with a stem up on a flat dish and proceed with the rest of the flowers.
2. Fry stuffed courgette flowers: Whisk the batter ingredients together and add more water or milk, if needed to make a thin batter. In a deep pan heat up the sunflower oil (drop a piece of parsley to see if the bubbles start forming around it - the oil is ready then). Deep a stuffed courgette flower in the batter, gently shake off the excess and place in the pan. Add a few more flowers in the same fashion but be careful not to overcrowd then pan. In a few minutes flip the flowers to the other side for even browning. Dish the golden brown flowers out into a plate lined with paper towel and proceed with the rest of the flowers. Like with all the frying the second batch is quicker than the first one, so you would need to flip the flowers sooner. Serve as a hot starter immediately.
