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!
Quick Harissa, Fragrant Hot Pepper Paste
Içli Köfte with Green Peas and Tahini-Yogurt Tarator
Recent shopping for a camera cable got me into yet another enlightening conversation I always find myself having with the locals – on the matters of Turkish food. A few days ago I came back to Istanbul from Sapanca and realized that I had left the camera cable at our countryside place. Getting a new one would be a major undertaking in many cities I have lived in but not in Istanbul. A few minutes after the realization I was already in Kadıköy at one of those han (little business center) packed with electronic stores. I found one selling cables of any possible kinds and could even be customized as appeared from a man fussing with a rather complex adapter system including many cables, cutoff points and such. I was immediately handed out the exact cable I needed.
