«Any new kitchen scars?» he asks me as I enter his shop. «No», I burst into laugh. «Enough of the old wounds that are still healing», I refer to the piece of flash I chopped off my index finger and 10 cm burn on my arm. When he asked about the finger a week ago and I explained the matter he replied with satisfaction, «You are learning!» And then added, «I have burned myself a lot». Just like my horse-riding coach with a shining smile congratulated me when I fell from a galloping horse. True masters know that we learn best when we fail. And so with little chats we get to know each other better and our bond grows with a true master — my favorite pide maker in Istanbul.
I first spotted his shop, Mavi Haliç Pidecisi two years ago passing by. I continued passing by many more times before I walked in and actually tried his pide, gondola-shaped Turkish take on pizza. «How do you find good eateries such as this?»- customers on my Istanbul food tour often time wonder as they — with much satisfaction — munch a piece of his pide. Well, that takes hanging around right places and observing a lot, I think.
Right places when it comes to food in Istanbul are the markets serving as true culinary hubs of the city. Often times more than mere marketplaces bur rather centers of the diverse Istanbul neighborhoods they are vibrantly crowded and hence have a whole bunch of eateries catering to both those working and shopping at the market. As the stores have been passed from generation to generation and the shoppers have been frequenting the same places for decades the market eateries have been the shrines preserving the traditional flavors appreciated by the locals for years.
Mavi Haliç Pidecisi is a fine example. Located at the busy market in Eminönü, commercial heart of Istanbul from the time immemorial, Mehmet Abi, his stone oven and a few tables has been hosting and feeding the surrounding store owners and passer byes. Mehmet Abi coming from Kayseri himself has learned his craft from an usta in Avanos, ceramic capital of Capadoccia and has been practicing it for a over forty years.
His skill is not hard to notice. I first saw him dividing the proofed dough into the portion sized balls and putting them to the proofing boxes for the second rising. He used small old-school scales to divide the dough into the equal pieces: the soft dough balls on one cup got balanced with the metal weights on the other cup. I was impressed with that precision and care. Where he could have relied on eye-balling he was using a measuring tool. And someone who is so precise about the process must be rather particular about the outcome too.
And my guess proved right when I eventually tried his pide: crust that has soft substance but just enough of it to still be called crust sufficiently topped with fresh ingredients and baked to perfection! He does the classics such as cheese with tomato and green peppers or minced meat but he is also proud to feature the flavors brought from his native Capadoccia — Kayseri cıvıklısı, made with finely ground lamb meat or Afyon etli ekmek — thin crust with minced meat.
Mehmet Abi’s shop is a one-man show. He is the one to clean and fire the stone oven and to feed it with wooden logs to maintain the temperature of about 200C. He is the one to prepare the dough, stuffings and then make pide. He is the one to make service unless his 2 helpers / delivery guys are around during the busy meal hours. One day I found him exhausted and breaking sweat. «Are you all right?» asked. «Fever», he replied. «And you are working in such condition!» «Who else would be?» This is the tough competition that keeps the standard at the Istanbul markets: if he is not there today his regulars could easily switch to one of the plentiful alternatives in the area and then may never get back.
Possibly for that reason he is also around during the month of Ramadan. When some shops choose to close for «renovation» anticipating decline in demand anyway he spends the hot days next to the oven without food and water. I love the tahinli ekmek he makes during Ramadan only. «It is easy. You can make it too», he tells me showing trust. Possibly my scars have convinced him in my cooking ability. He rolls a dough into a thin oval sheet without a rolling pin just as usual. He then sprinkles sugar and pours beyond-generous-serving of tahini paste. Afterwards he rolls it into a long long roll and then swirls the roll into a long snail, flattens it and then sprinkles more tahini paste «Don’t put egg on top, the top will not cook perfectly. Just some yogurt » he warns me carefully spreading a few drops of ayran, yoghurt diluted with water, on top of his tahinli ekmek. I can’t wait for the next year to taste that very special treat of his.
Watching him work with the dough as he prepares your pide is like listening to a song — beautiful and calming. He makes everything look so easy that he inspired me to attempt making pide in our stone oven — with result only remotely emulating his. And Mehmet Abi is very humble about his craft. And that is what wins everybody’s hearts I guess — seeing a real master practicing his craft in a very authentic way. All my customers love him — avid eaters, experienced pizza makers, professional cooks, skeptical Russian riches and Australian backpackers.
I see how watching a real master at work can give you that blissful feeling. A client wrote to me after the tour about the reaction of her daughter who is working as pastry chef at an Italian restaurant back in the States, «My daughter especially enjoyed the pide shop. She appreciates a person who makes his living with flour». And as someone who has only started cutting and burning myself I do too.
Address: Mavi Halic Pidecisi, Kutucular Caddesi. No. 28, Eminonu. Phone 212-513-6304
