Our Antakya trip started here in Istanbul with my first attempts to make künefe, a syrupy dessert of dough strands (kadaif) arranged in two layers and cheese sandwiched in between. I could not find a definitive recipe: here they used more cheese, there kadaif dominated, here they cooked the sweet on the stovetop, there - in the oven. It became apparent that the only way to find out was to travel to the source, the area of Turkey where künefe is coming from - Antakya.
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Culinary travel in Turkey
I wrote about our delicious road trip along the Turkish Aegean coast earlier this week and it seems only right to continue. Right after Ayvalik which won our hearts and stomachs we ventured to another culinary destination - Cunda island.
I love traveling off season. Locals unburdened by the crowds of customers are happy to chat with you. And you are not destructed from the main purpose of traveling and simply being - eating.
In October when the summer is long gone you can still enjoy Turkish seaside. Ayvalık, a town on the Aegean coast is a great choice if you travel for the same cause as I do. Located right one the shore and overlooking Greek Islands Ayvalık is renown in Turkey for the finest olive oil. Hard to go wrong with food if olive oil is good. Good olive oil obliges: its making is a family tradition of paying respects to the mother earth and knowing how to make good sense of its produce.
