Food, Food, Food

Istanbul gave me a much needed break. Before I left, I made a list of all the things I wanted to do while I was there, but I mostly just managed to eat. I hooked up with a Turkish friend I had in Reno, which turned out to be the best thing I could have done. Not only did he take me to some really good hole-in-the-wall eateries, but it was nice to hang out with someone I knew (it can be exhausting to be constantly meeting new people...every once in a while I like to be around someone who knows me). Unfortunately, I didn't take very many photos (too busy eating).

The airport in Pristina is so basic. However, a duty-free shop is being put into the departure lounge. I would recommend to anyone flying into Pristina to make use of the airplane toilet before landing because the one at baggage claim is sometimes usable and sometimes not.

I signed up for a cooking class, which I did first thing on Thursday morning. We made stuffed eggplant, some kind of cheeze-blintz-type thing, stuffed grape leaves, rice pudding, and a lentil soup. It was fun. The nice thing about living in Kosovo is that I can get all of the ingredients that we used.

Thin sheets of dough being sliced for our little packets of fried cheese.

Stuffing the grape leaves.

Frying the eggplants in oil.

Rice pudding that was blackened in the oven and not by a torch.

Traffic in Istanbul is horrendous. At 7pm on Friday night it was nearly a standstill. My friend was supposed to pick me up from the hotel at 5 o'clock but was two hours late. The cars were bumper-to-bumper and there was absolutely no movement. I didn't mind much, though, because it gave me the chance to grade a stack of papers I had brought with me.

Aahhh...the food. The food was fabulous. Every time I said that I was hungry, I'd be asked, "Do you want a good restaurant or good food?" What a no-brainer question that was. Of course I wanted good food. And good food I ate.

This is adana. It's lamb with parsley, green onions, and tomatoes on a pita. I threw on some red peppers, cumin, black pepper, and a bit of salt and rolled the whole thing up.

For dessert I tried the cheese kunefe. How to describe it? Oh...simply divine. If you know Turkish cuisine, it's made with kadayif and cheese and sugar and topped with chopped pistachios. I can't do this justice, and neither can Wikipedia, but you can read more about it in the kanafeh entry.

I'm a bit embarrassed. That's it for food pictures. However, I ate tons more great stuff. For example, my first night I went to a little waffle shop. The man made fresh waffles (about the size of a dvd box) and I asked that mine be slathered with nutella on one half, a pistachio creme on the other, loaded up with sliced bananas, and sprinkled with chestnuts. It was then folded in half, wrapped in paper, and handed to me. Divine. Hot waffle, melty nutella and pistachio creme, soft chestnuts, and banana. Sigh.

Another evening I stopped at an ice creme shop. In Turkey, you don't get large scoops of ice cream like you would at Baskin Robbins. Rather, you end up with a big cone with lots of mini scoops (like a large melon ball full). Of course, I didn't know what kind of ice cream I wanted, but after I saw that I could ask for four or five flavors and still end up with a not-too-large mound of ice cream, I tried the pistachio, chocolate, mocca, chestnut, and one other that I can't remember. After all the bits were scooped into a waffle cone, the top of the ice cream was dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with nuts. The ice cream guy must have liked my childlike delight at being able to choose many flavors because he didn't charge me the full price for my cone and he gave me a double waffle cone. Yum.

Then there was tantuni. Like the adana, it is thin bread filled with meat and veggies. And the iskender lamb kebap (thin slices of lamb served over bread in a tomato sauce). And the freshly made pizza with corn and mushrooms. And the tost (like a grilled cheese sandwich but without the crust). And the teas. I went to one unmarked tea house with a stellar view over the Sea of Marmara and Golden Horn that served an out-of-this-world blueberry tea (at least that's what I think it was). And, of course, the Starbucks. Very American of me, I know, but every once in a while I do enjoy a soy mocha and I'm not afraid to say so. (On an unrelated note, I hear that McDonalds may be coming to Kosovo.)

I spent a lot of time eating, but I managed to fit in a few more things, too. I went to the Santral Istanbul, an art museum unlike anything I've been to. It's housed in an old power plant. Half of the building is an electric museum with lots of hands-on exhibits to touch and play with. The other half is an art museum. Best of all, the whole thing was free.

Sigh. Istanbul was exactly what I needed. I must admit, though, it feels good to be back in Kosovo.