Delicious food in Goreme

While we were in Cappadocia we visited the Old Cappadocia Restaurant in Goreme for an evening meal.  We were tired after a long day and we came across the restaurant on the main street.  The menu looked inviting.

I had heard about the wine from the Cappadocia region, so of course I had to give it a go, so I ordered a glass of white, and it was delicious, probably the best wine I have tasted during all of my visits to Turkey.

I ordered the Testi Kebab or Pottery Kebab, as this was a local dish I had seen and wanted to give it a try.

The waiter brought us some local 'flat' bread, and a small dish of oil and one of black pepper, and told us to dip the bread into the oil and then the pepper.  It was really good.

Then the Testi Kebab arrived, it was served in a clay pot and arrived at the table on fire.

And if that wasn't dramatic enough the waiter brought a hammer, and broke open the pot.  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of this as the fire, hammer and flying pottery was making me a little bit nervous, but once the top of the pot had been removed it revealed this:

Once the flames had died down, I was able to taste the meal, the taste lived up to the drama.  It was a delicious casserole of chicken with vegetables in a tasty sauce, served with rice.

After another glass of wine we headed back to the hotel.

At the Market

One of the many great things about Turkey is the fresh fruit and vegetables, and its always an adventure to visit the local market every Friday for my supplies for the week, something I look forward to.

The stallholders are always welcoming, and try to teach me a little Turkish on each visit, and we always somehow manage to have a laugh and joke, usually because we can't understand each other!

The stalls always look colourful with all the different fruit and vegetables, sometimes when I don't know what something is they offer a piece for me to try, and see if I know what it is.  Usually it doesn't help me much, but its always nice to try something new.

Always ready with a smile 

Always ready with a smile 

Cappadocia

As it gets closer to the end of my time here in Ankara, there are still a few places I want to visit, and Cappadocia was at the top of my list!  I was lucky enough to visit there last week and it truly is a stunning place.  I was very surprised to hear from the guide that there are not many visitors there from the UK!

Cappadocia is about 4 hours away from Ankara on the bus, and we took the bus to the town of Goreme at 1.30 am, which meant we arrived at 5.30am in time for the sunrise.  The area was busy even at that time of the morning, as there are many hot air balloon companies which take tourists to see sunrise.  Unfortunately this was too expensive for us teachers, so we watched the balloons from a nearby vantage point.

It was a fantastic sight, and obviously big business for the companies in Cappadocia.  The busy tourist season is April, May and September, October.  The summer is too hot for tourists to explore the area.  We then walked down to our hotel to see if we could check in, and we were in luck.  We checked into our cave room at www.http://cappadociaufukpension.com/ which was clean and comfortable, and went in the search for some breakfast.

We were all starting to run out of steam, as we had travelled overnight straight after work, so a strong coffee was in order, along with menemen (scrambled eggs with tomato and green pepper).  After breakfast we went on a search for a tour and found one that was leaving at 9.30am that was visiting Derinkuyu underground city (which is the deepest of the 36 underground cities in Cappadocia), Ihlara Valley and Selime Monastery, along with a couple of other photo opportunity stops.  I am not a fan of tours, I prefer to find my own way around and go to places I want to go to, so I found the day very restrictive, but we met some interesting people and got to see some great places.

The evening was spent having a relaxing meal, and drink Cappadocia wine, which was probably the nicest wine I have found so far in Turkey, but the meal will be a separate blog!

After our night in the cave room, we had a typical Turkish breakfast in the hotel, and walked up to the Goreme Open Air Museum.

Soon after it was time to say goodbye to Cappadocia, and I hope to visit again.  There is so much to see and do and two days are definitely not enough!

Turkish Food - Cig Kofte

I was asked the other week by a student if I had tried cig kofte, and I said I hadn't.  It was something she had told me that I must try when I first arrived in Turkey, so I think she was disappointed in me.

My lesson continued, and a little bit later there was a knock on the door, and it was a delivery of cig kofte from the takeaway a few doors away from the school.  During their break the students had been and ordered some for me so I could finally try it.

Cig kofte is traditionally made from raw meat, but due to hygiene regulations the local takeaways are no longer allowed to use the raw meat and the cig kofte is now meatless unless you make it yourself at home.  It is now made from Bulgar wheat, nuts and spices.

The students know I enjoy spicy food, and its a good job, because this was very spicy, and so much flavour.  It is a popular street food and there are many places that you can get it.  As a street food it is common to eat it wrapped in a durum wrap and it only costs a couple of lira.  Another way to eat cig kofte is wrapped in a lettuce leaf.

I have tried both ways and I have to say I prefer it in a durum, with lettuce and pomegranate sauce, with some pickles on the side.  I think I am hooked!

St David's Day

As I am currently living in Turkey, I usually write about living in Turkey.  But I am a Welshy and today is St David's Day, so my thoughts go back to my homeland.

I am from North Wales, which is a beautiful part of the world.  I often look through my photographs of the homeland, so I thought I would share some photographs of the place I call home.

Colwyn Bay pier - A big part of Colwyn Bay history in
danger of being lost forever as it looks like it will be taken down

Conwy and the castle

Snowdonia

Abersoch

Aberdaron

Llandudno

Betws y Coed

Happy St David's Day to you all.

Hamamonu - Ankara

Recently I visited the area of Hamamonu in Ankara.  It wasn't the first time I had visited as I went in October.  The area is undergoing restoration at the moment, and in October it was difficult to see everything.  This time was different.  A lot of the work that was going on in October (all the areas for walking had been dug up) had been completed, and the sun was shining.  There is still a lot of work going on in the area, but there are plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants in the area that have been completed.

Hamamonu is one of the oldest districts of Ankara, and is now almost completely pedestrianised, so it's a peaceful and tranquil area.  It's a treat to sit outside one of the many cafes, restaurants and tea houses in the sunshine and watch the world go by.  There are artist's studios in the square where they display their work.

Turkish Coffee

Since arriving in Ankara I have developed a love for Turkish coffee.  I have always liked my coffee strong, but Turkish coffee is a little different, and has a thicker consistency.

When you order a Turkish coffee you are asked how you like it, this means how sweet do you want it?  Sugar is added to the coffee when it is being brewed, rather than being added after.  I always find that even if I ask for a little sugar, it is too sweet for me, so I always have it sade (no sugar), when I make it at home I will add one sugar cube for two cups and this is usually just right for me.

Turkish coffee is the way that the coffee is made, rather than the type of coffee bean.  The coffee is ground very fine, finer than espresso, you put enough water for how many cups of coffee you want into the cezve (the special pot used for making the coffee, often made of copper), which is pictured below.  You add the required amount of sugar, and then the coffee, but it is recommended not to stir at this point.  It is heated slowly, in turkish homes the cooker has a small gas ring just the right size for the cezve.  Traditionally though, the cezve is placed in a tray of sand which is placed above a heat source, this ensures that the coffee is heated slowly and evenly.  On a recent trip to Hamamonu in Ankara, there were many cafes that prepared the coffee in this way.

The Cezve

A cezve of coffee being heated in the traditional tray of sand

The coffee is often served with Turkish Delight, a favourite of mine, and its sweetness compliments the bitterness of the coffee perfectly.  You are always brought water with a Turkish coffee, to cleanse the palate.

Turkish coffee in Istanbul 

Turkish coffee served in a traditional cup, with water and Turkish Delight in Bolu

The grains that are left in the coffee cup after the coffee has been drunk can be used for fortune telling.  I'm generally not a believer in this and I'm sure everyone will see a different picture, but to me the grains in this cup resemble the Welsh Dragon....  

The Welsh Dragon??