A Visit to the Arnavutköy Pazar

If you are a regular reader here, you know that I’m absolutely in love with the pazars here!

I can buy a huge bunch of parsley for 50 kuruş (28 cents) or a kilo of super ripe, cherry red tomatoes for only 1 TL as well as 3 “Lacoste” polos for 10 TL each. The price, selection and quality of produce here is far superior than anything you’ll find at the supermarkets. Often, you even can buy kitchen utensils, tools, toys and things you didn't even know you needed.

Many neighborhoods in Istanbul boast a weekly pazar on a particular day of the week. On Saturdays, we frequent the large pazar in Beşiktaş on Nüzhetiye Cad. On Tuesdays, I generally go to the Salı Pazarı in 4Levent.

But last week, I discovered the Tuesday pazar in Arnavutköy. This is an area I don’t usually go because it seems so far away, but it only took me 20 minutes (no trafffic) to reach by bus along the shore road from Beşiktaş. The pazar is located near the Oğul Sokak.

The Arnavutköy pazar is a bit smaller than some of the others I’ve been to in the city, but still worth the effort to search out. I still managed to find a few items I haven’t seen elsewhere as well as the first crop of nar (pomegranate).

These don't look quite ripe to me as the outer skins are usually more reddish.

A typical pazar stand - full of beans, cucumbers, peppers and eggplant.

A strange kind of pickling cucumbers I've never seen before.

Typical pickling cucumbers.

Fried green tomatoes anyone?

One stall also had a wide variety of dried herbs for teas, such as this sarı papatya (chamomile).

In the Midwest, we call these ground cherries. My mom used to grow tons of these in
her garden where I would just pick them fresh off the plant and eat them.

Afiyet Olsun!

A table full of melons and artichokes.

Visit Kemal for some of the best and reddest tomatoes!

Other Istanbul pazars to check out:

• Monday - Göztepe, Uskudar/Bağlarbaşı area near Selami Ali Mah.
• Tuesday - Arnavutköy, Kadıköy, 4Levent, Bahçeşehir
• Wednesday - Fatih and Yeşilköy, Özgürlük Park
• Thursday - Ulus, Erenkoy - near the railroad tracks
• Friday - Uskudar - near Uskudar High Street
• Saturday - Beşiktaş and Bakırköy, Bahçeşehir
• Also on Saturdays - an organic pazar called Feriköy Halk Pazarı in the Feriköy district of Şişli, (Bomonti Caddesi, Lala Şahin Sokak), from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Sunday - There is supposed to be a massive, incredible street market in Tarlabaşı, but I haven’t been to it yet.

You may even find one of these handy Istanbul Eats Bazaar tote bags for sale.

If I missed a particular pazar, please let me know.

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Making Ispanaklı Yoğurt Çorbası

When I go to the pazar by myself, I always bring home more food than two people can ever eat.

I can’t help it! All the colorful produce calls out my name and says “buy me, buy me.”

For example, 1 kilo of spinach purchased from the Tuesday pazar in Arnavutköy. What the heck to do with it all? I filled up the kitchen sink with water to give the spinach a bath and then tried to figure out what to cook with the spinach for dinner.

I rattled off three ideas to my husband, who actually was working from home that late afternoon. Do you want: spinach pilaf, spinach and yogurt soup or sautéed spinach with garlic?

He voted for the soup.

I found a simple summer recipe for Ispanaklı Yoğurt Çorbası (spinach and yogurt soup) in one of my Turkish cookbooks, The Sultan's Kitchen: A Turkish Cookbook, by Ozcan Ozan. The base of the recipe requires eight common ingredients, plus seasonings to your taste. (BTW, the cookbook is an excellent addition to your collection and has a wide variety of Turkish recipes.)

I think it took me more time just to wash and trim the spinach than to actually make the soup.

If you happen to buy a bunch of spinach like me, I hope you’ll try this easy and delicious summer soup.

Afiyet Olsun!

Ispanaklı Yoğurt Çorbası (Spinach and Yogurt Soup)

(Adapted from The Sultan’s Kitchen: A Turkish Cookbook)

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped small
500 g. (about 1 lb.) fresh spinach, cleaned, stems trimmed and roughly chopped
1.2 L (5 c.) chicken stock or water
TT salt and freshly ground pepper
2 c. plain yogurt (I used half süzme yoğurt and half low-fat yogurt because that’s what I had on hand.)
2 T. flour
3 ea. large egg yolks
1 ½ T. fresh lemon juice

Garnish:
2 T. butter
1 T. ground paprika (I used part smoked paprika and part sweet paprika, which is what I had on hand again. The smoked paprika gave the soup a nice kick.)

1. In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat, add the onion, and cook for a few minutes, until its softened but not brown.
2. Stir in the chopped spinach. Add the stock, and season with salt and pepper. Cover the saucepan and cook for about 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the yogurt, flour, egg yolks and lemon juice.When the soup has finished cooking, slowly ladle some of the hot soup into your egg mixture and whisk like mad. Since you are adding a hot liquid into an egg mixture, you need to slowly temper the two mixtures together so you don’t create scrambled eggs. Temper about a good 12 ounces or so of the soup into the egg mixture, whisking after each addition, just as if you were making a custard or ice cream.

4. Then, add the tempered mixture back into the stock pot. Stir the soup, lower the heat and cook gently for about 10 minutes. The soup will slightly thicken. (Optional: if you would like a creamier soup like the one in my photo, just buzz it for a few minutes with a hand immersion blender.)

5. To make the butter garnish, just melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in the paprika. Heat the mixture until it slightly sizzles.

6. To serve, ladle the soup into individual bowls and drizzle the paprika butter over each serving.

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WHB: Patlıcan Flavors From India

I love learning new recipes, especially when learned from a friend.

Earlier this summer, a fellow Istanbul expat, Anjali, originally from India, taught several of us gals how to make some flavorful dishes from her native country. My mother-in-law even came with me since she was visiting us.

A few weeks ago, I made my first curry from scratch per the recipe I had learned. BTW, this does not entail dumping a can of coconut milk into a pot and either adding curry powder or curry paste to make a curried dish! No, you slowly caramelize a bunch of onions, add whole spices and five powdered spices as well as tomatoes, hot chillies and water to make your curry base. The blend of flavours is outstanding!

Another Indian dish I learned and recently recreated at home was Bharwan Baingan, which is eggplant cooked with a blend of dry spices. The eggplant is roasted after a spicy paste is slathered all over inside and outside of it. The resulting dish kind of pops in your mouth when you bite into a piece of eggplant with whole coriander seeds. From what I understand, this particular dish originates from Northern India, which also is known worldwide for its Tandoori cooking.

I’m always looking for new ways to cook patlıcan in Istanbul, and this dish certainly provides a different flavor profile I’m sure you will enjoy too! Serve the eggplant with a side of cooling raita.

Currently, the pazar stalls are full of lovely mor patlıcan, and the spices can be found at the Mısır Çarşısı in Eminönü.

Sometimes I find eggplant like these variegated ones at the pazar.

Now I only have to learn 97 more ways to cook eggplant!

Afiyet Olsun!

(Note: I am submitting this recipe for the first time for the #301 edition of  Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted this week by blogger Graziana of Erbe in Cucina (Cooking with Herbs). This weekly event is coordinated by food blogger Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once and was founded by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. Thank you for stopping by!)

Bharwan Baingan (Eggplant stuffed with dry spices)

Ingredients:

1 kilo fresh eggplant (Select ones that are skinny, about 5-8” in length)
Juice of 2 limes
4 T. vegetable oil (I even thinned my paste out with a bit more oil and lime juice.)
2 T. ground cumin
2 T. corriander seeds
2 T. red chili powder (I used a blend of pul biber and chili powder.)
2 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 F/150 C.
2. Wash the eggplant, leaving the top stalks. Slit each one down the middle, lengthwise, first in half and then into quarters, making sure to stop about 1-inch before the end of the eggplant. Basically, you will cut four slits into each eggplant.
3. In a small bowl, combine the spices with the lime juice and oil. Stir together to make a paste.

You can roughly peel the eggplant too, so it looks like "pyjamas stripes."

4. Using your hands, spread the paste on the inside and a bit on the outside of each eggplant. (I tried using a pastry brush at first to spread the paste, but found my hands to be much more effective to get inside of the eggplants.

Spread the eggplant apart with your fingers and liberally apply the spice paste inside.

5. Place the eggplant into a large glass or ceramic baking dish, covered with aluminum foil. Bake the eggplant for about 45-55 minutes until tender.

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My Version of Kabak Yemeği

Lightly sautéed zucchini sounded like a good idea at the time.

However, my good friend Sharon, a long-time Istanbul resident, had a better idea.

“My housekeeper used to make this. Take a few kabak, an onion, one diced potato, maybe a tablespoon of tomato paste and some pul biber if you like and cook it,” she said.

This idea of kabak yemeği (zucchini dinner or food is the best translation I can come up with) sounded much better. Many recipes start with an idea or perusal on the Internet, and then I usually improvise from there.

Once I’m in the kitchen, I start chopping, cooking and adding a bit of this and that to the pan. The end result this time is this simple, but packed full of flavor and slightly spicy side dish. I don’t know how authentic Turkish it is, but it’s my version of this recipe and it’s delicious.

Serve for dinner with a roasted chicken and a side salad. As my husband declared, “it sure does make tasty zucchini.”

Afiyet Olsun!

Kabak Yemeği (Zucchini Side Dish)

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil
1 medium potato, medium diced
2 medium kabak (zucchini), halved lengthwise and then sliced into ¼”-thick slices
1 white or yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
(optional: 1 long red pepper, sliced into thin strips ½” long)
3-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1-2 çay bardağı water (about ½ cup to 1 cup)
2 heaping T. domates salçası (tomato paste) I prefer  the acı version so I usually use that.
pinch pul biber (crushed red pepper flakes)
TT salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Place a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil.
2. When the oil is hot, add the potatoes. Cook for about 5 minutes. (Since the potatoes are the firmest vegetable they will take a bit longer to cook than the rest.)
3. Add the zucchini, onions, red pepper and garlic. Sautée the vegetables for several minutes until an al dente texture is achieved.

4. Add the water, tomato paste and pul biber. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes until you the sauce is slightly thickened. You can add more water as needed to thin out the sauce if you like.
5. Spoon the vegetables into a serving dish and garnish with parsley.

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Cunda Adası: Breakfast Under the Nar Tree

Even at 8 a.m., this peaceful town still was waking up.

I enjoyed sipping my çay while I sat outside on our pansiyon room’s small terrace. Nearby, I could hear chickens clucking and a rooster crowing every now and then.

The streetview outside of our window. To the right, we could see a bit of the sea too.

After only four hours of sleep, we quickly showered and wandered down to enjoy our breakfast at Cundahan Konuk Evi. We wanted to explore the island for a bit; then hit the road by noon so we could enjoy some beach time later.

We chose a table near the swimming pool under a very laden nar ağacı (pomegranate tree). The owner, Ömer Bey, told us maybe another month or bir buçuk ay before the nar was ready to be picked. This was the first time I’ve seen such a large pomegranate tree upclose!

I would love to have one of these trees in my backyard some day!

The kahvaltı included the normal Turkish breakfast staples such as olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese and bread as well as homemade stuffed squash blossoms, grape leaves and a type of hot börek (savory pastry). I assume Ömer’s wife, Kamile hanım, made some of the delicious items, as there were two women in the kitchen preparing the food.

A wonderful breakfast to start the day!

Cundahan Konuk Evi is a colorfully painted, clean and comfortable place to stay. The swimming pool beckoned us, but we didn’t have enough time. Maalesef! It's one of the few hotels on the island that even has a pool.

This would be a fabulous place to relax in the afternoons!

Our room with a doublebed was painted a light sea-green color.

We wish we could have stayed another night and explored the island. It’s not very often you stay in a place that makes you feel like home!

Görüşürüz!

Cundahan Konuk Evi
Cunda Adası (Alibey)
Namık Kemal Mahallesi, Selamet Caddesi
Tepebaşı Sokak, No: 5
0 (266) 327 1681

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