Istanbul Food & Travel Guide: Now on Kindle!
Lokum, or Turkish delight, from Istanbul
Our Istanbul Food & Travel Guide is here! It’s our eighth destination guide on Kindle ($6.99; available on Amazon.com), but it’s extra special because it’s an Amazon exclusive—that’s right, this food guide is available on Amazon before it’s even…
Dish Spotlight: Boza in Istanbul, Turkey
I’m a sucker for wintery drinks. Not just of the hot chocolate variety—that’s a given—but also thick, filling, savory drinks, like eggnog, Mexican atole, and this stuff, boza, in Turkey. A traditional fermented drink made from wheat, millet, or bulgur—and onetime favorite beverage of Ottoman sultans—boza is kind of an…
Video: The Making of Manti, in Turkey
Manti. We tried the beloved Turkish ravioli, filled with ground lamb or beef, three different ways in our travels around the country. In Kayseri, in Central Anatolia, whose version of the dish is most famous, the boiled dumplings are tiny and set afloat in a soupy tomato sauce, dolloped with garlicky yogurt and finished with a sprinkle of oregano, pul…
What to Eat in Sinop, Turkey's Black Sea Coast
The perfect hotel view, in Sinop
Jutting out into the Black Sea on Turkey’s north coast, pretty Sinop is a water-lover’s retreat with its expansive sea views and picturesque harbor, bobbing with boats. It’s a gem along this stretch of coast, its idyllic setting boasting a small-town yet…
A Walk Through Istanbul's Spice Bazaar
Diving into the crowded Spice Bazaar in Istanbul (with some gratuitous product placement, natch)
It’s true we’re biased toward food markets, but the Grand Bazaar—with its expensive gold jewelry, leather jackets, and endless rows of mass-produced evil-eye tchotchkes—just wasn’t our thing. Much more fun and interactive was the Misir Çarsisi, or Spice Bazaar, a.k.a. the…
In Search of Hazelnuts on the Black Sea
“Merhaba. Findik?” I made the motion of eating something. After one week of travel in Turkey, my Turkish had not improved a whole lot.
Three of the men at the roadside table looked blankly at me, but one caught my drift. He said…
In Istanbul: A Brief Tribute to the Iskender Kebab
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Thin-sliced beef. Tomato sauce. Melted butter. Such is the holy trinity of the Iskender kebab, a.k.a. the döner kebab on crack—and one of the best things we’ve eaten thus far in Istanbul.
Of course I’m exaggerating (not about the crack part, because this is an easily addictive dish). There are two other…