Fascinating Istanbul

Have you ever been to Polonezkoy in Istanbul? Polonezkoy,”the village of the Poles”, formerly known as Adampol, is a Polish village located in Istanbul, Turkey. The village was established in Istanbul, Turkey after Poland was invaded by its neighbors Russia, Austria and Prussia in 1775 and the Ottomans granted the land at the Asian side of Istanbul for the Polish immigrants to settle down. For over 150 years, a Polish community in Polonezkoy, Istanbul, has been keeping their culture, history and traditions alive, quite fascinating. We visited Polonezkoy last August, what a relaxing break from the city life, surrounded by lush green and interesting history. Above is some wonderful wooden crafts, replicas of Polish settlers made by them.

Polonezkoy has become a popular weekend break in Istanbul. With its lush green surroundings, pine trees, lovely traditional houses around, it is a wonderful escape from the city life. We stayed at one of the holiday villas with the children, with some wonderful food, relaxation and swimming in the pool.

And who can resist the sun kissed tomatoes and wonderful pointy green peppers, sivri biber? I am missing them very much!:) The village grows lots of organic fruit and vegetable, and even just for that, Polonezkoy deserves a visit. I hope you make it there sometime, to appreciate a more relaxing side of Istanbul.

I couldn’t help sharing a few more photos from last week’s Istanbul trip. The generosity and the hospitality of Turkish people are apparent in everyday life. For example, go to a simple traditional restaurant (where freshly made salads, vegetables cooked in olive oil, delicious kebabs served) and you are greeted with a warm smile and a generous portion of flat bread, salad or pickled peppers, butter and crumbled feta cheese from the house. Their Turkish version of “fast food” consists of lovely vegetables like green beans cooked in olive oil, or stuffed grapevine leaves, white bean salad with slices of onion, tomatoes and spices (sumac and red pepper flakes over the top are common) and delicious meatballs served over the flat bread with grilled peppers, tomatoes. Ayran, a mixture of natural plain yoghurt with water and a pinch of salt is a traditional drink to accompany this feast. Refreshing and very healthy too.

Another lovely slow cooked Turkish “fast food” is doner kebab; even the sight of it from miles away is so inviting! It is sometimes served in a pita bread with sliced onions, tomatoes and lettuce. Sometimes, slices of doner kebab are served over the bed of pita bread with delicious tomato sauce and warm butter sauce over the top and dollop of yoghurt by the side. This is called the “Iskender Kebab” and it is such a delicious and comforting food, highly recommended.

As always, you would finish this feast with Turkish tea, cay, or Turkish coffee, Turk kahvesi. I hope you make it to Turkey sometime soon and experience the wonderful food and hospitality.

More Turkish recipes will follow next week.

Afiyet Olsun, to you all!

One of the highlights of last week’s Istanbul trip was visiting the Ciya (www.ciya.com.tr) Restaurant at the Asian side, and what a treat it was. The headchef Musa Dagdeviren is now internationally known, and so deserve it. His passion is to bring out the forgotten recipes, dishes alive with adding his own touch. Ciya’s vast menu covers recipes from Mesopatamia to the Ottomans, from the Balkans to Caucasia, and focuses on regional dishes. I was delighted to meet them and I hope they keep on treasuring those wonderful recipes and pass them on.

The charming Ciya was a feast to all senses; I tasted the wonderful Pazi Borani (with a yoghurt base sauce), the stuffed dried eggplants with aromatic rice and ground meat, bulgur pilaff rice with wild herbs, and a dollop of yoghurt by the side. I could have kept on and on if I had any space left.. Highly recommended for a real foodie treat.