This year our annual Cooking Club long weekend (and they keep getting longer) was in Istanbul and, per Fuzzy's request, here is my report:
The city is amazing. Huge (the population rose from 1 million in 1950 to over 17 million today) but very easy to manage once you get used to the crazy traffic. The first thing that struck me was all the mosques rising above the city instead of the church spires, it made it all so much more exotic. As there were 10 of us splitting the cost it was affordable to get a private guide for a day. He was fantastic. We also rented a private yacht for a 2 hour tour on the Bosporus. I think this was our 8th or 9th trip together so we have gotten pretty good at organizing these things.
The food was much better than I expected. I was assuming it would be the same as Greek food but it was like Greek food reloaded. Much more variety. We had some shrimp that tasted almost like lobster, huge things. Fantastic beef and lamb. I think what I liked best was the use of fresh herbs on everything. Made me decide I need more dill in my life.
Mezze's and more
This woman made and cooked flat bread the whole time we were there. Also a filled variety that was fantastic (think cross between crepe and calzone)
Shops where they only sell baklava... heaven
More to follow...
