Food & Drink
Selected stories on eating, drinking, and the people and histories behind the flavors
Rediscovering Khachapuri, Georgia's Must-Try Classic
Cheese-filled bread is a staple that comes in dozens of forms. Regional varieties are now celebrated again, with chefs looking to the past to help shape the country’s culinary future. (National Geographic Traveller UK)
Cherries on Top
Turkey leads the world in cherry production, but the fruit’s role in its kitchens has dwindled. A culinary rediscovery of this local bounty may be in the works. (Morning Calm)
Take a Trip to Istanbul's Breakfast-makers’ Street
Breakfast (kahvaltı) is a big deal in Turkey, and Çakmak Kahvaltı Salonu is where the breakfast explosion in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district began. (National Geographic Traveller UK Food)
Fish Out of Water
Istanbul’s balık-ekmek boats have become a widely recognizable part of the cityscape. But this iconic Istanbul sandwich faces an uncertain future. (Culinary Backstreets)
Building Blocks: Simit, Turkey’s Lord of the (Bread) Rings
Does a simit by any other name taste the same? Where did this favorite doughy snack really come from, and when did people first start baking and eating it? (Culinary Backstreets)
Meet Moldova’s YouTube-Taught Brewers
Eastern Europe is seen as a growth market for craft beer, but up-and-coming Moldovan brewers face many challenges in building their businesses. (October)
Urla's Earthly Delights: Putting Turkish Wine on the Map
Along Turkey’s scenic and serene Aegean coast, chefs, winemakers and food producers are reviving old flavors and cultivating new tastes. (Lonely Planet)
A New LIFE: Helping Refugees Become Food Entrepreneurs
Dozens of first-time entrepreneurs from Syria are receiving a helping hand from the LIFE Project, which provides training and support in Istanbul to people wanting to enter the food sector in Turkey. (Culinary Backstreets)
Back to the Land: Urban Turks Tackle Rural Life
Over the past decade, the number of Turks swapping the city for the countryside has multiplied, driven by rising urban stresses and an increasingly stifling political climate. The transition, though, is not necessarily an easy one. (Culinary Backstreets)
More food and drink stories from Istanbul
>> Local Flavor: The Best Places to Eat and Drink in Istanbul (Lonely Planet)
From street snacks grabbed on-the-go to hours-long breakfasts or nights spent in meyhane (taverns), Istanbul is a city that loves to eat. New restaurants are constantly opening and old favorites remain packed despite an ongoing economic crisis in Türkiye that has sent food prices soaring.
>> Hayata Sarıl Lokantası: Meals with a Mission (Culinary Backstreets)
By day, Hayata Sarıl Lokantası is a conventional eatery, a laid-back bistro serving homemade Turkish dishes to local workers, tourists and passers-by. But proceeds from the lunch service, as well as donations, fund free meals for the homeless served at the same tables come evening.
>> Beyond Baklava (Fare)
To eat in Istanbul, whether its current residents realise it or not, is to taste a broad swath of the world and centuries of history, and the city’s sweets — many of which originated during the Ottoman era — are no exception.
>> Basta Street Food Bar: Gourmet to the People (Culinary Backstreets)
Dürüm is the specialty at Basta Street Food Bar, but you won’t find a smoky grill inside this tiny Kadıköy storefront. With its bright turquoise counter, tile-patterned floor, and steel-topped, light-wood stools, Basta looks more like a hip café than a traditional kebab joint.
>> Farewell Lokanta Maya: Istanbul and Local Culinary Pioneer Hit Hard Times (Culinary Backstreets)
When Didem Şenol decided to open her first restaurant on an out-of-the-way street in the then-sleepy Karaköy neighborhood of Istanbul, the young chef’s friends thought she was making a huge mistake. Her gamble paid off – until a string of terror attacks and ongoing strife hit Turkey.
>> Let Them Eat Lettuce: Reviving an Endangered Urban Green (Culinary Backstreets)
When you think about lettuce, if you think about it at all, it’s probably as the bland but virtuous base to a salad. But in days past in Turkey, this leafy green was just as often consumed as a snack in itself, as an essential part of a main dish or even as a sweet treat.
>> A Place At Turkish Table For Armenians, Israelis & More (Zester Daily) [pdf]
Chef Ruthie Rousso and others believe culinary similarities might just be a way to bring people back together – not only from Turkey and Israel, but from other countries with strained relationships as well.
>> Traditional Market Gardens Take Root Again In Istanbul (Zester Daily) [pdf]
Most of Istanbul’s historic market gardens have been plowed under and paved over, but urbanization has more recently also spurred a grassroots resurgence in urban food growing.
>> Farming on the Edge: Istanbul's Threatened Urban Agriculture (Culinary Backstreets)
The threat of eviction looms over farmers tending the closest large agricultural area to the city center.
>> Turkish Candy Entices Through the Ages (Zester Daily)
Proprietor Hakan Altanoğlu and his forefathers have been making and selling the Turkish candy called akide şekeri at this shop in Istanbul’s Fatih district since 1865, but the bite-size treat’s history goes back to the glory days of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries.
>> A Monster-sized Dessert Strikes the Heart of Istanbul (Eurasianet)
Sweet-toothed Istanbul residents lined up recently in Taksim Square for a sticky, gooey bite from a 73-meter-long künefe – one meter for every year that the province of Hatay has been a part of Turkey.
More food and drink stories from Turkey
>> Memory in a Bowl (Holiday) [pdf]
For many people in Turkey, there’s no better way to begin the day than with a bowl of soup. This humble yet infinitely variable meal also makes a great starting point for exploring the country’s culinary and cultural history.
>> The Lowdown on the Full Turkish Breakfast (Living360)
From a humble bowl of lentil soup to a lavish spread featuring dozens of sweet and savoury nibbles, this is everything you need to know about Turkish breakfasts — including the best spots to visit if you’re ever in the country.
>> Turkish Food Faces a Changing Climate (Culinary Backstreets)
“CLIMAVORE: Seasons Made to Drift,” a thought-provoking exhibition on display at Istanbul’s SALT Beyoğlu cultural center, explores the effects of climate change on food production in Turkey.
>> How to Drink Turkish Coffee Like a Local (Lonely Planet)
Although the last century or so has seen tea surge in popularity to become Turkey’s most ubiquitous hot drink, coffee still retains a deep cultural tie. There’s still an affinity for a strong cup of traditional Türk kahvesi (Turkish coffee), so steeped in ritual and history that it was added to Unesco’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013.
>> Spring Gone Wild: Weeds and Edibles in Alaçatı (Culinary Backstreets)
The simple word ot, which translates to “herb” or “weed,” doesn’t do justice to the important – and delicious – role these wild greens play in the cuisine of Turkey’s Aegean region. Their versatility was on full display at the recent Alaçatı Ot Festivali, an annual celebration of all things leafy and green.
More food and drink stories from other places
>> Restaurant Day Has Become a Big Deal, Just Not in the U.S. (CityLab)
The pop-up food event that started in Helsinki four years ago has already spread to 68 countries around the world.
>> Cocktails Get Royal Treatment In Gin Garden Pop-Up Bar (Zester Daily) [pdf]
Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in London is internationally renowned for its conservation work. Less well known, perhaps, is the fact that its 300-acre grounds harbor the ingredients for some darn good cocktails.