I drink wine often at home but gave it up while traveling in Turkey because alcoholic drinks are forbidden to Muslims, and I wanted to respect that.
At a cocktail reception I attended, the cocktails were fruit juice, even though the hotel where this event took place had a beautiful bar.
I became so used to doing without that when I saw people laughing and drinking beer at outdoor cafes in Istanbul, it looked odd and unappealing.
I did have wine one evening, at Bayazhan Restaurant in Gaziantep, a beautiful place with vaulted ceilings like a historical monument (above). Wine was poured there at a dinner during Gaziantep's inaugural Bulgur Festival.
This is a closer look at the label. The words kirmizi sek şarap under 2013 mean dry red wine. Read more about Kayra wines by clicking here.
Dinner started with a yogurt soup that contained cubes of lamb, chick peas and, in honor of the Bulgur Festival, grains of bulgur wheat.
Meatball-like Arab kofte in spicy thick yogurt (above) were made of bulgur rather than meat, again in honor of the festival.
Dolma--stuffed dried eggplant and peppers--contained meat and rice (above). We also ate çiğ köfte, Turkey's version of steak tartare, made with raw lamb instead of beef. The lamb is "cooked" with spices rubbed into it by hand.
Kebabs are much loved in Turkey. The plate above included delicious chicken and lamb kebabs. Ground lamb kebabs had taken on the flavor of the eggplant with which they were grilled.
Another course was roast lamb to eat with rice pilaf studded with pistachios and currants (above).
The dinner included cheese-stuffed borek. This one looked like a pastry (above) but was made entirely of cheese, sprinkled with nigella and sesame seeds.
In the eastern part of Turkey, each town has its own special cheese. Four of these were on a plate along with dried figs, apricots, raisins, olives, walnuts, cucumbers and tomatoes. On the left is a salad of walnuts with tiny olives.
Another salad combined purslane with onions, sweet red peppers, tomato and flecks of red chile. The purslane salads in Gaziantep were delightful, and I noticed how common that green was in markets there (above). The Turkish word for purslane (verdolaga) is semizotu.
For dessert, there was carrot baklava (above), which includes no carrots but is named for its long slim shape. The Turkish way to eat this is by hand, turned upside down so that the syrupy layer is on top.
The restaurant also brought out a beautiful fruit plate (above).
The way out led through this spacious terrace, a romantic place to have Turkish coffee or tea after dinner.
Note: This dinner took place during Gaziantep's bulgur festival in 2016. I postponed publishing it because of terrorism incidents at that time and the more recent denial of visas to American citizens. Would I return to Turkey now? Absolutely. The food and people are wonderful. I would love to spend time again in markets, bakeries, restaurants and book stores, aspects of Turkish culture overshadowed by more sensational news.
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