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Turkish Flavors
Istanbul, Cappadocia, Izmir, Kusadasi, Bodrum
About the location: Your cooking vacation in Turkey will start in Istanbul, one of the world’s most fascinating cities. Historically known as the Byzantine city Constantinople, it is the former capital of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires, and home to such sites as the Hagia Sophia (once the world’s largest cathedral). From there you will journey to Cappadocia in the Central Anatolia region, with its spectacular natural scenery and cultural uniqueness. The area is a plateau made stunning by volcanic peaks and geological formations. It is also one of the most characteristic parts of Turkey from a cultural and culinary standpoint. Next you will journey to Kusadasi on the Aegean coast, where you will see the amazing archeological site of Ephesus and other reminders of the area’s Greek history, including modern villages that maintain much of their Greek heritage. The port town of Bodrum will be your last stop before regurning to the Bosphorus (the Istanbul Strait) and the magnificent center of Istanbul for the final days of your trip.
Accommodations will be at charming boutique hotels offering all the modern comforts.
About the cooking lessons: Your culinary tour of Turkey will include delectable gourmet excursions as well as three cooking lessons, both demonstration and hands-on. Each class will feature the local cuisine made with the freshest local ingredients (usually gathered from one of the many spectacular markets).
- Merhaba and welcome to Istanbul.
- Meet and greet at the airport and transfer to your hotel.
- In the afternoon, stroll in the Fish Market: a bustling labyrinth of stands peddles fish, fruits, vegetables, and spices (with a couple of pastry shops thrown in!), all of which makes for great street theater. Next, walk along the Grand Rue de Pera Area currently called Istıklal Street . Stop at specialty shops such as the famous Ali Muhiddin Haci Bekir, specializing in “Turkish Delights” (lokum) and akide şekeri (different flavors of homemade hard candy), in business since 1777, then on to Saray to give Turkish Desserts a try.
- Welcome dinner will be a “meze” dinner, the tastiest introduction to Turkish cuisine at one of our favorite restaurants.
- After breakfast, your day will begin with a brief talk outlining the highlights of Turkish cuisine, both ancient and modern, with some suggestions about what to look for during your trip.
- Today, you will have the opportunity to watch Baklava being made at a well known shop famous for their excellent Baklava from the city of Gaziantep. You will tour parts of the factory and later taste varieties of Borek (feather light Turkish pastry filled with cheese, minced meat or spinach) and Baklava with Turkish Coffee.
- Then we will tour the Spice Bazaar and stop at shops for tastings. This extensive market was built in the 17th century to finance the upkeep of the nearby mosque, Yeni Cami. The bazaar is often referred to as the “Egyptian Market” due to the fact that spices used to come to the market from India and Southeast Asia via Egypt. Despite the fact that the bazaar is becoming more touristy, there is still plenty to discover for the “foodie.” We will also taste Pastırma –Turkish Pastrami.
- Next, get on board a local ferry and disembark on the Asian side of Istanbul. After visiting some specialty shops you will walk through the colorful market of Kadıköy – an open air street market, very different from the Spice Market and more in tune with the way most Istanbullus cook and eat. We’ll see a huge variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables, plus fish mongers, butchers, bakers, pastry and pudding shops, and olive oil merchants.
- We will taste some of these exciting products before we walk on to a restaurant where the chef, one of Turkey’s foremost cooks who is devoted to letting the world know about the glorious food of his homeland, will introduce us to some of his most splendid and interesting dishes. The ingredients used in the dishes travel from the cities of Hatay and Gaziantep to arrive on your plate in Istanbul: aromatic red pepper pistachios, chickpeas, olive oil and pomegranate molasses. Learn about such specialities as Zahter salad, kebab with pistachios, stuffed eggplant, babahannus, and much more. Following the demonstration we will eat lunch and enjoy some very special deserts only available there.
- Dinner this evening on your own.
- After breakfast visit St. Sophia, the church of the Divine Wisdom, an architectural marvel of all time. It was built during Emperor Justinian’s reign (AD 537) and it remained the greatest church in Christendom until the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Sultan Mehmet II who ordered the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. Visit also the Blue Mosque, a 17th century mosque that dominates the skyline of Istanbul.
- Lunch out during our visits.
- After lunch you will visit the magnificent Topkapı Palace, the residence of the sultans for almost three centuries. It is located on the promontory jutting out between the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. This setting provides a magnificent view. The construction of the Topkapı Palace was completed between 1465 and 1478. Being the imperial residence of the sultan, his court and harem, the palace was also the seat of government for the Ottoman Empire. In the Treasury section, you will see the 7th biggest diamond in the world, the “Spoonmaker’s Diamond.”
- After the Palace, you will continue to explore the ninety-two streets of the famous Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is the largest and oldest covered Bazaar in Turkey with more than 4,000 shops. A variety of Turkish Handicrafts, Oriental carpets, rare jewels and inexpensive souvenirs are sold in small shops next to each other. The streets are named according to the trades, such as gold and silver sellers, carpet sellers, booksellers, etc. The most oriental atmosphere in Istanbul is found in the bazaar. Next, proceed for your hands-on Turkish cooking class in a Turkish home.
- Dinner to follow based on your efforts.
- In the morning transfer to the airport for your flight to Kayseri. Upon arrival at the Kayseri Airport you will be transferred to your hotel for check-in.
- In Cappadocia we will focus on the very particular culture and foods of Anatolia.
- We’ll begin with a visit of a local market and then join a cooking demonstration in a home with the women of the Ayvalı village. They will show us how to make mantı, a traditional dish whose heritage stretches back to the Central Asian origins of modern Turkey. Walk in Ayvali village, where you will watch the villagers make salcha (tomato paste) and pekmez (grape molasses) in a village type of kiln (only in September).
- After lunch our first real encounter with Cappadocia’s almost Martian landscape will be the Dervent valley, where the rock formations are amazing. A walk through the Goreme Open Air Museum is a journey into the past, with its troglodyte houses. This is one of the earliest inhabited and latest abandoned monastic settlements in Cappadocia. After Zelve you will visit Pasabag’s “fairy chimneys”, where the voice of the wind harmonizes with the songs of the fairies.
- From here you will stop at Avanos, a center of terracotta art since 2000 BC, for a demonstration in a traditional pottery workshop. Then we will try our hands at it under the supervision of a master potter.
- Wine tasting at your hotel. Dinner in a local restaurant.
- For those interested in the optional baloon trip (not included in program price): Weather permitting, an early morning transfer will take you to the balloon launching site to meet the balloon crew. The gentle and stable wind conditions are ideal during the first few hours of the day in Cappadocia. It is also the ideal time for photography, with splendid colours and contrasts. The deep canyons and gentle winds carry you over places that could never be reached except by balloon. After flying over Cappadocia for about an hour, you will land to an awaiting champagne breakfast!
- In lieu of the balloon outing, morning at leisure.
- Lunch will be served where the food is cooked in a tandur. You will help make the casserole and cook it in the tandur. The wife of the owner will be pleased to see you in the kitchen to help her with the food. This is going to be a hands-on experience!
- After lunch, you will visit the famous Goreme Open Air Museum to see the best examples of Byzantine art in Cappadocia. These are found in rock-cut churches with frescoes and paintings dating from as early as the 10th century.
- Then while sipping your Turkish Tea or coffee you will enjoy a demonstration and explanation of Turkish carpet making techniques, symbols and different types of carpets.
- Dinner this evening will be on your own.
- This morning transfer for for flight to İzmir.
- Upon arrival proceed to Kusadasi and have lunch at a ecological farm. Then walk around the farm to meet the people who work there and watch the preparation of organic products.
- In the afternoon visit Ephesus, one of the most incredible archaeological wonders of the world.
- After the tour of Ephesus, you will drive to a Sirince village. The village is a perfect synthesis of Turkish and Greek culture as of the 1920s. After the Independence War, there was a “people exchange” between the Greeks and Turks and many typical Greek houses, though they kept their original outside characteristics, have been remodeled to local preferences on the inside.
- We will savor home-made stuffed pancakes – gözleme. We will have some time to stroll through the village and socialize with locals. Along the narrow streets of the village you will come across women selling handicrafts of all kinds and olive oil. Another attraction of Sirince is its home-made fruit wines.
- Dinner this evening on your own.
- After breakfast drive to Tire for a visit of the largest colorful local market in Turkey. There is almost everything for sale at this market, from packsaddles, to felt mats, to incredibly fresh fruit and vegetables. Locals from Izmir come here for their shopping. The olive oil is delicious and its side products, such as olive oil soap, are also fine. Try the very tasty local yogurt and cheese.
- Lunch at a renowned restaurant where you will try delicious samples of the regional cuisine.
- Then drive to your next stop, Bodrum (approximately 3 hours).
- Dinner will be on your own as you may want a light meal.
- You will drive to a local market to shop for the ingredients for your cookery class. At the market local villagers sell self-harvested olives, all kinds of greens and fruits, home made jams, noodles etc. You will drive to a small village in Ortakent, Yarbasan, which is a candidate for the AgaHan prize this year. Each home in this village is a replica of the original ancient homes of the region, and at the center of the village is the Erenler Sofrasi restaurant where you will learn how to cook dishes from the Aegean Turkish cuisine during your hands-on lesson featuring lots of olive oil and herbs. You will taste what you have cooked for lunch.
- In the afternoon visit the Bodrum Castle, which occupies the tip of the wedge-like peninsula at the center of Bodrum. It is a splendid incarnation of medieval western military architecture, built at a time when the European Middle Ages were over and castles of this type were fast becoming objects of nostalgia. It has a massive conglomeration of courtyards, turrets, galleries and sunken gardens.
- Next, you will see the collections of the Museum of Underwater Archeology, located inside the Castle. The museum, the most important of its kind in the world, contains treasures from a series of historic wrecks discovered along Turkey’s southern shores. Mycenaean and Canaanite artifacts recovered from a l2th century BC wreck found off Cape Gelidonya (Antalya) in 1960 formed the original core of the museum. On display in the castle’s Gothic Chapel is a full-scale reconstruction of one third of an Eastern Roman wreck from the 7th century A.D. You will also see the finds from the world’s oldest known shipwreck, a 14th century BC vessel excavated at Uluburun (Kas).
- Dinner will be on your own.
- For those interested in the option cruise (not included in program price): In the morning you will enjoy a cruise around the bays of Bodrum.
- For those not doing the cruise, morning at leisure.
- Lunch will be at the Kısmet Restaurant, very popular among the residents of Bodrum. Owner Orhan brings together local Bodrum women as his ‘tasters’ to maintain the quality and consistency of his food and personally selects the best olive oil and the freshest herbs and vegetables from the markets.
- Next, drive to the airport to take your flight to Istanbul.
- After checking in your hotel in Istanbul you will proceed to a Kebab restaurant for dinner.
- Board a private boat and enjoy the picturesque view of the Bosphorus, or Istanbul Strait.
- Today for lunch we will stop in Ortakoy along the Bosphorus for a short walk amidst the street food sellers, sampling some of the street food.
- Ortaköy (literally “Middle Village” in Turkish) is a neighborhood, formerly a small village, within the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, located in the middle of the European bank of the Bosphorus. Ortaköy is a cosmopolitan area with communities of Turks, Greeks, Armenians, and Jews. The neighborhood hosts many different religious (Muslim, Jewish, Orthodox, and other Christian) structures. It is also a popular spot for locals and tourists alike, full of galleries, night clubs, cafés, bars, and restaurants. The Neo-Baroque style Ortaköy Mosque is a beautifully ornate structure, right on the jetty of Ortaköy and bordering the waters of the Bosphorus, and thus highly visible from the passing boats.
- Tonight’s farewell dinner will be at the Asitane Restaurant. The Asitane Restaurant serves imperial Ottoman cuisine, incorporating Central Asian, Anatolian, Middle Eastern and Balkan flavours, resulting from the intensive research undertaken at three palace kitchens (Dolmabahce, Topkapi and Edirne) to test and recreate long-forgotten imperial dishes, whose recipes were traditionally kept secret. Some of the rediscovered dishes on the menu, such as veal in apple sauce, were served at the circumcision feast held for two of Suleyman’s sons in 1539.
- Transfer to the airport for your departure flight.
