Yes, Please: Food and Fashion in Turkey
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2008
1
10
13
Trip End
Nov 14, 2008
Istanbul,
Turkey
Sunday, October 5, 2008
"Yes, please!" is the English phrase Americans are greeted with when passing merchants throughout Turkey. We haven't figured out whether this is a direct translation from a corresponding typical Turkish greeting, or whether this phrase is also used for people of other nationalities: i.e., "Si, por favor," or "Oui, s'il vous plait!" Whatever the case, it is the widespread version of 'hello-buy-from-me,' and really, it's a pretty nice way to be greeted.
I think it was our Pacific Northwest travel buddy, Rick Steves, who told me that my vegetarian ways would be no sweat in Istanbul. Rick must not be a vegetarian. Rick lied. It has taken me almost a month to figure out easy ways to be a vegetarian in Turkey. I usually expect my dietary restrictions to be a hassle abroad, so I guess its understandable. I wouldn't have been so disappointed had Rick not given me such high hopes. Anyways, now that I've got it figured out I have come to really enjoy Turkish food.
Pide is a dream come true. It is one common version of Turkish pizza, and it differs from American pizza in a couple ways. First, it has no tomato sauce. Instead, the cheese, or occasionally a thin layer of oil, is the dish's intermediary between crust and topping. I'm not a big fan of really saucy pizza, so I prefer this. Second, the thin crust is shaped like a smile. The crust to topping ratio is also good (more crust, less topping). One can get all sorts of Pide, and Casey is particularly fond of the fired egg topping option.
Before I discovered the various veggie stew and curry options here, I basically lived off a dish called gozleme. It is Turkey's version of the quesadilla or the crepe. The large, square flour tortilla-like sheets are most commonly filled with Turkish feta (less salty than what we eat in the States). Some also include potato, spinach, parsley, tomato, lettuce, and meat. The various combinations of fillings can take it from a quick snack to a hearty meal.
In my food entry from Paris, I wrote about my French fry discovery: they are actually French! Well, Turkey has facilitated additional reflection on these greasy potato sticks. They are everywhere throughout the country. When I told one vendor I didn't eat meat, he offered me a French fry and mayo sandwich (yum, right?). So, I'm baffled: not only are French fries actually French, more and more they appear to be an international cuisine! I've been so out of the loop.
Casey and I spent the other day in Taksim, a trendy shopping district in the city. He was on the hunt for pants (he left a pair on a clothesline somewhere in Southern Turkey) and I decided that I really missed denim, so I was looking for a cheap pair of jeans. Along the way, we made some observations about Turkish fashion. First, the men of Istanbul dress much more fashionably than the average Seattlite. We went through a few different department stores and found that the men's dressing rooms were nicer and more numerous than the women's--can you imagine this in the States? I can't. The fashion market is equally--if not more--targeted toward males here. Second, we found a huge disparity between American denim brands and other nice Turkish brands. We couldn't find a pair of Levis under $100. They seem to really treasure our American jeans, so I left grateful that I usually get them at home without the huge mark ups.
Casey found stylin' brown pants and a blue shirt. I purchased some sweet Turkish jeans. Then...we went to Starbucks. I like Turkish beverages, but I still haven't found anything that matches the American latte.
Comments
French fries
Kenyans eat a ton of french fries too but they call them chips and are cheap and easy to make. They are a global phenomena.
JEN