Read this article and tell me you don’t want to go to Istanbul ASAP?
Mey = wine (Persian) and Khone = house (hana in Turkish)
Meyhana. In Japanese, Izakaya. There are 1000 Meyhanas in Istanbul all open at 3 AM.
I’ve been there…and I’d like to go back ASAP for similar reasons, though I don’t like raki. (And, like eaux de vie in Alsace, they look so good-- when other people are consuming them.
I guess they open that early to get ready for the ubiquitous “call to prayer” not long thereafter?
The spouse and I went on our honeymoon to Turkey and went to one of these places recommended by the manager at the small hotel at which we stayed. It was quite a haul but the food was amazing and cheap.
I’m sure I skipped the raki and went for beer though. Unlike most Americans who’ve had an early bad experience with tequila and have sworn off it for life, my unpleasantness was the result of too much 'arak, the Arab equivalent of raki and ouzo. Fun fact: 'arak is also the Arabic word for ‘sweat’.
Yes, the wines over there vary a lot. There are some very good ones (I’ve yet to have a great one), but also a lot of schlock. Interestingly, they have the potential for an enormous production (something like Italy, IIRC). Of course the religious ones put up a certain level of objection (a devout Muslim doesn’t drink), but so far it hasn’t had a great effect.
You probably read it but the second paragraph of the article I linked says about what you said. Huge grape production, incompetent wine making, complete ignorance by shops and restaurants about how to store wine without killing it:
Whenever I go to Istanbul, the highlight is the night when we go to a meyhane. Literally, this means a “wine house”; although nowadays you would be hard-pressed to find good, or any, wine in a meyhane. (Don’t let me get started on the theme “Turkish wine”. It is a pity that the 4th biggest grape grower country in the world, just after Italy, is not capable of producing decent wines. And the very, very few good wines are often ruined by uneducated restaurant owners and waiters, who don’t know how to store and serve it.)
Right. For instance, we went to Sirince, the hill town above Selcuk (where Ephesus is). The grow a fair amount of wine, and there were a few tasting rooms, but it was pretty horrible. Asking around, I discovered that all the vineyards have their wine made by the same guy. On the other hand,
Serafin Chardonnay 2009
Doluca
Çanakkale
and
Blend Blanco 2007
Çavuş, Vasiliki, Sauvignon Blanc
Corvus
Bozcaada
and
Selection Kirmizi
Kavaklidere, Turkey
Öküzgözü
2005?
were all pretty decent.
Thanks for the suggestions, Peter. Unfortunately the 3 AM thing is going to run into this:
When I took my first wine class as an undergrad, my prof showed us a slide show he had taken in various countries. He showed us a pic he took of one grape vine in Turkey. One vine covered an entire acre of land. The vine was being suspended by a latticework trellis overhead that spanned the entire acre. The trunk was massive. I can’t imagine how old that thing was. Quite a sight to behold.
Frank,
I’m assuming you’re using sumac in some of your Turkish recipes. Where are you getting from around here?
My neighbors cook a lot of Persian and Turkish food and have the pantry to prove it. So I borrow sumac. But you could probably buy it at the Phoenician Bakery on George’s Road, up near the shopping centers on Route 1. I was just there recently buying dried lemons, dried small fava beans for Ful, and Labne.
I wonder if any of the Indian markets on Oaktree rd. would carry it?
I always see a great variety of powdered spices in the “Patel Cash and Carry” type stores – there are a couple on Plainfield Avenue. But I don’t specifically remember sumac.
I found a recipe for lamb kebabs in the current Saveur, but since I can’t easily find ground lamb and didn’t want to grind it myself, plus I was looking to go a little lighter, I decided to switch to turkey. (Turkish turkey, Bob Wood would be rolling his eyes)
The recipe started with pureéd pistachios and a mix of well processed herbs and spices and onions. This was then mixed with bulghur that had been soaked and the ground meat. Now I think that the Wegmans ground turkey was ground much finer that the recipe presumed and I also could have tweaked the ratios of the other ingredients, and mixed it all together a little earlier in the day. The result I got was far too loose to press onto the skewers I have. I don’t own the very broad flat type of skewer although the ones I do have aren’t round. I ended up punting and frying the meat shaped into small meatballs so that we could still eat them in flatbread. The end product was delicious regardless.
Penzey’s sells sumac; there is a Penzey’s store in Summit if that’s close to you. Otherwise, easy enough to order on line: Sumac Berries | Penzeys
Mark, they have the flat “sword” kebab skewers at Phoenician Bakery, and it’s not a far trip for you, I think it’s still New Brunswick. George’s road. I forgot to see if they have ground lamb but there are many halal butchers who will sell you ground lamb including the guy on Woodbridge Avenue near Old Post Road. Wegmans has it and if they are out I’m sure they would grind up a shoulder by request.
A lot of good recipes for köfte just say to fry them, some of the better ones have a tender texture that wouldn’t allow skewering (like Ladies’ Thighs).
BTW I did happen to notice that Phoenician had frozen Gyro/Döner kebab. These are strips that were shaved off the rotating cylinder of meat, stacked, packed, and frozen. Take 'em home, heat 'em up, toast some pita pockets and you’re in business. Not that you want to do that but I was intrigued by the fact that I could “make” Gyro at home.
Thanks Bob.
scheduled to go to Istanbul end of Sept, combined w/a trip to Prague. May have to reconsider if civil war is occurring!
alan
Right, no way I would go with this political climate. I joked that I spent a few years trying to learn Japanese and then, after the Tsunami, we went to Barcelona instead (and did meet a few Japanese tour groups there so I could try out some phrases).
Now I’m studying Turkish and I think we may go to Vancouver, where there don’t appear to be many Turks.
Well to be fair sooner or later it will be the right time to go to Istanbul…
And who knows, maybe Japan.
Bump – and a recommendation for Meyhanas (please read the URL in my OP) plus a warning that the new government restrictions have probably changed the landscape quite a bit.
BTW Raki is not “rah-key.” Rocky. The final “i” does not have a dot, and that makes it a very dark vowel, like a schwa (upside down e). So it is “rah-kuh” as in “so-fuh”. And it’s identical to Ouzo but don’t tell that to a Turk. Also close to Pastis, and various other licorice flavored alcohols sold around the Mediterranean.
Yeah…they drink it everwhere at cafes in Instanbul. It looks so cool…and refreshing…especially when it turns milky mixed with water. But…then there’s the licorice/anis flavor you have to like (and I don’t.)…so…like eaux de vie… that stuff looks a lot better than it tastes.
Is it really identical to Ouzo? Close…but…
added: according to this link raki is at least twice as alcoholic as ouzo. Ouzo is descended from raki, but is lighter in fire power.