Nothing of particular importance happened today, save a few memorable meals. It was one of those days during which I'm constantly reminded of just how delicious and comforting Turkish food is.
It started out at breakfast. I woke up (without an alarm, at 7am! what world am I living in?), took my shower, and joined my host mother in the kitchen, where she had already prepared the morning's spread of fresh feta cheese, diced tomatoes, sliced cucumber, homemade candied apricots, and tea. She was at the stove, finishing up the Turkish omlette that was to be the bulk of my meal. A few slices of bread were warming in the toaster. I sat down and began to fill my plate with vegetables before my host mother plopped half a skillet's worth of eggs and parsley alongside them. I ate my meal as slowly as the morning would allow, ending it with an open-faced candied apricot sandwich and a big gulp of hot tea.
After a bit of trouble with the buses, I arrived at the TAA building a little bit late and wasn't able to get my water from the local market. During our first break, I ran downstairs to buy a bottle, along with some cold peach nectar and a roll of hazlenut-creme cookies to share with some of the other girls. The rest of the morning went by relatively quickly, and it was lunchtime before I knew it. One of my favorite parts of the day.
We've been going back to the same lokanta for lunch almost daily for the past two weeks. It's close, reliable, and incredibly cheap. For about three lira, I can fill up on lentil soup, salad, fresh bread and tea. For a few extra lira, I'll often split another dish with a friend. Last week, we ate a lot of lahmacun, a type of Turkish flatbread cooked with minced meat, spices, and parsley on top. Today, it was the yogurt kebab. In my opinon, it's the king of all kebabs, and probably my greatest temptation in all of Ankara. There's no way it's at all healthy. But my god if it isn't the most delicious thing on the menu.
The yogurt kebab consists of three (arguably four) layers of relatively simple ingredients that are irresistible when combined. On the bottom is a round loaf of flatbread (pita would be its closest relative in the bread family), slightly toasted and cut into square-inch pieces. On top of that, a layer of full-fat (of course) yogurt. The final layer consists of tomato sauce and chunks of kebab meat, placed on top of the bread and yogurt to create convenient little stacked bites. It's served with spicy green pepper and parsley, both of which add just the right amount of crispness to the dish. I devoured my portion of the kebab (we split it between three people) after having finished my standard bowl of lentil soup.
We had a longer lunch break than usual, owing to a special lecture that was scheduled for the afternoon, so some of us wandered down to the commercial area for some MADO ice cream after our meal. It's a Turkish chain that makes some of the best ice cream I've ever had. I'm currently obsessed with the banana flavor - it's not artificial in any way, and I often find chunks of banana in it. I had some with chocolate today before heading back to the TAA building for our lecture. This afternoon, I walked around for a while with some program friends, trying to find clothes for our trip to Alanya tomorrow, and then made my way home to rest for a bit.
Later that evening, while working in my room, I could smell them before I knew they were real. I went to the kitchen to confirm my suspicions, and sure enough, there was my host mother, making gozleme. Gozleme are a sort of Turkish quesadilla made with filo-like sheets of dough stuffed with either meat, cheese, or potatoes, folded into a square, and fried on a skillet. Along with the salad and soup she'd set out for dinner, my host mother was preparing a pile of feta-parsley gozleme, one of my favorites. (I told her that I love them and now apparently she's making as much as she can before I leave.) At the table, I savored each bite of gozleme with a bit of yogurt and salad until I physically couldn't eat any more. I think I was my host mother who actually pressured me into eating the last few pieces, but I can't say for sure.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of my lunch or breakfast, but I had my camera ready this evening. Here's what was left of the gozleme after I forced myself to stop eating:
Along with two of the remaining stuffed green peppers my host mother had set out on the table:
I'm guessing my waistline hasn't appreciated the summer as much as I have, but it's been worth it. I won't have easy access to most of these foods three weeks from now (!!) so I figure I need to enjoy as much as I can while I have the chance. :)
As I'm writing, I think I can smell fresh corn steaming in the kitchen. It's already 10pm and I'm incredibly full from dinner... I wonder if I'll be able to say no?
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