Cooking Alaturka

On our trip to Istanbul, I took my sister to a cooking class at Cooking Alaturka. I was mainly in it for the five-course meal with wine at the end – surprise! – and that was definitely the highlight.

The cooking class is fun. My first impression of Chef Feyzi was that he seemed like a typically surly exemplar of the species, but he turned out to have a great sense of humour.

The class is aimed at beginners. Students are involved in simple tasks like peeling and chopping. Chef Feyzi does the rest. However, this should not deter more advanced students; if you are a good cook you will probably get more out of it in the long run, since you will find it easier to recreate the dishes at a later date. 

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Istanbul Eats

I have been putting off this post for a while now. Months in fact. 

In early November  I took my sister to Istanbul for her birthday. We had a fantastic, food-filled fling with a sexy city that never sleeps and both fell a little bit in love. I was so caught up in this short romance that I didn’t bother much with foreplay, I just wanted to dive right in.

This is a metaphorical apology for the seriously shocking photos that follow. I really ought to have pressed some of my cameras buttons… but I was too busy pressing my own.

If you are visiting Istanbul and you love food, I highly recommend buying a copy of Istanbul Eats, an English language guide to “the best undiscovered local eateries you might not always find on your own”. We lived by it and we weren’t disappointed.

Ciya

Friendly chefs at Ciya

Red pepper and walnut paste, hummous, celery yoghurt and stuffed aubergine

Celeriac stuffed with minced lamb, lentils and caramelised onion

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A humongous helping of Sydney scrumptiousness

This post has taken a while to come to fruition. I got back to the UK in mid-January but it's been straight back in the deep-end with my Masters and work. Plus I have recently started a new blog about Food Anthropology, check it out.

Mostly, though, I have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of food photos I took in Sydney. I worked out that in the 26 days I was there, there were only 3 days when I didn't eat out. One was Christmas Day, the next was Boxing Day and the other was on my last day, when the hangover I'd managed to avoid all holiday, despite drinking everyday, hit me like a ton of Jagerbombs. I spent the whole day in bed with the blinds down, but my sister brought me gözleme in bed so I'm not sure if that day even counts.

I'd love to talk you through each and every dish I tried, but if I attempted that you'd be waiting till 2015. Instead, I have selected around 3 photos from (almost) every restaurant I visited to give you a little flavour of my culinary escapades in Sydneytown this time round.

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A weekend in Paris

At the end of summer last year I had a lovely weekend in Paris with my Mum. I meant to write it up but, like many things, it got put on the back burner when I started my Masters. It is now far too late for me to share the intricate details of each meal I had there, but I still have the photos.

The best meal, hands down, was at Les Papilles, a recommendation from David Lebovitz which is number one on his list of 10 insanely delicious things you shouldn’t miss in Paris. I did actually start writing a review of this, so I will finish it off and post it soon.

In the meantime, here are the photos of all the lovely (and not so lovely) things I ate in Paris, along with details of the dishes and restaurants.

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Le Pou de la Neu

Most people are willing to pay a lot of money to dine in front of a view like this. 

At Le Pou de la Neu you don’t have to. Our group of nine managed to get away with 40 euros per head – that bought us 8 starters (which could well have passed for main courses), 9 mains, 4 desserts to share and 6 bottles of fabulous local wines.

Le Pou de la Neu is a hotel and restaurant set in the mountains above the village of Jijona in the Alicante province, Spain. Jijona, or Xixona in Valenciano, is famous for their Turrón de Jijona – a type of nougat made with almonds. This appears on the restaurant menu, along with a number of other local delicacies. The focus of the menu is very much on regional produce and recipes.

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