Turkish Food

Istanbul has been full of great new food to sample, and Adam and friends have done a great job of making sure I try it all. One of the first things I tried was Simit: sesame crusted bread rings, which although somewhat bland, could single handedly sustain the starving backpacker, being that they cost about 25 cents a piece. Next was Matı: pasta filled with minced meat (somewhat like ravioli), covered with olive oil and a tastey yogurt sauce, definately one of my favorite dishes so far. A dish which is quite popular, much to my surprise, is the baked potatoe. Don't be deceived however, this is no 'American' baked potatoe, but one on steroids containing: cheese, potatoe salad (that's right), corn, peas, olives, some kind of rice, sausage pieces, (and potentially more that I'm forgetting), topped off with generous helpings of ketchup and mayo. For those that may be cringing at the contents...it's really good!

Two more favorites have been the pides (sp?) and borek, pides being some what of a 'pizza stick' of bread filled with cheese or meat and the borek being a very flakey pastery filled with meat or cheese.

Tonight we'll be trying some sheep intestine sandwhich, the name of which escapes me, and rice stuffed mussels. The descriptions sound a bit less than desirable if you ask me, but if experience serves, then they should prove to be fantastic.