Greetings!

I arrived in Istanbul a little over 24 hours ago, and I love it already. The first night, I got to my hotel late in the evening and went straight to the fancy hotel restaurant. I decided to stay in a nicer hotel for the first couple of nights before moving on to a hostel (with a private room and private bathroom because I will not stay in a dorm at my old age). At the restaurant, I ordered traditional Turkish dumplings. I am not typically someone who eats all of their food on the plate, but this time I did. Every last bite. It was so delicious that the first thing I googled after dinner was “cooking class Istanbul” and then I immediately signed up for a cooking class the next evening (today, I just got back).

For this blog, I am going to try and include sections that are ‘of the moment’ in every post. Food, fashion, photos, music, etcetera. We will see how it goes and what I keep. Here we go.

Snack of the moment: Traditional Turkish dumplings aka Turkish Manti. Holy shit. Here’s a recipe that I found that looks similar to the dumplings that I had night one, lamb-stuffed dough covered in a yogurt sauce, tomato sauce, and a brown butter sauce. Impeccable. I will definitely be trying this (and probably screwing it up) when I get home, whenever that is.

Outfit of the moment: This is going to be a section that I do every post because I am vain and I love clothes. And necklaces and stuff. I was not sure how to dress today since I had yet to have the chance to do much people watching of the locals. So, I went more on the modest side versus the middle school brat/slut look I have been going for lately. For today’s outfit of the moment, here’s a couple of dumb photos I took of myself in my hotel room:

Pants: Vuori

Top: Garage

Scarf: Hermes (thanks, Mom)

Necklace: some random vintage store in Tallinn, Estonia

Button down: Ralph Lauren, teen boy section

Lipstick: Pat McGrath (this shit has stayed on for 14 hours as I write this)

Some cool photos of the moment:

Fun fact(s) of the moment: Today, October 29, is Republic Day in Turkey, or in Turkish – Cumhuriyet Bayramı. Celebrations start on October 28th at around 13:00 (side note: I use 24-hour/military time now, and celsius, and also the metric system, because I am really cool and really worldly). Today celebrates when Turkey was declared a Republic, on October 29, 1923. So today is the 101st anniversary. There are Turkish flags and celebrations all around.

Another fun fact is that Istanbul has approximately 300,000 cats living in the city. The locals care for them, and they are all so friendly and cute. They distracted me on my morning run. I love them all. “The cats rule this city, they just let us live here,” our cooking class instructor told us at the beginning of the tour.

The cooking class: what an amazing night. I booked it through Viator last night, hoping that I was not too late. Gülşah, the local chef from Ankara, texted me quickly over Whatsapp and let me know where to meet and what we would be doing. She asked if I had any dietary restrictions, which thankfully for everyone I am no longer a vegetarian. She even gave me detailed metro instructions, which was super helpful. The public transportation around here rules, on another note.

I met Gülşah, her little dog, and an Australian couple – Sam and Kate – for the tour at 16:30 (I told you earlier that I use fancy time now). Sam and Kate were a delight and they have been travelling for the past couple of months. Australians travel so much, and I always love them. They told me all about their recent trips to Sicily, Amsterdam, and Berlin. They are both retired professors, and I love them. Sam took about 150 photos and videos and then airdropped them all to me. You will see some of those here in after I spit some words about the food.

THE FOOD. Oh my god, the food. First, Gülşah took us around to the local markets around the Nisantasi and Kurtulus neighborhoods. Very Turkish, not very touristy at all. The markets are all beautiful. They do not have large supermarkets here like in the states – instead, they each have their own themes and specialties. Plus some bodega-like markets. First, Gülşah took us to a breakfast market. Cheese is very important for breakfast here. As it should be everywhere, really. Then we went to a market full of glorious fresh produce. I think I would eat a lot better if I lived here. We also went to a spice market, a bread market, a meze market and a dessert shop.

Next, we went to Gülşah’s beautiful apartment to make an elaborate meal. We started with some mezes – Turkey’s superior version of appetizers. My favorite, which we snagged from the meze market, is called havuc tarator, which is grated sautéed carrots, olive oil, garlic, and yogurt. It was so delicious with the fresh bread that we got from – you guessed it – the bread market.

For the main dish, we made a rice and orzo pilaf along with a concoction of Izmir style meatballs (they are longer, more phallic and less ball-like), potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and homemade tomato paste, plus some salt, pepper, and cumin. The meatballs, which I personally hand mixed for over ten minutes, were first sautéed and then put in the oven with the rest of the goods. The result was absolutely delicious. We also made a very simple pumpkin dessert: pumpkins, sugar, cloves, water, and cinnamon, put on the stove for over an hour, then topped with walnuts. It was delightful. I have traditionally only eaten pumpkins in pie and I am questioning the lack of pumpkins in my diet.

Overall, it was an incredible experience and I learned so much about the cuisine, the cooking style, and Turkish culture. 10/10 would recommend. I am definitely going to make an effort to do more cooking classes on my journey. As someone who has had a difficult relationship with food and has struggled with an eating disorder for over a decade, this is really good for me to be so excited about eating. It feels good. I feel good. “Let’s put some weight on you while you’re in Turkey,” Gülşah said to me as she passed me more bread and dessert.

Here’s some photos:

Song of the moment: Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl – Chappell Roan

Why? Because it is a bop. And I am a super graphic ultra modern girl who has left the planet, basically.

Featured lyrics: Not overdramatic, I know what I want / We’re leaving the planet, and you can’t come.

Honorable mention song of the moment: Espresso – Sabrina Carpenter. I’m working late, cuz I’m a writer (unemployed).

Okay bye for now!!! xoxo