Last night me and the guys go out for Çiğ köfte. I defer to Wikipedia to help us with this one... "is a raw meat dish in Turkish, very similar to kibbeh nayyeh and to a lesser extent to steak tartare." I would add to that it being ground to a mush, with spices, so you can shape it like dough. It was served beside a plate of lettuce and parsely. Wrap the köfte in a sheath of lettuce, add a few sprigs of parsely, drizzle with lemon, and dip in a chili sauce.
I insist to try a cow brain salad once before I leave, something fairly common but you have to know where to find it.
A few ideas are getting kicked around for the weekend, I think the theme being to get to a beach. One is travel to a student's summer home. The other: There is a small island called Avsa about 4 hours away, where Erdem has offered to coordinate my stay if I wish.
After today I think I will have a better idea how this will play out.
No matter what happens I am ready for a good time and to make the most of it, that much is clear.
I ask Erdem about vacation time. This year he has none. In previous years he will take maybe a few weeks with Mustafa in control while he is away. But I get the feeling it is more a personal choice depending on how the business is performing. Right now he is in the middle of negotiations with the property manager, the possibility of re-locating, finances, etc.
Ramadan has begun. There are mixed feelings on this. Obviously, there are plenty of followers who practice the tradition of fasting, 4 in the morning to 8 at night. These people take it very seriously. For the guys at my dorm it is as if it's a personal challenge like pride, almost like a cool thing to do. When I ask Erdem he kind of sighs. His view is certainly non-religious but what I find interesting, during this time, are the social vices he mentions - increasing cases of heartburn, diabetes complications, fainting, increased hospitalizations, and decreased productivity.
As I have seen time and again , with a lot of things in Istanubl, there is always this bittersweet discord between the old and the new.
More than a few people have asked me if I will "take part" in the practice and with all respect, for the record, I have no intention to go without eating for 16 hours.
That being said, you can imagine I am very interested to see just what the food is like after a day of not eating. I hear it is somehow different and there is the occasion of a feast involved, which is always exciting to me.
The blog is nearing its final stages... I do hope people have found it both informational and entertaining. It has been more than my pleasure to share with everyone, hopefully some good stories coming to end with, keep posted!
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