Gladys Travels to Turkey

In the middle of August Gladys headed off on her adventure to Turkey and South Africa. She has now completed her trip to Turkey and sent along these pictures for all to enjoy.  Gladys was joined on the Turkey portion of the trip by two companions -  Rosie Sharp from Texas and Myra Cowan. Myra is a friend from Little Cayman and Rosie was her assistant editor when she wrote the cookbook "Cook Em Horns" for the University of Texas 30 years ago. The trip was a cultural and cuisine trip lead by Joan Peterson, author of "Eat Smart in Turkey".  It started in Istanbul on Wednesday August 17 with a cooking class at the Istanbul Culinary Institute.  Then Gladys headed off to see the Blue Mosque Hagia Sophia,  followed the next day by visits to the Spice Market, the  Baklava Factory and Topkapi Palace. On Friday they took a ferry to the Prince Islands, where carriages drawn by donkeys and bikes are the only means of transportation.  The ferry also took them to the Asia side of Istanbul.  The city is located in both Europe and Asia!!! There they had a wonderful dinner in the Kadikay region at the Ciya restaurant. The following day they went to the city of Troy with dinner at the wonderful seafood restaurant - Yaloava. At the restaurant they were given a cooking demo on an ugly bottom dwelling fish and a beautiful salt encrusted sea bass. After about a dozen courses, they were joined by the chef and received tastings of about a dozen desserts!!!! That evening Gladys ended up at the hospital with very swollen legs and feet!!! The following day the group took a cable card ride to ancient Pergamum.  This was followed  by a super lunch where the owner sat at their table and sang ballads in Turkish, of course.  A visit to Ephesus followed. That evening there was a visit to a winery property where they had very old olive trees. The owner couple had a super spread of local dishes and their own wines!!! The next day they flew to Kayseri, in the region where the lunar landscape is located, and visited local rug making and pottery establishments and took an exciting balloon ride.They were able to enjoy a local specialty - lamb stew cooked in a pot that has to have the neck cleavered off to be able to enjoy the contents. Gladys' got a little heavy handed in removing the neck of her jug and took off more than necessary! The Turkey portion of the trip ended by flying back to  Istanbul.  This was 10 days of wonderful cuisine. Gladys will be using the recipes at Pirates Point this fall and winter!!  Come join us and learn more details. Now onto Johannesburg.