Feel the burn!

I like to eat and drink. It is my way of discovering the world (and sublimating my inner demons). For me, Istanbul remains one of the gems of European travel.

Hamdi is one of the best restaurants in Istanbul, but if you are watching the budget (or are blind like me and walk straight past it) go next door to the café. You enter by the pastry shop downstairs.

A view of Istanbul from Eminonu Port

The large windows open onto the square below that looks along the Galata Bridge across the Golden Horn, with the Bosphorus glittering to the right on a sunny day. The square itself is bordered by two Istanbul icons. The Misir Carşişi or ‘Spice Bazaar’ is still filled with the aromas of cinnamon and other spices, even if souvenirs now take up most of the shelf space. The 400 hundred year old Yeni Cami or ‘New Mosque’ dominates the square and gives you a sense of how time is measured here.

Why had I come to Hamdi? The food is great and if you enjoy traditional Turkish Shish, then you have found a new home. Now comes the time to refresh the palate. Now is the time for raki!

As I sat sipping my raki it was the first day of Ramadan. The muezzin of the Yeni Cami gave the afternoon call to prayer so that all my senses were filled with the intoxicating beauty of this ancient city.

There was only one problem: the raki. Raki is a traditional anise-flavoured spirit and kind of the national drink of Turkey. It is mixed with chilled water, which turns this clear liquid to milky white as it dilutes.

Sipping raki, take 1; WOW! Take 2; Ah, now that's better.

Unfortunately, my waiter thought it better just to pour it over ice. It looked good, but the first sip was like swallowing fire. I am not talking about a martini-like hit here. I am talking about thinking my throat was melting. Luckily, so was the ice and it diluted the raki, the flavours started to emerge and the alcohol subsided. I removed the expression of panic from my face. I committed to the process, steeled myself and finished my medicine. Good times!

Seriously, if you want to experience a place it is not enough just to see, hear and touch. You have to smell and taste to discover the building blocks of a culture. Besides, raki is very nice…if you show a little patience

HAMDİ RESTAURANT
Tahmis Caddesi Kalçın Sokak No:17 Eminönü - İSTANBUL
Tel: (0533) 658 80 11
http://www.hamdirestorant.com.tr/

Olive Oil: Not Just for Cooking

As a kid, growing up in Calabria (Southern Italy), olive oil was a main cooking ingredient, but more importantly, it was most often the only medicine in our cabinet. My mom used it for everything; if we had a stomach ache she would give us a tablespoon of olive oil to drink; if we had an ear ache she would warm up a little olive oil to drop into our ears; if our skin was itchy - yup, olive oil rub.

It went beyond medicine; if she suspected that someone gave us the evil eye, she would call the neighbor’s ‘nonna’ to come by and pray to break the spell. I used to hide under the table and listen to the ritual which consisted of dropping some olive oil in a basin full of water and watch to see what patterns the oil formed and only ‘nonna’ knew for sure if the evil eye had been cast. Olive oil was our life really, a bit like Windex in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
It amazed me when I arrived in Canada - wow, no olive oil anywhere! It was still a luxury in the 70’s in Toronto and the large supermarkets only carried vegetable and canola oils. So we had to go to the local Italian market to get it, because even though we were in Canada, my mom still swore by our old country remedies.

So when the olive oil craze hit Canada, most of us who are of Southern Italian descent were thrilled to finally take the oil out of the closet and share our stories with the rest of society without having them think we were nuts.

Now as I stand in the oil section of the supermarket I see people checking out labels and deciding what brand to buy and what the difference is now that we have an abundance of products. Italy is one of the top olive oil producing countries in the Mediterranean, but what most visitors who travel to the north don’t realize is that one third of all the olive oils produced in Italy comes from the South where the dry terrain produces some of the best qualities. If you are lucky enough to be traveling in Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey and even Israel during the harvest, it’s a great time to learn a lot about olives and the process of producing the various lines of oils. All of these countries now offer a huge selection of discovery or tasting tours to really learn about this fascinating ingredient. One itinerary I came across that sounds particularly lovely is from Trafalgar Tours and takes you through Italy with stops in Chianti, Tuscany and Florence, where you can sample wines, local cheeses, meets, and, of course, olive oil!

If you have any interesting stories about olive oil of your own, post them to our comments - I'd love to hear about them!