If you want to spice up your life, then stroll through Turkish bazaars where you’ll see and your nose will smell piles of colorful spices like oregano, mint, cumin, sumac, paprika and sticks of cinnamon plus dried fruit, nuts and fish. It is an olfactory delight.
These fifteen containers of spice at the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, display several of the top Turkish spices which include mint, allspice, cumin, sumac, paprika, black cumin, red pepper, sesame seeds and oregano. Within the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, are countless stalls that display rows of spices in sacks, bins and/or plastic dividers. Collectively they emit aromas that your nose has probably never experienced.
You do not always know what you are eating when you travel to a foreign country, such as this display in Istanbul, Turkey, of different dried grapes, mulberries, legume seeds, apricots and plums plus curious, candy-covered sucuk (translated as sausages). However, you always know you can pay for it with your Visa card or American Express as evidenced by those familiar logos in the upper-left corner.
If you would like to dress like an Ottoman sultan, then go to the empire’s former capital city of Constantinople (now called Istanbul, Turkey) and shop for these colorful kaftans at the Grand Bazaar (called Kapaliçarşi in Turkish) just like they did when this large, covered market first opened in the middle of the 15th century. The kaftan (also spelled caftan) was a long, ornate coat or robe. Its decorations indicted the person’s rank and importance. If you want to see the real kaftans, then visit the Topkapi Palace which is where the Ottoman Sultans lived from 1465 until 1856. This museum displays a large collection of original artifacts.
During a visit to Turkey you should try some dried fruit like these on display at a market in Istanbul. Among the offerings are pineapple, apricots, mango, kavun (ripe melon), zencefil (ginger), ceviz (walnuts) and visne (cherries). Apparently, Turkey in general and Istanbul in particular is a significant exporter of dried fruits and nuts and has an association of over 100 members. So, once you are home, you can still enjoy these treats.
The European anchovy, called the hamsi baliği in Turkish, is a silver, eight inch fish that is common in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. The primary season is late fall and early winter when they appear at the markets in Istanbul, Turkey, and are featured as part of Black Sea cuisine in restaurants. The many ways anchovies are used include pickled, canned, turned into paste, added to sauces and incorporated into entrees. They are also used as fishermen’s bait which, I believe, is the best fate for these small, strong-tasting fish.
The Grand Bazaar, called Kapaliçarşi in Turkish, is an enormous, old covered market in Istanbul, Turkey. It consists of over 3,000 shops across 75 acres that employs over 25,000 people to serve the quarter-million plus shoppers that visit daily. Its origins date back to the 15th century when the Ottomans ruled over Constantinople. The buildings are built from brick and stone. The arched ceilings are brightly painted and have large windows for providing the primary means of lighting.
There are 22 gates leading into the Grand Bazaar, called Kapaliçarşi in Turkish, and you could probably spend the day walking around the thousands of shops and not see them all. But after a few hours, you’ve probably waved off enough aggressive shopkeepers, bargained hard with a few of them, and seen enough spices, jewelry, textiles, clothing, leather and souvenirs. What is hard to find in this 550 year old market is good bathrooms, which is a major downfall when 250,000 to 400,000 people visit there every day. Diehard shoppers can also go to other traditional bazaars and markets (semt pazari) or several large, modern malls.
The fear of falling victim to the “evil eye” for its powers to injure you or give you bad luck dates back to Greco-Roman antiquity. For protection, a blue or green eyed talisman or amulet was created called nazar. They are typically a circle of glass with a round or tear-shaped white eye surrounded by blue or black. The Turkish believed that wearing one, or having it at home, not only protects against the evil eye but also sends the malicious effect back to the original sender. Displays of nazar jewelry for sale are a common sight in the markets of Istanbul, Turkey.
The season for the Black Sea palamut fish, called bonito, is from August through January. They tend to be less than two pounds and are often filleted and then grilled like a steak. They are a firm, large-boned fish that tastes similar to tuna or mackerel. This display at a market in Istanbul, Turkey, lets you choose from three sizes of palamut.
This display of mixed vegetables (karişik sebzeler in Turkish) at a market in Istanbul, Turkey, can spark the culinary imagination of any good cook whether they are planning Turkish cuisine or some other delicious meal. These red cabbages, cucumbers, red chili peppers, lemons and radishes are perfect ingredients for a soup, vegetable dish, or for stuffing the entrée. But while in Turkey, don’t forget to use olive oil.
This display of spices, nuts and cinnamon is typical of what you’ll see at the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey. Located along the waterfront in the Faith municipality next to the famous Yeni Camii (the new mosque) and several other historical mosques, the Spice Bazaar is the second largest of the old covered markets and, as its name implies, it is the epicenter of the city’s spice trade. Its Turkish name is Misir Çarşisí.
Kuşadasi, Turkey, is a town of less than 100,000 that attracts tourists to their hillside hotels overlooking the attractive beaches along the Aegean coast. This new area has a European feel. However, the old section near the water contains a mosque, castle, walls and gates, some of which date back to the early 17th century. Here you’ll find the Orient and Grand Bazaars, the later that contained this display of fresh fish. About three miles away you can visit the home where Mary, the Virgin Mother of Jesus, spent the last years of her life.
Every husband and wife with an exotic flair and no inhibitions needs these perfect his-and-her outfits: A kaftan for him and a revealing, two-piece belly dancer outfit with the fringed bra for her. Then the man can feel like a sultan from the Ottoman Empire while she is part of the palace harem.
If you ever dreamed of being a belly dancer, then several shops in Marmaris, Turkey, can outfit you. And don’t forget to also buy zills, which are tiny finger cymbals that are essential to properly performing the fast, athletic and flamboyant moves of Oryantal Dansi. But don’t try this dance in the Middle East where many people consider it to be offensive and even haram, which means it’s forbidden by Allah.
This display at a market in Marmaris, Turkey, specializes in two spices. The first is Turkish and Indian saffron, which has been used for over 4,000 years for everything from a medicine, dye, bathing agent, aphrodisiac and, oh yeah, to add aroma and flavor to food. It is extremely expensive because it takes about twenty hours to harvest the 50,000 to 75,000 crocus flowers to produce a single pound. The second is pepper. The black is when the unripen peppercorns are cooked and dried, the white is only the plant’s seed, and the red are usually processed in vinegar and brine. The origin of pepper is traceable to southern India at least a thousand years B.C.
