Turkish Tea Time

 After a full week of unnnesessarliy warm weather, we've finally come to a break in the heat. Fall is in the air. I'm sitting outside watching Bella Tuna take her morning stroll, and I'm getting some fresh air in hopes that my cough that can wake the dead will be healed by the delightfully pleasant weather. 

Bella Tuna working out some of her boundless energy.

Yep, for those of you who tuned in last week my valiant batle against a sinus infecction has not ceased. It's getting a bit frustrating to be bested by a cold for this long. Any cold cure tips out there? If any of you have a "this is what mom had us do as kids" remedies, feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments section and I'll be more than happy to try any of them.

You likely noticed that this week's post is entitled "Turkish Tea Time;" allow me to elaborate: On Saturday night, my family hosted a "Welcome home" party for me, in which I shared with them a Turkish style meal. With the wonderful help of my mom, we put together a beautiful spread, trying to replicate the experience that I had in Turkey in our very own backyard.

As I've said in previous posts, one of the primmary reasons for my visit to Turkey was to bring back the cultural lessons that I've learned to the States to share with as many people as possible. I think that this will become a standard practice for me after every country that I visit. Otherwise, if I learn about all of these amazing cultures, people and places, what good would it be to anyone if I selfishly keep what I learn to myself?

So, with my mom and an exceptionally large amount of tissues and hand wipies with me to help contain my cold, we scoured San Diego in search of Turkish goodies. From the International Market on Balboa Avenue we found bread, rose jam, and Turkish Delights.

From North Park Produce also on Balboa Avenue I bought Middle Eastern tea cups, they weren't Turkish style exactly. Turkish style are tulip shaped without a handle. These are tulip shaped, but have handles, which is fine.

The teacups that I purchased. 

I also purchased the fresh produce from this shop and some freshly baked Baklava. Yum.

For the feast, my mom and I prepared Turkish meatballs, Shepherd Salad, and a dill/cucumber yogurt dip. The rest was fresh or already made. 

The spread also included: spicy mixed olives, a creamy, salty cheese, flat bread, peaches, cherry juice (called "vishna" in Turkish) pomegranate vinegar, and lemons.

The spread.

We all sat down around the table and I explained to my family that for Shepherd salad, which is a culmination of essentially whatever veggies you have, you start by pouring on the olive oil, then the vinegar and then lemon. This is the Turkish way of serving it. I then showed them how to sprinkle fresh mint over the meatballs and to eat them with the yogurt dip. To our delight we discovered that the cheese and the rose jam on the bread made an exceptionally yummy treat. 

As we enjoyed ourself on the fine dining, I went inside to start the tea. Turkish tea is a process and a time honored tradition. While I currently do not have the proper tea making equipment, I'm making due with what I have. Once I have access to the proper tea kettle/pot combo I will go into greater detail as to how to make Turkish tea. But, essentially you let water boil and then pour it over loose tea leaves and then you let those tea leaves settle for 17 minutes. Yes, it is specific and this is how I was taught in Turkey. It varies from family to family. Once the tea is done steeping, you pour the tea in the cup, but only to the thinest part in the glass, then you fill the rest witih hot water. 

This is an image of the tulip shaped tea cups in Turkey - see how the middle becomes thin? That's the line to which you fill up with tea. The rest is filled with water. And yes, the cups are hot to the touch. On one evening, one of the gentlemen with whom we were dining noticed that I couldn't hold my tea cup so he improvised a tea cozy/sleeve for me out of a napkin, which I should have figured out to do, but alas, I hadn't yet enjoyed caffein. 

My dad and I brought out the tea on a lovely tea tray that I bought from Goodwill and we served the tea with sugar cubes and lemon. The best way to have the tea is to sweaten to taste, squeeze the lemon and then drop it inside the glass. The tea time was lovely and we all shared many laughs.

After tea we all went inside for coffee and treats. Turkish coffee, of course. Amid my coughs and snuffles all week, I'd been practicing the art of making Turkish coffee. I cannot tell you how many videos I watched in attempt to figure out this process and of course, no two videos are the same. BUT I am a thorough researcher, so after compiling my findings I thought I had found a descent process for me to follow.

Turish coffee is made in an "Jezvet," (photo below) and one made out of copper is the best. It is served in small, espressso sized cups as seen here:

In the photo, you see the white Turkish delight. It is a nice accompanyment to the coffee.

Here is the link to the video that was the most instructive toward how to make Turkish coffee and this instructor can explain the process much better than I. http://youtu.be/OOaI8JC1_EE 

While making the coffee myself, I was trying to explain the process to Victoria (my best friend) only to fail miserably on several attempts. I spilled coffee all over the stove top and I completely messed up the  ratio of water to coffee. Luckily for me, my family was not paying attention and it is customary for Victoria and me to laugh almost uncontrollably when we are together, so the status quo did not seem altered enough to gain attention.

On the third try, I managed to make a passable cup of Turkish coffee. I served it to my family with the traditional Turkish delight on the side. 

I failed to tell my family not to stir the coffee because there are dust-sized coffee grinds on the bottom of the cup and stirring them up makes drinking difficult. However, I did tell them not to swig the last sip because they'd have a mouthful of grinds. Alas, my parents did not receive the message. However, we shared many laughs and the food was wonderful. 

Victoria and my sister Amanda learning about Turkish food culture.

My family truly enjoyed the experience and they were abel to learn about a culture new to them. We went through a slide of the photos from the trip, which further allowed me to talk about Turkish culture and the current happenings in the country. 

Me feeling right at home (literally) feeling like a professor while sharing my experiences with my family.

The evening was a great success and as I happily shared the culture with my family, I hope that you too are inspired to go out and learn about a culture foreign to you. Go on, go and try it! You will likely be delightfully surprised with what you find. And please, by all means, share your experiences, your culture, or your family recipes with us here in the comment section at the Weekly Read! 

Now please excuse me, I have to go save a lizard from Bella.

Lizard that Bella kidnapped and took all over the backyard. He's mostly in one piece and now contently catching his breath in a lemon tree.

Until next week,

Your humble author,

S. Faxon