Travel Beaches, baklava & lion’s milk Back in Kuşadasi, some of our tour group participants asked Dilek to suggest beaches for them to visit the following day. “Downtown Beach and Ladies Beach are nearby, but you can take adolmus(minibus) to better beaches on the outskirts of town, such as Long Beach and Kustur Beach,” she said. We planned to try some of the local foods and drinks. “Turkish people love black tea,” said Dilek, “but they don’t understand why anyone would put milk in it.” We noted that green apple tea was very popular, served hot or cold in glasses. Efes (the Turkish name for Ephesus) is a popular beer. Raki is the national alcoholic drink. “It’s like ouzo in Greece, but a bit stronger,” explained Dilek. “We prefer to call it lion’s milk.” (Raki turns a milky colour when it’s traditionally mixed with water.) “When I was a child, my parents taught us that Turkey was one of the more self-sufficient countries in the world for fruits and vegetables. We don’t have tropical fruits such as pineapples and mangoes, but we grow bananas along the Mediterranean coast,” she said. “Check the labels on packages of dried figs the next time you shop for groceries at home,” she added. “Turkey exports 80% of the world’s figs. You’ll see millions of fig trees growing about 20 minutes from Ephesus. Northern Turkey also produces 85% of the world’s hazelnuts. Many of them are made into Nutella.” Dilek explained that Turkish food is like Greek cuisine. Turkish and Greek coffee are the same. Delicious syrup-soaked pastries, such as baklava, are also similar. Kuşadasi has all of the major fast-food chains, including KFC, Domino’s Pizza and Starbucks. We skipped them, as well as the international restaurants, pubs and sushi bars and dined in a Turkish restaurant instead. Shish kebabs and kebabs (meatballs made from a mixture of ground beef, lamb and chicken) are popular menu items. They’re often served with thick yogurt, seasoned with mint and red pepper. Every Turkish cook knows at least a dozen ways to prepare eggplant. We especially enjoyed the cubes of smoked eggplant sautéed in olive oil with red peppers and spiced with hot chili peppers, sumac and parsley. Bulgur (cracked wheat that’s cooked like rice) is a common side dish. Our Turkish meal was a delicious way to end our visit to Kuşadasi. Resources For brochures and more information, visit turkeytourism.ca or e-mail the Turkish Office of Culture & Tourism in Canada at info@turkeytourism.ca Turkish Airlines flies from Toronto to Izmir via Istanbul. Visit turkishairlines.com for details. You can rent a car in Izmir and drive south for 1.5 hours to Kuşadasi, or take one of the coaches that travel several times daily between the two cities. Barb & Ron Kroll publish the tripplanning website KrollTravel.com Shish kebabs and kebabs Smoked eggplant sautéed in olive oil with red peppers, hot chili peppers, sumac and parsley Syrup-soaked pastries and baklava Bulgur (cracked wheat) CSANews | WINTER 2019 | 23
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