A weekend trip & a Turkish movie
Finding breathing space in times that sometimes feel suffocating.
I’m writing this in between packing my bag and tidying up before an extended weekend trip, the first for as long as I can remember where the only thing on the agenda is sightseeing, eating and relaxing. Our destination is Mardin, a historic town in South Eastern Turkey with a beautiful old town protected by UNESCO.
Having grown up in the far north (Norway) of the western world, trips like this are always a reminder that those far-away places on the news are very real and not as far-flung as they might appear in our minds. While I think of Mardin as somewhere slightly east of Gaziantep, it’s actually as close, or even closer, to Mosul and Erbil in Iraq. It sits on a hill, strategically located close to the Tigris, on of the two great rivers of ancient Mesopotamia.
Needless to say, there are lots of things to see in the area. (Incidentally, if any readers have been, I’d love to hear any recommendations for restaurants or dishes to look out for! Just comment below or hit reply.)
I’m looking forward to getting out of town for a few days, away from the daily hustle of the chaos that’s Istanbul, and hopefully also a mental break from the news cycles, which have been as hard to avoid and resists these last few weeks as they’ve been devastating. The world ruled by humans can truly be a cruel place.
I had another little mini break from the real world last Sunday, when I went to the cinema, also for the first time in as long as I can remember. A municipal cinema screened the latest Nuri Bilge Ceylan movie, About Dry Grasses, with English subtitles.
Ceylan is perhaps Turkey’s most accoladed contemporary director, having won the Palme d’or at the Cannes Film Festival for an earlier movie. A wonderful blend of the meeting of Eastern Anatolian culture with educated Istanbulites, beautiful scenery and philosophical dialogues, About Dry Grasses was true to form. If you have the chance, I highly recommend checking out his movies. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is a good place to start – if you’re philosophically minded, Winter’s Sleep is for you.
Alas, I must return to my packing. But I’ll leave you with a few recipes to check out until next week.
With best wishes,
Vidar
Musabaha – Warm chickpeas with tahini sauce
A more rustic version of hummus, served warm for breakfast throughout the Middle East. I enjoy it just as much at lunch or as one of several dishes.
Fried chickpeas, roast pumpkin & tahini sauce
A delightful and warming dish making the best of both the chickpeas (fried with a few spices) and the seasonal pumpkin. Tahini works wonders in binding everything together for a filling (accidentally) vegan dish.
Lemon za’atar chicken
Looking for a simple way to add a bunch of flavour to plain chicken breast? This is a great option, simply seared and topped with lemon juice and za’atar. Goes really well together with the chickpeas & pumpkin above. (Apologies for the image, which is from my very early days of blogging and by no means does the flavours justice..!)
Turkish inspired meatball pomegranate stew
A not so authentic interpretation of a classic Turkish onion stew, which turned out so delicious I’ve made it on multiple occasions. The pomegranate molasses adds a unique depth of flavour to the sauce that I adore.
🔜 Coming Monday for paying subscribers:
Sea bass with tahini & onion sauce
This is inspired by a dish of roast fish with tahini that’s common in Lebanon and Palestine alike. The flavours are there, but the composition is more Western style, with the sauce on the side instead of baked with the fish – originally an adaption to accommodate guests not particularly fond of tahini, but now one of my favourite ways to enjoy sea bass. An adaption that came from necessity at the time, but that’s stuck with me since.
This recipe will be for paying subscribers, and will be sent out once I return from Mardin on Monday. As ever, paid subscriptions are completely optional, but if you’d like to receive weekly recipes or support my work, I hope you’ll consider getting one.