What's In The Water

Turkish Cooking, Everyday

There's a loud well-drilling rig outside my window today, and I can't think. Grr.

Reminds me of my days at Denizhan 2 in Mersin. There was one of those annoying contraptions digging a well over there too. Made me want to send a nasty letter to the condo association:- Who decided to work on that project in the middle of the summer? When people were on vacation, in a vacation complex, and everyone had their windows open...

Enough of my griping.
(The headache brought it on, I swear.)

*smiles*

Thought I'd talk about water today.

We take it for granted here in the states - most places anyway. Up in Connecticut, I never worried because I had access to city water 24/7. Here in NC, city water or no, drought restrictions put me right in my place. Water is precious.

In Turkey, I spent a couple (stinky) weeks on Buyukada waiting for a water barge so I could take a real shower. Then I spent a couple days in Kadikoy waiting for someone to find the part for a pump. (Don't go on vacation with me. I seem to be cursed. Also, don't ask about the time I bought some bottled water with stuff floating in it.) That was all Istanbul, though.

Back to the well drilling rig at Denizhan - (There's a story there, I promise!) - Water pressure was much better after the well started up. It was, however, still VERY salty.

So.

My mother-in-law recruited my husband as a driver for the day. Supposedly, the errands were close, and they would be right back, and I wouldn't want to wait in the car, etc. So I stayed in the apartment watchingTurkish TV which I barely understood.

Ding dong. Or rather - cheep, cheeeeeep, cheep. - since the doorbell sounded like a birdie fainting.

The neighbor across the way decided she wanted to pay us a visit. "Us" being me, because no one else was around. All her kids were out for the day and she was more than willing to keep me company. (Turkish people love to socialize.)

As an American bride, I wasn't much accustomed to drinking hot tea on a scorching August day, but I did know how to boil water. I riffled through the tea tins, measured out the loose tea, and showed my expertise with the nifty double stacked kettle.

Biscuits? Check. Cubed sugar? Check. Special guest tea glass? Check. Pretty tray? Check.

We sit down to not talk, because I only know a handful of words. She takes a sip and smiles. I take a sip and gag.

SALTY WATER!

The moral of my story? I'm thankful what comes out of the tap here is worth drinking, no matter how much it costs.

Mint Tea

Image via WikipediaI worked all day in the garden, two days in a row, and for lack of inspiration, I'm just going to tell you what I had for dinner last night. Or rather, what I had to drink with dinner. Drinks are much more interesting...

My mint has exploded out of bounds, as it has tendency to do, so I pulled up a few miles of runners and snipped a healthy bunch. Lucky for me, some of my favorite drinks are minty: the mint julep, the mojito, lemonade with mint (crushed, in the pitcher - try it!), even plain ice water with a spring of mint is yummy on a hot day. Last night I went for mint tea.

It's not the mint tea from your grocer. It's not even the Touareg tea in the picture - although that's really good too. Moroccan Touareg tea can involve a whole ceremony. They use green tea and sugar, but all I did was grab a couple bags of lipton and three long springs of mint and steep it in a pot. No sugar for me, but I do add a little zip of milk. Purist I am not. Except for the fresh mint part. There really is no substitute.

It's a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean thing to use mint in every imaginable place besides tea too....in salads, with meats, in soups, on pasta, in jajic (yogurt sauce). Mint is a good thing to keep in steady supply. Just remember to pot it up, or at least put it where you don't mind a minty takeover.

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Çay or Chai?

You say it the same way, but if you order chai in Turkey, you won't get what you're expecting, you'll get çay. The word simply means tea.

Tea is very important to Turkish culture. Most of what is consumed there is grown in the Turkish province of Rize, near the Black Sea. Per wikipedia: in 2004, Turkey had the highest per capita tea consumption in the world, at 2.5 kg per person--followed by the United Kingdom (2.1 kg per person). Now I live in the south and we like some sweet tea here, but not that much!

This is the way they make çay in Turkey:

Get a teapot like the one in the picture on the right, not necessarily a fancy copper one. Most people have a stainless steel version at home. In the upper kettle, place loose tea and a little bit of water. Fill the lower with water and set in on the stove to boil. The idea is to have concentrated tea on top and dilute it according to taste in each glass with the boiling water from the lower kettle. Serve çay in the hourglass shaped glasses like the one in the picture (this one is missing it's saucer) with or without a few sugar cubes. Hold the glass at the rim, btw or you'll burn your fingers.

There are herbal teas too, such as ada çay (sage), or ihlamur çay (linden) which are supposed to be good for digestion. When you visit the carpet shops you'll famously get apple tea. Between you and me, they all taste good but I think the tourists are really the only ones who drink them.

Now if you don't know what chai is, I recommend that too. It's an Indian version of tea which is essentially black tea with spices and milk. You can make it yourself by adding clove and cinnamon to your tea or you can get it at most grocery stores. I had a very nice spiced chai latte at a friend's house last week. She picked it up at Target.

I'm happy to see that tea is making a comeback in the US as well. Tea bars serving gourmet teas and exotic blends are at the mall. Master tea blenders have crawled out of the woodwork selling loose teas and lovely hand tied bunches called art teas that open up like a flower in the pot. (I like Harney & Sons. If you get a chance, visit their tea room outside NYC and pick up some Jasmine Fairy Maidens.) Tea pots and cups have even resurfaced out of grandma's cabinets. I have plenty of tea pots, but if you really love tea, get yourself an electric kettle.

All of those things make great gifts (hint). Tea promises a relaxing morning or afternoon curled up with a book (mine) or a nice time with friends discussing one (again, mine). If you have the talent and inclination, you might even try some tasseography with the loose leaves for fun.

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