Turkish delights

I love Turkish food. Rich yogurt, thick as clotted cream... tenderly cooked vegetables full of flavour... tasty plate-loads of mezes to pique the appetite. Heck, even the raki is good. There's a lot more to the Turkish appetite than grilled kebabs and pide. And there's more to Istanbul than the glorious Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern. We were spoilt on this trip, with a never-ending parade of university professors, diplomats, journalists and columnists, artists, cartoonists and even the nation's pre-eminent businesswoman to illuminate Turkey for us. That's all off the record though, so here's my prejudiced list of highlights:

* Egyptian bazaar or spice market. Soft pyramids of spices, dried fruits and nuts, turkish delight, baklava and tea inside a covered market, while outdoor stalls brim with fresh seafood or stacks of white blocks of cheese. Buzzing with activity in the late afternoon, and within smelling distance of the fried fish stalls on the riverfront.

* The circumcision feast at Asitane restaurant, off a menu featuring dishes from a circumcision feast given for Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent's sons in 1539. Some unusual combinations of fruits and nuts with lamb lead to complex flavours. Grape leaves filled with sour cherry; dolmas stuffed with lamb, rice, currants, pistachio, and rosemary; hummus with cinnamon and raisins.


* Asitane is alongside the Chora Monastery (Kariye Muzesi) and its breathtaking Byzantine mosaics which have survived from 1320. The mosaics and frescoes are surprisingly intact despite being whitewashed in the 16th century when the church was converted into a mosque. Nearby you can see the remains of the city walls built by the Emperor Theodosius II in 413.

* The silken Imam Bayildi with a glass of pomegranate juice at Haci Abdullah restaurant (a favourite haunt of Orhan Pamuk, the waiters told me).

* Great European-style dining: tuna au poivre and porcini risotto at Lokanta; enjoying the views from the uber-cool circular booths at 360

* Turkish fusion music from Mercan Dede (sufi-techno sounds) and Orient Expressions (Buddha Bar-style beats). I'm awaiting the new doco on Istanbul musicians from the director of Head On, Fatih Akin.

* The Robinson Crusoe English-language bookshop on Istiklal Caddesi is a good source for mind fodder.

And the Turkish bath? It was one of those touristy joints, where they segregate men and women, and hurry you through when you just want to linger in the steam room. But it broke down a few barriers in the already tight-knit fellowship group. Now we've really done it all together.