Istanbul Cooking School October 5, 2017

Part of our journey is to participate in cooking classes that offer dishes from the visiting country. On October 5, the day before leaving Istanbul, we were fortunate to be able to attend our first class at the Istanbul Cooking School. Oguz (known to his friends as Oz or Ozzie) is part owner of the school and runs a delightful, 5-hour class that won't soon be forgotten.

We met Oz at 10:30AM in front of the Galatasaray High School gates - big, green, iron gates that you can't miss - as instructed. Joining us were an American woman and a couple from New Zealand. After introductions, Oz led us to the first part of the class: a market tour in the Istiklal Street area. We first visited a local fish market where we learned about the fishing seasons of Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait, the local fish and methods of preparation. We also tasted the most amazing preserved fish! Our next stop was the spice shop, a small store we could barely all fit in; but, filled with spices and products. We learned that this particular store was less of a spice shop, and more of a store for botanical treatments and remedies. The owner prepares potions and ointments for locals seeking cures to a variety of ailments; some of his recipes date back hundreds of years. Now, off to the meat market for a quick show-and-tell. Some questions on meat preparation answered; so, next stop, the pickle store, with rows upon rows of pickled vegetable- and fruit-filled jars. They even have pickled pine cones... as a joke! After some purchased pickles, we headed for the candy store, naturally! This store, which specialized in traditional Turkish candies and jams, made their own products on site. A few Turkish delights for the attentive students, then off to the fruit and vegetable market to buy some of the final ingredients for lunch.

At the school, Oz offered us some tea and introduced the lunch menu: Etli Kabak Dolmasi (meat and non-meat stuffed zucchinis, green peppers and tomatoes); Humus (chickpea paste); Patlican Salatasi (roasted eggplants with olive oil); Peynirli Sigara Boregi (cheese-filled pastry); Irmik Helvasi (semolina halva). Each recipe was well instructed and the students were put to work, chopping, coring, stuffing, blending and rolling. Oz also gave us a technique demonstration on roasting eggplants on stove top - so, obviously, we bought the roasting pan (now let's see if it makes it all the way through our 7-month journey!) Among food and political discussions, and getting to know each other better, we completed our meal that we all thoroughly enjoyed (if we do say so ourselves). An important note to make: Oz had a kitchen assistant who actually cooked most of the dishes, including re-chopping, re-coring, etc., while we were so 'thoroughly enjoying ourselves'. I wonder if that's how it's done on TV?

We all left the Istanbul Cooking School with full bellies and great memories. What a wonderful way to spend 5 hours! Oz even gave us his recommendation for our last dinner in Istanbul. Unfortunately, we were so full from our school lunch, we skipped the mouth-watering mezza restaurant (we saw the menu online), and opted for an evening stroll and a locally-made ice-cream cone. Thank you for a wonderful experience, Oz!