Before flying off to Istanbul the other week, I spent about 17 days nonstop on the internets researching places in Turkey where we could go exploring for a few days afterward. And that just left me thoroughly addled, to the point that I got on the plane with no plans beyond leaving it up to my consort to choose a destination from about 53 tantalizing possibilities. Which is how we found ourselves on a Sunday afternoon at the Izmir airport with nothing but a just-bought map, no guidebook, not even a phrase book.
It was around lunchtime, so while Bob got the rental car I ran upstairs to the information booth to naively ask for a restaurant recommendation on the way to Sirince, a charming little village that seems to be generating all the buzz this summer (“like Italy with an edge”). The attendant just looked at me and said: “On Autoban. Burger King.” I gave him a good belly laugh, but he didn’t get the joke. Why would I want that there?
So Bob, uncharacteristically mellow on an empty stomach, just started driving and, when he spotted a roadside cafe with picnic area, pulled over instantly without even consulting Ms. Finicky. And this plate was only part of the reward for letting serendipity be the guide.
The cafe was actually also a meat market, with a case filled with various mezes and also racks loaded with lamb and chicken and even some whole fish. The woman at the cash register steered us toward a cucumber-yogurt spread, some hot roasted peppers and a roasted eggplant-tomato salad, then persuaded Bob to order more than one little lamb chop.
We went outside and chose a table under the trees (where the temperature was about 30 degrees lower with the breeze) and she soon brought a tray with our mezes all gussied up with lemon slices and black olives, plus a basket of bread and a bottle of water. All three appetizers were exquisite, real home cooking done with both care and finesse. And then she delivered the chops.
I can’t stomach lamb because it usually tastes too much like the deer meat of my childhood. But we almost fought over these guys; the meat was subtly flavored, tender and beautifully grilled. All the unexpected accoutrements were also cooked just right. And I think the tab was all of 26 Turkish lira, or about $15. (I can’t decipher the receipt to give the name of the place beyond Zigana Et, on the highway from Izmir to Aydin.)
A couple of days later we tried another roadside cafe, more of a truck stop, and if the frozen beef kebabs were a little chewy and the cheese plate pretty processed, the whole experience was so much more satisfying than any Burger King. I’m usually a sucker for guidebooks, but there’s something to be said for taking a holiday from them, at least in a country where you can still pull off the highway and eat real food off an actual plate.
Photo by Regina Schrambling
via The Epi-Log on Epicurious.com: Road Food, Turkish Style.