Turkish Breakfast: To Be Grazed, Not Devoured
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Whoever ‘they’ are, might have been Turkish because a Turkish breakfast is serious business that will make you full for the rest of the day.
Açina Gondol is a cute breakfast spot along the river with a beautiful view. Kahvaltı, the Turkish word for breakfast, is served all at once so you can see all the food in front of you and come up with a game plan of how to eat everything and try not to eat too much. Some may say I ate too much but is there really such a thing as too much breakfast?
Yes, unfortunately yes there is.
Our Turkish breakfast included:
Four different types of cheeses (they were all smooth and cheesy and I am not skilled enough to tell you what kind of cheese they were).
Cucumbers and tomatoes
Butter and clotted cream (which gives peanut butter competition for best pairing for jelly)
Tahini paste, rose jelly, cherry jam, and honey
French fries (because who said french fries can’t be breakfast)
Black and green olives
Grilled pepper stuffed with cheese
Fried dough stuffed with cheese (sigara böreği)
More peppers and tomatoes but together grilled to perfection with spices in oil
A soft cheese, tomato, parsley, lemon dish
Eggs fried in a hot plate
Bread, beautiful bread
And of course çay (tea)
The combinations of cheese with soft grilled tomatoes or pepper on bread was my favourite savoury bite. It was warm and a burst of smokey flavour with a great balance of cheese. On the other hand of flavour, my favourite sweet combo was clotted cream spread across some bread topped with cherry jam. The clotted cream was smooth and perfectly cut the sweetness of the jam with its buttery goodness. Simple and tasty is all you need for a good breakfast. By the end of our meal we were stuffed and I didn’t need to eat again until later that evening.
Turkish breakfast is a must do when visiting Adana and Açina Gondol is a great place to do it.
Read more about homemade olives and goat-carcass-ripened cheese, two ingredients that may make an appearance in Turkish breakfast.
TO OUR FRIENDS IN THE WEST, KEEP LOOKING EAST!
Written By: Hannah Greer
Photography By: Hannah Greer
Hannah Greer
Have you ever eaten a doughnut? It’s a rewarding experience. So is being Hannah’s friend. This soccer-loving journalism and mass communications graduate of Kansas State University (never to be confused with the University of Kansas; don’t make that mistake) hails from the great Chiang Mai, Thailand and knows a thing or two about good Thai food. Really she knows a thing or two about good food from anywhere in the world and is always up for trying something new. An all-in-one story telling machine, Hannah wields a lyrical style and natural wit along with a Nikon camera to tell the stories of the people and places she meets. Click to see more of her writing and photography.