Mesopotamian Food

(My cleaning lady did not come today and I have guests for dinner tomorrow. I have to clean, shop and cook. So excuse me for posting an old article I wrote 3 years ago after a month old trip to Syria and Eastern part of Turkey..)

It is not wrong to say that appetizers or starters are rather the main dishes in Syria. They are serving so many different varieties at the beginning; the main courses are becoming less enjoyable afterwards. Rice with saffron or pounded and smoked wheat called frik served with chicken or beef and a kind of yogurt soup made with small wheat balls called Lebeniye were the ones remained in my mind as main dishes.

Kebabs were average except one. If you happen to be traveling on the Damascus – Aleppo motorway one day, don’t forget to stop at the Tower Restaurant, which you could easily identify with the huge Eiffel Tower standing at the front. Its specialty is flat meat balls cooked with tomatoes and served in a shallow cooking pan. It was just delicious. Another good address for starters in Syria is the Beit Sitti House in Damascus.( http://www.beit-sitti.com/ )

But I think the primary taste in Syria is the sweets. There are so many shops selling various types of sweets in both Damascus and Aleppo that even a simple window-shopping is an experience itself. The practice of using less sugar and syrup compare to the ones in Turkey greatly increased my capacity to consume. A dangerous feature :) Of course there is also the kunefe; you should definitely taste this warm sweet served with melted cheese inside. You could fulfill all you sweet desires with a single kunefe served at an average price of 40 cents.

Good kebabs are definitely on the Turkish side of the border. Although the previous visitors told that the quality was not as it was before, I still ate the best kebabs in Gaziantep at İmam Cagdas. The kebab with vegetables was just great. Also the sweets made with pistachio should make a visit to your stomach.

Also take a note to drink a zahter tea (a type of thyme) at Tahmis Coffee House that was built in the year 1640 which is located at the end of the Elmacılar Bazaar in Gaziantep. Tahmis is also a nice stopping point for narghile lovers.

In Diyarbakir Aslan Lokantası located at the entrance of Aslan Hotel is a nice restaurant where you good taste good food and kebabs but try to avoid the time during the lunch break as you have a good chance of waiting in queue to eat. Another thing to taste and buy in Diyarbakir is the almond paste of Atlas. This small store located at Ekinciler Cd. No15/C and the quality of its product could easily compete with the famous Bebek Almond Paste in İstanbul and the prices are much much cheaper.

Antakya is another heaven for meze-starters. We ate the best ones in the Kervan restaurant in Harbiye region of the city that is famous with its water falls. Anadolu restaurant at the center of the city was said to be good with its foods and kebabs but I happily settled with delicious grilled calamari in the two nights we ate there.

I don’t particularly like drinking coffee but largely enjoy the smell and the rituals. Although I don’t like the taste of cardamom they are adding into the coffee in Syria, Urfa and Mardin regions I strongly advise the bitter and dark coffee- mirra- served around Urfa and Mardin. It was obtained by boiling the coffee in 3-4 hours in dim fire and served in small cups that you have to drink in one sip. Its dark, its bitter and leaves a kind of sour taste in your mouth afterwards. I tasted the best mirra in a small coffee shop in the Urfa Bazaar and the trick of its good taste was a bit of Nescafe they added when boiling the coffee.

Photographs:
Sweet Shop in Aleppo

Sweets from Gaziantep and Syria
Mirra coffee in Urfa