the many meats of turkey

One of the greatest things about travelling and living abroad is getting to experience the multitude of cuisines that this fine world has to offer. I will miss the many meats of Turkey. I will long for a spicy Adana kebab and its sumac-sprinkled onion slivers, and I will no doubt crave a pide or döner from time to time.



There are a seemingly infinite number of ways that Turks prepare meat, and though I have been lucky to have travelled pretty extensively within Turkey, the Tatar ciğ börek in Eskişehir had eluded me until our little recent road trip. Had I known these fluffy pillows of meat-filled dough existed, I would have gone to Eskişehir sooner.



Above all, I believe it will be Edirne's crispy and creamy tava ciğer that will keep me salivating for years to come.



Yes. Salivation achieved!

the colours of eskişehir, and the power of smell

After soaking in the naturally fizzy thermal pool of Pamukkale's ancient Hierapolis (and not wanting to leave), we drove over wide snowy highlands to Eskişehir, one of western Anatolia's oldest settlements, now a sprawling college town and industrial centre. At first, we were unimpressed— the greying block-style apartment and factory buildings left a lot to be desired, but once we discovered the old Ottoman-style houses in the historical part of town, our thoughts changed.



Among also discovering that people in Eskişehir were very friendly, we learned that the city is famous for its nearby meerschaum mines, and there are loads of workshops offering beautifully carved brooches and pipes for sale. My grandad had such a pipe once— the cream-coloured bowl was a magnificently bearded man with a turban and fierce eyes, though I never saw him smoke from it. Clenched between his teeth instead was a dark wood one, and it filled the house with a sweet, vanilla-like smoke. When he died, I wrapped the pipe in a paper towel and slid it carefully into my backpack with one of his threadbare plaid shirts. Upon unzipping the bag in Turkey, it was as if he was sitting beside me— I could feel the roughness of his chin, I could hear him swearing, and I could see the green in his eyes.

His shirt and his pipe are two of the things that I chose to bring with me instead of sending them to traverse the sea with the rest of our belongings. Though his shirt smells more like me now, his pipe... oh his pipe...