10.WTF: Where’s the food

Day 10 and Day 11-Istanbul Midye Dolma (Stuffed Mussels)

Midye dolma is a popular and common street food snack in the coastal cities of Turkey. The mussels are stuffed with aromatic, herbed rice, then steamed until cooked. You can often grab a plate of mussels from a street vendor in cold and warm version of stuffed mussels. . They’re so addictive.

Kumpir

For fans of baked potatoes, the kumpir in Ortaköy is a must try. For those asking ‘what is kumpir?’, it is a giant potato baked in the oven, then stuffed with an astonishing amount of different fillings that you choose from a counter.

Turkish Delight

Also known as Lokum, which means morsels, Turkish Delight is made with starch and sugar.

It can be found all over Istanbul in sweets shops and stores. You’ll find it in mounds of varying flavor that you can choose from. The candy has a soft squishy texture and is typically speckled with chopped pistachios or dredged in sugar on the outside.

Hafiz Mustafa 1864 is a Turkish purveyor of sweets and delicacies which originated in Istanbul. It was Founded in 1864 by Hadji İsmail Hakkı Bey during the reign of Sultan Abdulaziz at shop number 86 on the viaduct which today is known as Hamidiye street in the Fatih district of Istanbul.

Baklava

You’ll be hard pressed to eat much of this super sweet dessert, unless you have a strong sweet tooth. Baklava is a rich, sweet dessert pastry made of layers of filo, filled with chopped pistachios or walnuts and drizzled with honey and dipped in pulverized pistachios. It’s almost pure sugar, but it’s incredibly delicious. You can find it in just about any pastry shop or as a dessert at any restaurant in Istanbul.

Durumle

Traditional Turkish wrap (dürüm) with delicious crispy potatoes and cheese.

Turkish coffee

Turkish coffee’s strong roasted scent and bitter roasted, textured flavor. It comes in a small glass, is very thick, and can be sweetened to your preference. It’s unfiltered, so it has a higher concentration of caffeine and other beneficial compounds that may provide several health benefits. Once you finish drinking it, there’s a thick layer of coffee sludge at the bottom of the cup. Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi is the traditional well known coffee producer in Turkey. Specially selected coffee beans, has been carefully roasted, grinds and packages into the delicious Turkish Coffee, loved by many in the world.

Salep

Salep, also spelled sahlep or sahlab, is a flour made from the tubers of the orchid genus Orchis (including species Orchis mascula and Orchis militaris).