Seagulls dip and dive through the air as our ferry chugs its way between Europe and Asia, a journey that in this case takes only about 20 minutes.
asserted
that → dip → minutes
From the top deck, I glimpse the skyline in Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey (Türkiye).
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I → glimpse → Turkey
The Sultanahmet quarter’s most iconic buildings — Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque rising beyond Topkapi Palace — have stood for centuries.
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buildings → rise → centuries
The gulls follow our boat, beady eyes trained on my simit bread.
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eyes → follow → bread
I’ve been to Istanbul five times, and I always take a food tour that starts in Europe and ends in Asia.
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that → take → Asia
This one, the two-continents culinary tour with Tematique begins at the Spice Bazaar in the Eminönü district.
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one → begin → district
Istanbul’s culinary scene has been shaped by centuries of trade along the spice roads.
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scene → shape → roads
The signature taste of its dishes, including garlic, onion, cumin and pepper, comes from caravans of merchants travelling from India and Southeast Asia as far back as the 2nd century BCE.
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taste → include → BCE
“This was once the end of the spice route from India,” says Gamze Zeynep, who has been a tour guide in this city for 16 years.
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who → say → years
Inside the covered shopping complex, the musky scent of cumin hangs in the air, and sacks overflow with canary-yellow turmeric and blood-red sumac.
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sacks → hang → turmeric
Dried peppers and garlic bulbs hang in clumps, and mountains of dates and shrivelled figs attract cawing shoppers like bees to honey.
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mountains → hang → honey
I bump into a tourist who has stopped to snap a photo of the arched ceiling.
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who → bump → ceiling
“Local people used to shop here for their spices, but now it is mostly tourists looking for souvenirs,” says Zeynep of the Spice Bazaar, a popular attraction, though smaller than the famous, sprawling Grand Bazaar.
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Zeynep → use → Bazaar
A group of cruisers follows their flag-wielding guide, jostling around a narrow lokum (Turkish delight) shop.
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group → follow → shop
“I prefer to show visitors the Asian side,” says Zeynep, almost in a whisper.
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Zeynep → prefer → whisper
Leaving the tourist crowds for the Asian side
Our group loads up on sesame-sprinkled simit bread as we wait for the ferry to take us across the Bosphorus and over to Kadikoy, a neighbourhood on the Asian side.
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ferry → leave → side
Istanbul is the only city in the world to straddle two continents, but most tourists stick to the landmarks around Sultanahmet, maybe venturing as far as Galata and Taksim.
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tourists → straddle → Galata
Few cross the water to Kadikoy.
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Few → cross → Kadikoy
The streets are largely residential and there aren’t any bucket-list sights.
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streets → be → ?
As we disembark, I can feel the buzzing energy from the packed district.
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I → disembark → district
We wander into a warren of narrow streets, walking past open shopfronts selling sun-plumped tomatoes, towers of peaches and fat red cherries.
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We → wander → peaches
We pause to sample briny olives, which explode with juice on my tongue.
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which → pause → tongue
Every Istanbul food tour I’ve done varies because it’s all about the guide’s favourite places.
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it → do → places
This time, the first proper food stop is at a stand where flour-dusted mussels dance in an oil vat.
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mussels → dust → vat
We start with crispy fried mussels and move on to a true Istanbul staple.
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We → start → staple
Stuffed mussels were first made by Armenian cooks during the Ottoman era, by steaming juicy mussels from the Bosphorus.
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mussels → stuff → Bosphorus
Filled with delicately spiced rice, the only condiment required is a squeeze of lemon.
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condiment → fill → lemon
They’re perfect and I can’t stop at just one.
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I → ’re → one
Five fat mussels later, we move on to our next stop.
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we → move → stop
Meshur Menemenci Cemal Polat is an unassuming café where they’ve perfected one dish over the years: menemen.
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they → perfect → menemen
A delicious medley of softly scrambled eggs, tomatoes and green bell peppers, menemen originates from the western coastal town of the same name.
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menemen → scramble → name
“Villagers there used the harvest of tomatoes and peppers and combined it with eggs because they couldn’t afford meat,” Zeynep explains as I scoop up a fluffy bite with the homemade bread.
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I → use → bread
Unlike the European side, restaurants here tend to be smaller, cosier and focused on a single dish.
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restaurants → tend → dish
They cater to local tastes.
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They → cater → tastes
A neighbourhood built for socializing
Already full, we drift along streets lined with fish sellers, where cats lurk waiting for scraps.
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cats → build → scraps
The ground floor of seemingly every building houses shops, restaurants or cafés, despite being a largely residential area.
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floor → house → shops
It feels as though the whole neighbourhood is made for socializing.
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neighbourhood → feel → socializing
We duck into a two-story tiled building where elderly men hunch over plates at makeshift seating outside.
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men → duck → seating
Smoke billows from frantic grills and the air smells of hot cumin.
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air → billow → cumin
“This is a Kurdish dürümcü (wrap shop),” Zeynep says.
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Zeynep → say → ?
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
