by Yvonne Maffei | Apr 5, 2020 | Growing Plants & Food, Natural Living
The first time I traveled to southern Turkiye (specifically Fethiye), I was completely and utterly taken in by how perfectly the botanics, the landscape and the climate appealed to what I had always wanted in a place. All of my adult life (or actually before that), I’ve been completely and utterly obsessed with the Mediterranean lifestyle and all the things that come with it: the great food, the beautiful surroundings, and the near-perfect climate (for me) – except for the very hot summers…
So when I decided to come here for long-term, although not knowing if it would be permanent or not, I knew that I was going toward a dream to put myself in those surroundings, most of which involved things like lemon, orange, olive, and pomegranate trees. They are symbols of the Mediterranean landscape and the food that has become an integral part of this thousand-year old rich cuisine.
That said, a few months after I came and realized I would be staying at least a little longer, I began to populate my balcony with potted plants to create my own little container garden. Here’s a video describing a little more about my neighborhood and the plants I’ve brought home (although that was last summer). They’re all much bigger now and I’ve moved location after realizing that direction was too hot and harsh for almost all of those plants, but this is how I got started:
![Dried Persimmons are Your Next New Dessert]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Jan 11, 2020 | FOOD
As I peruse the Fethiye markets, I don’t even have to look too far before finding something I’ve never seen before from the same vendors.
Tuesday Pazar in Fethiye, Turkey
Usually, it’s something from the last or current season that has been dried or preserved, some food ingredient I didn’t realize could or would be dried. In this case, it’s all about persimmons. In Turkish they’re often referred to as kuru hurma.
Several years ago, I wrote about some persimmons I bought in Chicago, but I honestly don’t remember the taste of them. That said, they must’ve been nothing to write home about, because I don’t have a recollection either way of whether they tasted good or not or what they tasted like at all. I’ve seen the fresh ones here and thus had no interest in trying them.
Fresh persimmons (middle) at the Fethiye Pazar
For some reason, however, I was really drawn to these dried persimmons when I saw them in a crate at the Tuesday market last week.
Dried Persimmons in Fethiye, Turkey
I didn’t buy them until I went back on Friday, and what I discovered was a totally new food that I will be buying again and again- and in place of sweets, in place of even my chocolate craving that comes with having a glass of tea.
Dried Persimmons, up close
Why?, you might ask…Well, I described them over on my Instagram page as tasting like a deeper, earthier version of Medjool dates. They also have a seed in the middle, too, though it’s flatter and smaller than that of a date.
They look like they’re coated in powdered sugar, but they’re not; it’s actual sugar from the fruit that comes out naturally during the drying process (I learned that from my awesome readers over on Instagram and Facebook when I posted this picture, so thank you)….isn’t that cool?
“The powdered stuff at the outside is actually sugar but a fun fact is that these fruits don’t have this sugar added to them it just appears naturally in the drying process. This acts as a preservative and a protective coating.
Enjoy”– D.A. Malik (commenter on the MHK FB page)
Have you ever had dried persimmon? If so, where did they come from and did you like them? Tell me more in the comments below….
![Citrus Season on the Aegean Coast of Turkey]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Dec 19, 2019 | TRAVEL, Turkey, Winter
It’s citrus season in southern Turkey and the entire region is overflowing with oranges, lemons and tangerines. As I walk to the local market to purchase my own, I can see trees in my neighborhood bursting with these fruits.
They are simply everywhere, in abundance, mashaAllah.
It’s one of the reasons I was drawn to this region, as it reminds me of Sicily, the island where my grandparents came from and the region of the world that I’ve always had such an affinity for, particularly in terms of food preferences.
Coming to Turkey to experience this was a whole new level of culinary delights in that I had never realized how similar the two places would or could be – even in geographic appearance. Sometimes I feel like I’m in Italy; other times I feel like I’m in southern California.
But, I’ve never tasted anything like the citrus here. It’s so unassuming- the people, the markets (pazars), the cuisine. It’s modest, under-stated and under-estimated in every way- in my opinion. It deserves so much more attention. And respect.
The taste is something you have to visit to experience because these fruits truly are as sweet as candy, only the all-natural kind.
Have you ever visited southern Turkey? If yes, what has been your favorite thing about this region?
![The Most Beautifully “Packaged” Spinach]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Dec 18, 2019 | Middle East
There are gorgeous food markets all over Turkey. Any food lover or anyone looking for inspiration to cook or who simply wants to see the beauty of nature on display should spend a morning going through one of these pazars, or farmers markets. They really do make you realize what grows locally, and each vendor also has his/her own way of displaying their wares. For example, I love the way this particular vendor at the market bundled the spinach, with plant stems of some sort (probably from the spinach itself). With all the talk around the globe about reducing plastic and waste overall, I would venture to say this is not something new to these farmers who have always had to be very ingenious with their ‘packaging’ and displaying of their goods. I just thought this was particularly beautiful and it made me happy to see how neat and organized it all was, too. I thought it was worth the share.
