Category: history

Lost in the Alleys of Adana

M's Adventures

One day, I set out to find a well known “pilaf” eatery in old Adana. I had read that they were often sold out so one should go early. I got there at around ten thirty in the morning. They told me, “Come in, come in” but as there was no food, I said that I would come back after they opened at 11 am.

A quiet street in the inner warrens of Old Adana.

As I needed to find something to do for a half hour, I turned down an alley… in broad daylight, I generally do not feel apprehensive. The old streets of Adana are usually empty, sometimes foul smelling, worn down, and there is always a tea “shop” to be had. Today’s alleys were much the same but in one there was a man putting something in a grinder. It looked like green powder or grass powder. He looked annoyed at me so I did not stop to ask him what he was doing.

Wood stools.

Another thing I find fascinating is the variety of small stools. Today, I saw a saddle style that I had never seen before. In general, even if there is no tea shop or cafe, there will still be some stools and flat surface in or around every place of business. There are an innumerable tea boys and men running around delivering tea. Tea is a social habit, sort of like a handshake, in Adana.

Always tea.

While I was wandering around, I suddenly noticed raw meat on display, from lungs, stomach, testes, feet, and head. The heads were being blowtorched. Not sure how those heads were going to be prepared as one can get head soup, head sandwich, head cold cuts, and roast head. So many ways and apparently the cheek, tongue, and brain are the tasty bits. Am I right? (This makes me think of a “cute” street vendor in Istanbul who has been going viral because of his looks. He isn’t all that cute… anyway, there is a shop selling sheep head here in Adana that has employed that same marketing strategy. They have hired a cute “chef” who preps the sandwiches. Since they started featuring him, the views on their social media have increased exponentially.)

Sheep’s heads. And a woman.

As I walked through the meat market, sellers were calling out, “Welcome,” but I was not interested in buying any meat. I was also trying to make sure that I didn’t slip and fall on the slick tiles. Also, I noticed that there were only men shopping and only men working. I guess everywhere, butchery is a male dominated business. But, I was also in “the Egyptian Mall” and that could also be the reason that there were not many women around.

The meat market.

On the side streets of the meat market, there were lots of shops selling everything for grilling and cooking meat from knife stores to grinding equipment stores and some that sell everything but the meat. Aside from meat, there were the usual cell phone stores, sneaker stalls, cigarette stalls, and oddly, fake money stalls…

A grilling store.

In this warren of alleys, one could easily get lost, but not really because this area is only one city block. Eventually, one pops out on a “modern Adana” street again.

A street in the old town of Adana.

Another time, I’ll talk about the pilaf eatery and the dramatic stories of love, family, and money woes from some of the staff there.

Must Try Foods of Adana

M's Adventures

Adana is known for its food. It has contenders for most foodie city in Turkiye from the likes of Gazientep, but more on that later. There are certain dishes one must try when in Adana, so let’s discuss them here.

So good, it’s named after the city — the Adana kebab (or kebap). It’s made of chopped lamb mixed with spices, bits of tomato, and fat to keep it moist. Served with roasted tomatoes and chili peppers. Usually jalapeño. One makes a sandwich as one wishes. Also on the table before the kebab, are plates of salads that you can eat on their own or put in your wrap. See the ones in the background of the liver photo below. Each place will make their own but they tend to be the same, onion, tomatoes, parsley, pickles, etc.

Adana kebab.

Liver for breakfast with raki. If you are going to have it, try it here where it will be fresh and good. The liver is tender and not strong in flavor. When part of a wrap, you can hardly taste it at all. It is normally eaten after a night out, so from 5 am on.

Liver kebab.

Fermented purple turnip juice, şalgam (“shawl-gawm”) is sour and can be served spicy. It is quiet tart so can cut through anything you are eating. Served with pickled purple turnips (that look like carrots) or other pickles. Tastes like sour pickle juice. Made with a fermentation process sort of like kombucha. But doesn’t have fizz. Just sourness.

Fermented turnip juice.

Şirdan is so special that I think that it should be considered a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Along with the other dishes I have mentioned.

Şirdan, (“Sheer-dan”) stuffed lower sheep intestine. This is the one that is most difficult to stomach (punny!) as the smell is strong. Make sure to go to a place recommended by locals. It will taste better if you are drunk and hungry. Both men and women like this dish but it is a distinctly Adanali dish. It is a bit like haggis but is filled with only rice. The flavor of the broth and the rice is a gentle soup flavor. The texture of the sheep’s intestine is rubbery but less so at one end. Usually one removes the string and puts salt, cumin, chili spice, and lemon juice on it — before shoving it down as fast as one can. It is meant to be eaten with two hands and gobbled.

A sewn up stuffed sheep intestine.

Like in all cultures, every part of the animal is eaten. In Italy, they eat spleen sandwich and tripe. In other cultures, these parts are turned into sausages, or as Dickens called them, “bags of mystery”… or in this case, rice.

Many people will never try these dishes. There are many other things to eat that are much easier… but at least try the kebab.

What’s It Like in Adana?

M's Adventures

Adana is closer to Aleppo than it is to Istanbul. Adana is a hot dusty sandy city of two-three million people. There are all the elements of a big city but also the feel of a small outpost on the border.

A 24-7 bakery in old Adana.

Adana is a city of contrasts. People go about their lives. This was surprising to me. I love it.

A subsidized bread hut. Dogs are common on the streets.

Like in Peru, there are mototaxis, like Bangladesh, you see women who are covered up driving mototaxis.

Mainly, for me, it is a city without tourists. Or very few. The main tourist season is during the orange blossom festival in April. But otherwise, the tourist attractions in Adana are the Adana kebab, small old town, the Roman bridge, the enormous mosque, and the Varda bridge outside town. Compared to the frenzy of tourism in Rome, this is a nice break.

A kebab shop on every corner.

In ways, Adana reminds me of Dhaka. Both in weather and religion. But, Adana is not as humid as Dhaka. Adana has almost no mosquitoes but it has flies. But in Adana, there are air conditioning units everywhere. Oddly, cloves are prevalent in both cultures. In Dhaka, cloves were in much of the food. Here in Adana, one can chew on them to freshen the breath. There is almost no pork to be found. Coffee shops abound. But, in Adana, there are many places where people drink alcohol.

Boys playing in an industrial, poorer, part of town.

Adana even reminds me of Dhaka in some of the architecture. Aside from the architecture, there are people on the streets, playing backgammon, drinking tea, running after trucks… Also the love of “holiday lights” is a similar trait of these cities. Almost every city in the world enjoys stringing up festive lights during certain seasons. Same here.

A corner in a rich part of town near the old town.

But mostly the traffic in the city is similar to Lima, Cairo, or Dhaka. Dhaka still leads in most “interesting” traffic-wise. Nothing compares to Dhaka traffic. Nothing.

A view of the lake between new construction in the wealthy north part of town.

While this town is not that spread out, six or seven miles (8-10 kms) can seem very far and takes about 25 minutes by taxi. Like New York City, the neighborhoods change every ten blocks or so. Along the lake to the north, new complexes are rising like entire building blocks, all jostling for a view of the lake.

Are the locals, the Adanalis, friendly? Yes, but not overly so. It is polite to say hello, “Merhaba” when you meet a new person, enter a store, enter a taxi, etc. It is true that the locals will almost always offer you tea or coffee, if you spend enough time in their shop. It is a normal part of life. A tea stop. I have been here long enough that I find it odd when I don’t get offered “chai” at the end or beginning of meals and transactions. To accommodate the tea culture, there are always tea vendors (often boys of ten) running around delivering tea or collecting empties. While the locals are polite (although there are lots who simply stare) in general, I would not say that they are overly friendly. They are a bit reserved. They go about their lives and expect you to do so too, without being bothered by them.

A place to sit outside, to eat a kebab, or a wrap, or drink tea.

So, what’s it like in Adana? It’s chaotic, hot, dusty, cold, meaty (they love meat), and free of tourists. Also, almost free of foreigners other than refugees. There are some university students and some Americans (due to the air force base) but one rarely ever sees anyone “foreign” out and about. The locals still find it interesting when a foreigner gets in their taxi, or store, or restaurant, or walks down their street. One guy asked me, “Where are you going?” I guess out of concern? At other places, I have met that famous muslim or middle eastern hospitality where I am offered tea and delights and where they refuse to let me pay.

I love Adana sign in north Adana, a wealthy area.

Maybe I’m still in the honeymoon period where things seem so nice (and it is winter so I’m not boiling from the inside of my head whenever I step outside), but so far… I find Adana delightful.

The New Year’s Tree and Decorations

M's Adventures
A street lit up in Konya.

Everyone loves decorations. All over Turkiye, you will see lights with stars and moons all over town.

At a gas station.

But, it is also easy to find Christmas decorations depicting Santa Claus or Christmas trees. Many Turks are tolerant and open minded and as they like to remind me, there is not a state religion in Turkiye.

Hence the “New Years” lights and decorations.

After all, who doesn’t love decorations?

Turkey, Should We Give It A New Name?

M's Adventures

Türkiye, the nation, had the UN officially recognize the spelling of its name in English as Türkiye (tur-key-YAY) in 2022 to have the spelling match the pronunciation in Turkish. But it is still hard for some people to call it that. Even for the Turks, many of whom called it Turkey for decades and then had to change in 2022. By now, most remember. If one slips up, no one comments. They are forgiving.

But until then, why did the place and the bird share the same name?

The land was called, “the land of the Turks” = Turkey. Pronounced, tur-key-YAY, but in English the Y at the end doesn’t have that “yay” sound. The land, whatever its name, has had humans living on, in, it for a long, wait, really long, time. More than 12,000 years. That’s considered a long time in human history. One of the many names was “Asia Minor,” or “Anatolia” which derives from the Greek term for where the “sun rises” or “levant” which means to “rise” or “sunrise” and before that, “the Land of the Hattians.” So, even over here in Adana, all roads lead to Rome. But more about that some other time.

So how did it become “Turkey?” For that we move forward to 1077 when the Seljuk Turks set up their nation and called it the “Sultanate of Rūm” referring to the area being considered “Eastern Rome” and today rūm refers to Orthodox Christians who were in this part of the world since Christianity arose. Keep in mind that St. Paul was born in Tarsus, less than an hour’s drive from Adana. With the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II declared himself, “Kayser-i-Rum” or “Caesar of the Romans” or Emperor. So all roads do lead to Rome… by the 12th century, Europeans, west of the Balkans, started using the term, “Turchia” which is what the modern Romans, Italians, call Türkiye. So even though the first of the Turkic groups to rule modern day Türkiye, called it something else, from this point on, the land started becoming more and more Turkish.

Chicken wing, chicken breast, and liver kebab.

Now, to the bird. By the way, as an aside, the way that the Turks give the bird is quite dramatic and done with flourish. More on that another time.

The bird, the Meleagris gallopavo, is indigenous to the Americas. When the Europeans encountered the bird, they called it guinea fowl or turkey cock/hen as they had seen pheasants and guinea fowl from Africa that looked similar. But, maybe not as big. In 1550, an Englishman William Strickland, who had introduced the bird to England (the first turkeys in Europe were taken to Spain by the Spanish from Mexico), was given a coat of arms which included the “turkey-cock in his pride proper.” Turkeys were introduced to North America by the English in the 17th century.

The bird was named after the country. Why? This article explains it well. Basically, when the birds were being traded for food, a confusion arose between the bird from the Americas with a bird from Africa…

But was it a fair trade? And should we re-name the bird? Call it the Mexican fowl? Or “huexolotl”? That’s the sixteenth-century Nahuatl, language of the central America, name. So for Americans who celebrate Thanksgiving or “Turkey-day”, they could say, “Happy Huexolotl!”

That said, here in Adana, they do not eat so much turkey. Mostly chicken.

The River Runs from It

M's Adventures

Adana is distinctive for its river which runs through it and along the old town. The number one pastime for Adanalis (people from Adana) is to “grill” or picnic. They will set up wherever they think will be nice. Many spots along the river and lake have setups for grilling. I have been trying to “breakfast my way around the lake” because the views are so aquamarine. I love it.

The Seyhan Lake is an artificial lake that was created by the dam (and hydroelectric station) which opened in 1956 to protect old Adana, 15 kilometers to the south.

The lake is a popular place for restaurants, fishing, kayaking, and much more. Many nightclubs and shisha bars line the lake. One can drive around the lake (and on this site, one can learn more about the lake and the activities available.)

It’s So Hot My Sherbet Melted!

M's Adventures

No, not true. Well, yes, it’s that hot, but not all sherbet/sorbet is iced. Sometimes it is a drink. The original word derives from the Arabic term “to drink” (shariba) and in modern Turkiye, you can still find it as a drink.

Sherbet of rosehip? With Turkish coffee and cookies.

Sherbet can be had in many flavors deriving from herbs, fruits, and other plants. Some specific flavors are famous in certain locations, such as Bursa’s peach flavor (Bursa is the old capital of Ottoman Empire) or ingredients such as musk.

I had the one in the photo at the Women’s Cooperative in Adana. We didn’t ask for it. It was offered with the coffee. I think of the sherbet drink as being similar to Ribena in Germany or fruit punch in the USA. It’s a version of electrolytes.

If you want to read more about this, check out this article from the Slow Food Movement.

The Realities of Living in Washington, DC

M's Adventures

As I do for every place I’ve lived since I started this blog, I write a “realities” article where I talk about the downsides or less than lovely things about where I live (read about Rome here). This is about living in the greater Washington,DC, Maryland, and Virginia are (the DMV).

The traffic. The commute takes over an hour.

The prices. Everything seems to be expensive.

The politics. However one feels about politics, the reality is that this is a town based on it. So it is hard to ignore.

Seven dollars with tip.

Tipping: So much tipping and on EVERYTHING. 25 percent at some places.

The size. This is a spread out city. There are pockets that are cute, but in general it’s big.

The heat: In the summer, it is brutally hot and humid here. It is a swamp, after all.

The lack of authentic Mexican food: This is not really a problem for me, but for most gringos whom I meet around the world, this is a problem.

The Great Things About Living in Washington, DC

M's Adventures

I always try to share some of the great things about living wherever I live. This is my list of great things about life in the Washington, DC, area. (I will write about some of the “realities” of life in DC).

The historical sites: There is so much history here that one can visit for free. Most of the museums are free. There is a lot of history here even if it is not as old as in Rome.

Georgetown and Old Town Alexandria: These two small towns are part of the bigger town but they are old (for America) and were some of the first towns built in this area. They both retain that old time feel.

The national parks: So many of the parks are free.

The nature: So much greenery and nature available. There are trees everywhere.

Free things: Like the concerts at the Kennedy Center. There are many free events and that is a nice thing.

Transportation: Most cities in the United States do not have good public transportation. Washington has a metro system that is a combination of the subway and buses. It works (although slowly at times). Also, with Uber, Lyft, and Empower, it’s easy to get around without your own car. With three airports serving this city, it is easy to get a flight. National Airport is on the subway system (metro) and it is quite close to the downtown. Dulles is on the metro as well.

The immigrants: This area has some decent Ethiopian, Korean, Salvadoran, and Vietnamese food thanks to the immigrants from these countries.

The Internet: Decent speed and steady (most of the time).

Delivery: One can get almost anything delivered to one’s door.

The electricity: Same thing. Steady. Most of the time.

The water: It’s potable and most of it tastes okay.

The language: English is spoken by almost everyone.

Shop Local in the Big City

M's Adventures

You might wonder how, in a big place like Washington, DC, if it’s possible to shop local. Washington is a touristy place, just like Rome or Istanbul. While the shopping is not on the level of Istanbul’s market, there is shopping to be found here.

Made in DC is a local chain selling items about Washington, DC, or by artists from the greater metropolitan area of Washington, DC.

Made in ALX (made in Alexandria) is a local shop in Alexandria, Virginia. They feature items by local artists from the greater metropolitan DC area.

Shop DC, located in Adams Morgan in DC, is sort of the same type of shop, but they do not exclusively carry locally made items.

Eastern Market is the farmers market on Capital Hill and features items by local artisans. There is a food hall and market as well.

Farmers markets abound in the DC area and many feature art by local artists. There is probably a farmers market for every day of the week, but most are on the weekends.

The Turkish Coffee Lady

M's Adventures
A selection of coffees.

Sometimes a place is just what the neighborhood needed. The Turkish Coffee Lady cafe is just such a place. It’s located in Alexandria, Virginia, on a main street in the old part of town.

Inside the Turkish Coffee Lady cafe.

The place is on a corner, up a few steps, and into a whole different world of ottomans and chatty laughter. The tableware is sumptuous and the food is elegant. There is not only the normal bite size baklava but large wedges of it as well. Who knew?

Lifting the lid on the Turkish delight.

The Turkish coffee is served on a golden tray with a delicate handle connecting the three small parts — one for the cup of coffee, one for the miniature decorated glass of water, and one for the miniature gold pot of ‘lokum’ or Turkish delight.

This place transports you to a different world. Maybe not all the way to Turkiye, but at least to a world of warmth and hospitality.

The corner location is a good one.

I look forward to trying out cafes in Turkiye when I move there…

Meet a Founding Father at Gadsby’s Tavern

M's Adventures

But order the west African food (the food is fairly meh but the west African food was not bad — the current cook is from there. I had jerk chicken and jollof rice). And take an easily embarrassed preteen with you (No preteens were harmed in writing this).

Gadsby’s Tavern is famous being one of the restaurants where the likes of George Washington ate. If you want that tourist experience, then go.

The actor who is dressed in period costume and makes his rounds speaking in “olde English” does a pretty good job of riffing in the moment (insert embarrassing comments to parents and preteen).

As Jeeves said, “It makes for light entertainment.”