Tag: adana

One Year in Adana

M's Adventures

Now that I have lived in Adana for a year, what do I think of it?

A mocktail overlooking the paradise that could be…

Well, I think it is not as hot as people told me it would be. Last summer it was as hot as people told me it would be. It was 109 F (43 C) in the shade. But this summer was not as hot. The weather is a favorite topic here. But that is true of many places.

After a year here, what has surprised me is the live and let live attitude of this “village” of two million people. It was a nice surprise. Also, I am thankful for google translate, but often, I do not use it anymore. Smiles and charades often do enough communicating. And there is always tea. Always say yes to the tea. It is not about the caffeine or the liquid. It is about the offer to be welcomed by the person who offered the tea. Always accept the tea.

Always say hello and good morning/day. They do not like rudeness here. Say thank you. Please. Pardon. These few words go a long way.

Is it cheap here? Steadily less so. Breakfast can cost ten bucks. Or three.

The people? Generally amazed that I live here. Generally friendly. Most are downright polite and helpful.

As I mentioned before, I like that Adana is full of contrasts. I love that I can walk everywhere but I don’t love the bad sidewalks or lack of them. I love the chattiness and friendliness of the folks I meet. I like that there is charity here and little homelessness. I like the taxis. I love that everyone will serve you Turkish breakfast and that it is a thing one does. Always with lots of tea. I like that the sun shines most days.

I got a doner wrap for les than three dollars here.

Also, I love that there are few tourists here. Tourism would be good for the city, but… I like the lack of vicious tourism that happens in big places.

How much do I like it here? It often depends on how much I am sweating.

A Gutsy Wife

M's Adventures

Did I mention that I quit my Turkish language class? Well, I did. My classmates and the teacher wanted to get serious about grammar and homework… NO. I want to talk about food!

A Karin sheep intestine in front.

Anyway, although I am no longer taking formal classes, I have not quit learning random Turkish phrases. I learned a punny one the other day.

The four common types of intestine offered here.

Adana is famous for various dishes like the Adana kebab, but the one that is also famously from Adana is the şirdan. But this is not the only part of the sheep’s intestines that gets eaten. I learned the name of this other part when I was discussing Halloween costume plans for this year. I could go as a kebab, or a sirdan. Last year, I planned to go as a glass of ayran, the Turkish yogurt drink, but decided last minute that it was too hot to wear a costume with padding (as I had planned a cascade of cotton padding to mimic the bubbles of freshly shaken ayran). So then what to do this year? It will still be hot at the end of October — probably around 88 F (31 C) so I need something lightweight and cotton… no, not a cotton ball… as that has padding.

Back from my aside… I wanted to go as a sheep’s intestine. But the famous one is too “rude” in the British sense of rude. So maybe I could go as the round sheep intestine. It’s shaped more like a haggis. But, in Turkish it is called a “karin” which is hilarious because “karin” is also “your wife.”

Maybe I will go as a “karin” and hold an inflatable “husband” next to me…

But it also sounds like it would require stuffing. And that would be too hot.

The Return from Ithaca

M's Adventures
Imitation is the best form of compliment?

It is funny how one thing leads to another… for example, there is a movie out now about a guy who was trying to go home to Ithaca… and then I find a pizza place run by a guy who returned home to Adana FROM Ithaca. New York, not Greece.

A view over my slices of Ali’s Favorite.

This Adana guy worked at Ned’s Pizza in Ithaca, NY for five years and now he has opened a place, Pizza Borsa, that serves the same food. In Adana. He makes a delicious spicy pizza.

The pizza guy’s English is probably only slightly better than my Turkish. Luckily Señor Suleyman was there. He is there to help with the tea. Or so it seemed. Turns out that he owns the building, is a retired engineer who speaks some English. His daughter in law runs a pilates studio upstairs and his eldest son, Ali, has a pizza named after him, Ali’s Favorite. It is my favorite too. It has beef bits, mushrooms, and fresh cut jalapeño.

This pizza place is a mishmash of design and I do not know how long before the food has to be adapted to local tastes… Nope, never mind. It already happened. I tried the garlic knots and somehow, they were the most Turkish thing I have ever had. Is it the dried oregano?

Garlic knots. Not for me.

But hopefully, I will always have Ali’s favorite.

A Nutty Fairytale

M's Adventures
I think it’s tea.

Once upon a fairytale, I had read to me stories of far away lands where boys in baggy Turkish pantaloons chased each other through markets with silk draped souk stalls, knocking over giant baskets, all while the colors of a thousand (and one) spices wafted through the hot sunny air…

Spices in drawers.

Stereotypes are hard to break. Adana is a modern city. But, I keep looking for that souk experience of my fairytales. Obviously without the humidity. And icky smells. Just colors and brightness.

Fresh sumac.

But, do you know where I find that in Adana? In the nut stores. And in the spice shops. While one can buy spices in the normal grocery store chains, it is still possible to find speciality stores with an “exotic” flavor. Often there are spices that I have never heard of or ever seen in leaf or bark form. In the nut stores, the sale of nuts is serious business often with a roaster outside (to attract custom with the aroma), but these stores also sell Turkish delight, candy, and other snacks. Mainly confectionary.

I don’t know. Potpouri?

The spice stores sell many kinds of spices but also often function as apothecaries, carrying olive oil shampoo, or baldness remedies. Some of the products are to be steeped as a tisane, or smoked, or applied as a salve.

I would like to say that these stores are located in the souks of my imagination. They are not. For that I may have to go to Izmir. Or Istanbul. Adana is too practical, I guess.

The Adana Kebab

M's Adventures

Adana? Where is that? That is the reaction one usually gets to mentioning Adana. Although the city may not be famous, the Adana kebab (kebap here) certainly is. So what is it exactly?

It is a hand made artisanal hand minced lamb (must be from a male sheep younger than one year) elongated meat patty shaped around a metal skewer. It is grilled over an open charcoal fired grill. The Adana kebab is always grilled well done. There is a high percentage of pure white tail fat chopped into the meat mix to add juiciness and flavor. Non spicy red bell pepper can also be chopped in with the mix. The mixture is minced with a special crescent shaped cleaver, called a “zirh.” The percentage of meat to fat is 5 to 1. After the mixture is made, according to the recipe, it should be rested for a day.

There are some assumptions that the Adana kebab is spicy. It is not. Although the accompanying jalapeño chili can be. Each portion of Adana kebab is about 180 grams and it takes a master’s touch to make the meat mixture stick to the skewer so that it can be turned often while cooking. While the meat is cooking, the juices are soaked up with flat bread. This bread is served with the meat. It is fun to watch the master (“usta”) form the kebab. It takes a bit of water and a lot of skill to quickly move the hand up the skewer creating a wave of meat.

Like all kebabs, there will be the obligatory free salads (Don’t pay! They should be free!) and a grilled chili pepper and tomato. The kebab is served with flat bread, usually pide, so you can make your own delicious bites. Like most food here, you can spice or flavor the food as you like, with a sprinkle of red pepper powder, salt, or drops of lemon.

The typical drink with the Adana kebab is ayran, savory salted yogurt, or şalgam, fermented turnip. Or ice cold raki, alcohol made from grapes and flavored with aniseed.

Adana is proud and famous for the Adana kebab. Now that the Adana kebab is a designated cultural origin food, the city holds festivals of kebabs…

My informal guess is that there is a kebab shop on every block. At least one. Maybe two or four. So every day is a kebab festival!

The GOAT of Goat Cheese?

M's Adventures

Did I mention this yet? One of the startling things about Adana is the hairy goat cheese. It’s called “tulum” and it’s an aged white cheese. Tastes good. But the packaging is a bit hairy.

A cheese waiting outside a store.

The tulum is made by filing a goat skin and letting it age. This was a practical solution in the days of yore. One does not have to buy the whole goat of cheese. As customers buy the cheese, the top is peeled down, the outside of the cheese is scraped of bits, and then the cheese is cut.

A tulum cheese being opened.

But, when I’m driving along and see one of the headless tulum cheeses with arms straight out… I’m reminded that I’m not in Kansas. Especially like the other day when the smiling cheese lady (in the photo) fed me a piece freshly cut from the goat.

Some people, mostly foreigners, find this a bit gross and reminds them of why they want to be vegan. So maybe I should have done a warning…

Is All This for Free with My Meal?

M's Adventures
At Kebapci Euup Usta, this is the standard free salads/mezze with a kabob meal.

When you order Adana kebab, or any kind of kebab, you will be given some free dishes. This is how it is supposed to be. If a place charges you for these salads that they bring to you, don’t go there again. Also, don’t go back if the place charges you too much (Recently I was charged 3,000 Turkish Lira for a mixed grill for two people — that is too much!).

These free salads or appetizers will arrive before your meal but you can continue to eat them during your meal to use in your sandwich. Most kabobs are eaten as a handheld wrap. There will usually be salt and red pepper powder on the table as well. Some places include grape molasses which alongside the lemons allow you to create your own dressing for the sandwich or salads. Most of the salads area already dressed with grape molasses or sumac. Most places will include a plate of herbs and lemons. Always parsley, often mint, and sometimes dill too. Many Turks will eat parsley straight up while waiting for the rest of the food. Sort of treating parsley like a breadstick.

At Han Kebap, they give you individual salads and “cig kofte” wraps.

Really basic places will give you smaller portions or simply the herbs and the onion salad. And large places will give you lots of salads including the basics, some with shallots only, cooked onion salads, and some even include baked “pizza” items like pide or lahmacun.

At Han Kebap, their spicy wet salad is excellent.

The thing with kabobs is that they are customizable and completely up to you how you want to eat it. I usually use a fork and knife. Many places will give you a fork and a spoon only. Many Turks use a spoon to eat the salads. I personally quite like eating things that only require a spoon.

At Hand Kebap, they serve mini pide with cheese. Yummy.

If you order a kabob, it will be served with bread, usually a flat or flatter bread like pita/pide, or a lavash/tortilla style bread. Some places have rice that you can order as well.

Chicken kabob.

Another thing is that all kabobs are served with a grilled chili pepper and a bit of tomato. This chicken kabob meal including the salads, an ayran yogurt drink, and tea cost me 540 Turkish lira. I’m told that it was a bit pricey but that I was paying for the view of the hospital… and the English speaking waiter.

Getting to Know the Goat of the Goat Cheeses

M's Adventures
A “tulum” cheese waiting for purchase.

I like to sit in the front seat of the taxi so I can enjoy the sights out the window. Sometimes I see things that surprise me. One day, I saw a goat torso waving at me… I had to stop and take photos. It’s cheese made inside a goat. It is the goat of goat cheese. Some might even say the G.O.A.T., greatest of all time, of goat’s cheese.

A “tulum” cheese that has been cut into.

This cheese is called “tulum” or “goatskin/sheepskin” cheese. There are local varieties with some being placed in brine after cutting, akin to Greek feta. The cheese is aged for three to six months inside the skin.

The cheese is fairly strong in flavor but not as much as one would think.

The Origins of Swedish Meatballs

M's Adventures
Turkish meatballs are usually this shape although they can also be round.

I see the köfte (the Turkish meatball) everywhere in modern-day Turkish cooking. Never once have I thought how Swedish it seemed. It is surprising to think of it having a connection to Sweden. But, recently, I learned the origins of the Swedish meatball (köttbullar). Apparently, a Swedish King brought back the meatball from his travels to the Ottoman Empire.

In 1708, King Charles XII of Sweden decided to invade Russia. After a military defeat in 1709, he fled to the Ottoman Empire. The Swedish king went into exile for five days… but stayed for as a guest of the Ottoman Empire for five years. The Swedish king was at the Ottoman court for so long that the Ottoman treasury (who funded him) gave him the nickname, “registered immovable property.”

When King Charles XII returned to Swedish, he and his troops had acquired a taste for the Ottoman flavors ofmeatballs, stuffed cabbage, coffee, and sherbet. These foods entered the Swedish cuisine. The Swedish meatball was adapted to meet local tastes, including a creamy gravy, and lingonberry jelly. The first printed recipe for Swedish meatballs was in the 1755 cookbook by Swedish chef Casja Warg. As for the king, in 1718 when he tried to invade Denmark, again, he was fatally shot in the head.

Ikea in Turkiye sells the Swedish meatballs as a sandwich.

With the rise of Ikea, Swedish meatballs have become an internationally known dish. There is an Ikea store in Adana, out at the M1 mall, and they sell Swedish meatballs. You can even eat them at the cafe in the store. They are all beef as this is Adana.

In the freezer section at Ikea in Adana.

I wonder if the Turks enjoying the Swedish meatballs at Ikea think about the Turkish origins of their Swedish meatballs.

The Good Things About Life in Adana

M's Adventures

As I have done for all the places I’ve lived these past 15 years, I write about the pros and cons. This is the good stuff about living in Adana as a foreigner.

It’s a chill place even though the weather is hot in the summer. People are fairly relaxed here about dress code, lifestyle, smoking, drinking, etc. Live and let live. Cover your hair if you want. Wear shorts if you want. Hijabs next to mini skirts.

There are lots of coffee shops open late into the evening so that one can go out without going to a club.

Cups for sale.

There are thousands of restaurants in all price ranges. Every place will serve Turkish breakfast (kahvalti). Just ask.

A local eatery.
A fancier restaurant.

The locals are friendly. Everyone has a phone so they can use a translator app.

There are no tourists. I mentioned that already in another article.

The great things about living in Adana are that it’s a vibrant city full of people going about their lives. Food is fresh and good. People are friendly. Taxis are cheap.

When a Father Becomes a Real Father

M's Adventures

A man is not really a father until he has a daughter. This is what a Turkish man told me. Maybe it was a translation thing. I don’t know. But I thought it was an intriguing thing to say. I do not think that it meant that one should not have sons, but that one should also have a daughter. Sweet thought.

Turkiye is undergoing a downward trending birth rate. Less than the replacement rate. The birth rate has dropped by half from 1960 when it was three children per woman. Now, 1.5 per woman. The Turkish government has tried to encourage their citizens to have more children, but the cost of living is stopping people from having more children. The government called 2025, the “Year of the Family” and started paying money to families who had more children. But still, as one Turk said to me, “Who can afford it?” When I asked about his thoughts on having children.

As for the comment about having a daughter to become a “real father” — others have told me that this is not true. In Turkiye, there is still a preference for boys, so maybe this comment was a personal opinion?

There is a set price for bread.

Yes, the Turks also celebrate Fathers’ Day on the third Sunday in June. The first one was in 1910 in the United States. The Turks started celebrating a few decades ago. The Turks often celebrate Ataturk as they consider him the father of the nation. So maybe “every day is fathers’ day!”

I Am Done

M's Adventures

Recently, I saw on the news that some places are being overrun by tourists. That locals are tired of tourists. I get the feeling. For me, the feeling has been a slow burnout for many years. Even though I realize that tourism is good for the economy (see my article on what to see and do as a tourist in Adana) and that it helps make a person more cultured… I don’t want to do it anymore.

Living in Adana has made me realize that I’m tired of tourism. Adana is the first city in which I’ve lived that is not a capital city or mega tourist destination. I have lived in Rome (35 million tourists visited in 2024 — in a city with over 4 million residents) and Washington, DC (25 million tourists visited in 2025 — the city has 6 million residents in the greater metropolitan area) — both cities with lots of tourists. Of course, it is possible to live out where there are no tourists in both those cities.

That’s another reason that I love Adana. Apparently there are a million tourists per year. But what I see is two million people living their lives. Most of them not working in tourism. I can’t even find an English-speaking tour guide! I’m not sure that they exist.

To answer the question from my previous article about how many of the touristy things I had done in Adana… only a few. Mainly the food related ones. Adana is known for its food tourism… I have been a food tourist. Sigh.

I was surprised to see these sheep grazing on this street in town.

This leads to a much deeper question of “seeing it like the locals” form of tourism. Maybe I’m that type of tourist. A sheep gawker tourist. Sheep are perfectly normal in Adana. But for me, it’s not normal. So maybe I’m a “novelty tourist?” Or a “sheep gawker tourist.”

And, does that still make me a food tourist?