When one of our residents asked us for a good place to see Byzantine frescoes, we got hungry! The Kariye (or Chora) Church is one of the most impressive structures in Istanbul. Because it is a bit far from the historical district in Sultanahmet, it does not get as much attention as say, Hagia Sophia. Well, and in my opinion, it is also not as impressive (oops.)
The main attraction of the Chora Church for Julie and I is that is sits beside one of the most intriguing and delicious restaurants in Istanbul–Asitane. Definitely ahead of it’s time in leading the Ottoman culture revival that persists, Asitane has separate winter and summer menus which highlight recipes found all over turkey, but also taken from the old recipes from the kitchen at Topkapı Palace. Okay, I will admit, Ottoman cuisine uses too many raisins and currants. They overdo the ‘fruit with meat’ thing a little bit too much for my taste. BUT–that is something I can overlook when I get a chance to eat Gerdaniyye (Lamb chuck medallions stewed with aromatic vegetables and herbs, blended with sheep brains) or Liver Kebap with cinnamon and clove. We are acquaintances with the owner, who while he was sitting with us said, “Offal is really in these days.” Which is just about my favorite quote to use out of context.
Kinky: Lamb, currants, nuts, rice doin' it inside a quince.
Other guest stars in what developed into a full-on food field trip included, Lamb guveç, veal, cauliflower salad with tahini, and goose hidden in crust.
The ugliest photo of the BEST food
Oh, and the church was nice too:
Kariye Church
I had distinctly remembered there being a wooden trap door in the apse, with guard standing there, lifting it to show visitors a hidden fresco under the floor. The trap door was there, but when I asked a guard to open it he laughed at me. After a couple minutes of conversation about it, I realized that he had no idea if there were something under there or not. About 10 minutes later I caught him trying to take a quick peak into the hole. I don’t know what he saw.
We took the bus back to Eminonu en masse and went on a fruitless hunt for crash pads and tumbling mats in the sporting goods district. We were joined by a friend of ours who was hungry, and so we ended up at one of our other favorite haunts: Hamdi Despite still being full from lunch, we managed to stuff down another 20 kilos of food between the 6 of us.
After dinner we managed to roll onto a ferry to Uskudar to attend an opening in Kuzkuncuk. A friend’s family owns an enormous and cute house that they can’t figure out what to do with (a-hem . . .) and occasionally they host art exhibitions in it. We got there as the show was closing, but were invited up to the top floor kitchen. We ended the night there drinking home-made cherry liqueur and sampling a guest’s hand made olive oil–drinking it straight from the spoon. We stayed until late and a good time was had by all.
We were magnetized by this piece of work in Kuzkuncuk
When you roll with us, you can let your inner glutton shine through. . .
