Turkish Delight

                                          

Two years ago, a friend and fellow foodie visited Turkey and brought back lots of edible treats for me to try.  This started my interest in Turkish food.  My favorite Turkish food is manti.  It's a tiny dumpling filled with a spicy meat mixture.  I buy it frozen; it cooks in two minutes and is delicious when I need something quick to eat. There are two sources of manti in the city; there were three but the third was a restaurant that closed last year. I've had a hankering for manti recently and on two dark winter evenings, my friend and I ventured out to two Turkish grocery stores in the city. The first was located in the downtown area but the second was in deepest suburbia. Sadly there was no manti in the two stores but we found other wonderful Turkish foods.  In the first store, we sampled the Turkish olives. They were delicious and I picked up a spicy mixture of green and black olives to try in the weeks ahead.  The olive oil from Turkey was described as the "best in the world".  Some may differ with this opinion but it is very good.  The one I sampled was fruity and light.  I would never cook with this but it is perfect for salads. I bought a large bottle and look forward to using it on salads especially in the summer months.  I also picked up pine honey to add to my honey collection.  Rose is an acquired taste.  I love rose tea and Turkish delight.  I think rose petal jam should be equally delicious and added it to my basket.  I'm also trying to cook with more whole grains.  I've tried Turkish lentils; they are richer and make a great soup.  Another grain found in the store is freekeh - a roasted greenwheat that has many touted health benefits.  I also found a bulgur mix with vermicelli that looked too tempting to pass up on.  As for spices...I love Spanish paprika but was told that Turkish paprika is rich and robust.  My final purchase was chocolate...this is February after all and who can pass up chocolate.

As for finding manti, my search continues...