Foodie Group Coordinator: Jade York

Food plays such an important role in every culture, and here in Turkey, where people sit down to fresh, home-cooked meals every day with their extended families; where people are fiercely proud of their cuisine; where no matter how little food you have, it is generously shared with strangers; food plays an integral part of Turkish culture.

As an American living in Turkey, food continues to be an important part of my life here, from learning how to cook Turkish cuisine, to sampling Turkish food from all the different regions of Turkey, to searching out new restaurants, and in preserving my own culture's and family's recipes and trying to recreate them here.  I remember my first days here, getting to know my new Turkish mother-in-law by watching her expertly cook a variety of dishes from simple pilaf (pilav), vegetables slow-cooked in olive oil  (zeytinyağ yemekleri), wholesome soups (çorba), to labor-intensive stuffed grape leaves (yaprak sarma) and hand-formed meatballs (köfte).  She spoke no English and I had just begun to learn Turkish, but the language of food and cooking is universal and food has a wonderful way of bringing people together.

When I moved to Istanbul 3 years ago from New York City, my life completely changed.  PAWI helped me to adjust to my new life here, and is an amazing social network which brings people together.  Priceless advice is shared on all topics, and if you are interested in food and want a great restaurant recommendation, or hunting for a specialty food item, or need a useful ingredient substitution, just post it to the group.

My name is Jade York, and as one of the PAWI Foodies group coordinators, I invite all our members to share their favorite recipes from home or here, and any difficult to find specialty food items they may spot while out shopping or a great ingredient substitution they have used when cooking. Please send to me and I will add it to the PAWI google site for everyone's reference.
Afiyet olsun!