Hello my little pumpkin pips! Although Middle Eastern food generally doesn’t agree with me and hubby Phil, we finally found ourselves a dish that does! Iksendar Kabob! Phil and I decided to go native one night and have an authentic local eating experience at an Iskkandor ‘restoran’! Now when we got there we made sure that we had the 100% real deal, so no sitting at tables and using forks and knives! We demanded they clear a space for us, bring some cushions and put the food on the floor so that we could take our shoes off and eat like true Arab shaiykhes! You would think we asked them to dissect a camel! It seemed they didn’t even understand what we wanted! The problem of course is that Turkey has become so westernized that even Turks no longer eat the traditional way; they now sit at tables and eat with cutlery instead, just like in the First World! Well we were in Turkey and wanted to do things the real Beduin way! So we insisted! Phil and I grabbed either end of the table, moved it aside, took our shoes and socks off, sat cross-legged on the carpet, and proceeded to grab hot fat handfuls of saucy buttery meat and pita and yoghurt in our right hands (the left is not used!), squishing them into nice big Ikssandeer balls, and munched away! Goodness me, did we have fun! The locals around us watched with fascination, some even peering through windows, obviously impressed that we could mix in so well and adopt local customs with such ease! As a show of satisfaction we topped it all off with much belching and loud squeaky passing of wind – the highest compliment in Asian countries! Ta-ta for now!
