AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Mango mania AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Mango mania

Mango season has just started, the first Mango Festival was celebrated in the Mediterranean coastal town of Alanya. This sounds like fake news, as mango was practically unknown in this country. The only mangoes that appeared on posh market shelves used to come from afar, usually lacking in flavor as they were picked quite unripe with a high price tag unmatching this flavor flaw. But it is not fake news, we are talking about the domestic mango season, the harvest of locally grown mangoes. The mango fruit is the national fruit of India, Pakistan and the Philippines, and the mango tree is the symbol of Bangladesh. It may soon be the symbol of our southern provinces.

September 18 2022
Long Live the King AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Long Live the King!

It is almost an unbeatable feat to stay on the throne for 70 years. Being the queen of a country that has ruled countries afar like Great Britain is a long voyage. Britain’s longest crowned queen is also the world’s most traveled queen. One can imagine that her majesty had tasted all the delicacies of the world. But the reality is the opposite. These official visits are not open to taste adventures. The Queen visited Türkiye three times, in 1961, 1971 and 2008. I had the chance to talk with a couple of journalist friends and MPs who have attended the state banquets and according to the information given by those who accompanied the meals, the menus were modest and classic, avoiding elaborate creations. And of course, before such royal visits, there is always a communication carried out between both parties, to make sure that the list of foods to be avoided is well-understood, so there would be no unwanted surprises on the table.

September 11 2022
Red revolution AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Red revolution

September is a special month. “Eylül” in Turkish, it is often associated with sadness; in poetry, literature and songs the word “Eylül” equals another Turkish word “Hüzün,” which is sometimes hard to translate. It can stand for melancholy, sadness, sorrow, and blues all in a pack, and it is like the essential keyword along with Eylül in love songs yearning for the lost lover or similar. September is the opposite of the bright and cheerful Spring months, marking the passage to winter, leaves falling turned reddish copper and the end of sunny summer. But there is another fact about September. It could well be the most hectic month of the year both in the rural countryside and in urban homes. There is not a single moment that can be wasted, it is harvest time in vineyards, the time for collecting the last sun-ripened batches of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants in vegetable gardens, and the time for preparing the winter provisions at homes.

September 04 2022
‘Bees Unite the World’ AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

‘Bees Unite the World’

“Bees Unite the World” is the motto of the 47th Apimondia International Beekeeping Congress to be held at the Istanbul Congress Center between Aug. 24-28 this year. The congress will bring together world beekeepers, honey industry professionals, scientists, honey traders, public institutions and organizations, as well as experts in apitherapy, bee biology, and beekeeping economy, to discuss a wide range of topics including beekeeping for rural development, bee health, pollination and bee flora, beekeeping technology and quality.

August 21 2022
Blessing the grape AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Blessing the grape

The grape season is open as of yesterday. Today is the day for blessing the grape. Today is the day dedicated to St. Mary, generally known as the Feast of Virgin Mary, (Meryem Ana Yortusu in Turkish), in Anatolia, it is also the day to celebrate the start of the grape season. The feast is celebrated by many churches on Aug. 15, while the Armenian Church celebrates it on the Sunday closest to Aug. 15.

August 14 2022
Ashura in summer AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Ashura in summer?

It is once again to start anew. It is the time for the symbolic pudding ashura, or “aşure,” the ultimate pudding of plenty. Aşure is a traditional sweet made in the month of Moharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Its main ingredient is whole wheat berries, but there are so many more to the pudding, the number of ingredients can sometimes exceed 40, with various pulses such as chickpeas and beans, dried fruits and nuts added, to make the pudding stand for its symbolic meaning, the plenty. It is rich, it is wholesome. Plenty it is, both in the sense of quantity and context.

August 07 2022
Sweet memories, bitter moment AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Sweet memories, bitter moment

There is something in coffee that bonds people. There can be no other explanation that coffee traveled the world, conquering every single place it landed. Despite its bitterness, the alluring smell and atmosphere it creates captivates people, captures the moment, and sometimes creates the sweetest memories. But now it is a bitter moment for me to write about the passing of the most wonderful lady Ülkü Kahraman Houssein, with whom I had the sweetest memories of coffee. She was the secret hero of Turkish coffee, in quest for spreading it to the world. Like coffee, her allure was captivating, her vivacious smile contagious.

July 31 2022
50 shades of taste AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

50 shades of taste

“The World’s 50 Best” awards, the list of the best restaurants in the world, found their owners. It is not easy to squeeze the best of the best in only 50 places, so there is also a second 51-100 runner-up list in addition to the top 50 on the list. In addition, there are special awards, which seem to increase every year. Many restaurants on the list deserve their place truly, but whether all the good ones can make it to the list, or how accurate the ranking is, is always questioned. Still, it is certain that 50 Best is the most talked about list.

July 24 2022
Crockery chronicles AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Crockery chronicles

Turkish tiles are world famous, not only the tiles cladding the walls of historic buildings but also the magnificent İznik plates and bowls that have long been collectors’ items, masterpieces that are found not only in Topkapı Palace Museum but also adorn the showcases of world museums, such as the Gulbenkian in Lisbon and V&A in London. But the famed İznik pottery was just another step in the long line of pottery tradition in Anatolia.

July 17 2022