AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Magic power of Baba Marta AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Magic power of Baba Marta

March is a fearful month. In Turkish there is a saying which is the equivalent of “March comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb”, or more accurately “Never cast a clout till May be out”.

February 24 2019
Monsters and masquerades AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Monsters and masquerades

As the carnival seasons start, many think of colorful parades of Rio or mysterious masqueraded figures gracefully gliding in the canals of Venice. However, there is much more to the world of carnivals that need to be explored; sooner the better, before they go extinct, or on the contrary, before they become overly touristic and lose their authentic thrill.

February 17 2019
Sweet and swift AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Sweet and swift

I was recently faced with two totally unrelated questions. The first question was timely for the calendar: My daughter asked me a good place to dine for the Valentine’s Day in the Anatolian side of Istanbul.

February 10 2019
Lucky piggy AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Lucky piggy

Pigs are symbols of good fortune in life. This is a widely held belief in Germany, where the New Year is met with either a pig running around or a pinky pig-shaped marzipan to bring good luck. But in 2019, pigs belong to Asia, to all the countries that follow the 12-animal zodiac. Now that we are stepping today to the year of pig according to the Chinese calendar, we must expect a lucky year, especially for the ones born in 2007, 1995, 1983, 1971, 1959 (like myself), 1947 or 1935, all years of the lucky piggy.

February 04 2019
Basques with Toques AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Basques with Toques

In late1980’s we had a driving safari all the way passing from Biarritz to Algiers. Our mission was to bring a car to our office in Algiers.

January 27 2019
A stale tale AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

A stale tale

Bread is considered sacred in Turkey, or better to say it was so in the past. Throwing away bread was believed to be a serious sin. If one would notice even a small morsel of bread dropped on the street, the common practice was to put it in a higher place...

January 21 2019
String bags for stingy customers AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

String bags for stingy customers

String bags were a thing of past in Turkey, perhaps remembered from childhood for most of Turkish citizens.

January 14 2019
Wheat is wealth AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Wheat is wealth

This morning, there will probably be countless bowls of leftover boiled wheat pudding cups in many kitchens around the Kurtuluş and Pangaltı neighborhoods of Istanbul, in the kitchens of Armenian families and their neighbors.

January 06 2019
Watch your plate in 2019 AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Watch your plate in 2019!

End of December is the time when the food trends of the coming year are announced by leading food magazines, newspapers or self-appointed trendsetters.

December 30 2018