13 Food Souvenirs from Istanbul You Should Gift to Family (or Keep for Yourself)
You can try to prepare for a food-focused trip to Istanbul, but the sheer variety of regional and ethnic cuisines available in Turkey's cultural capital will overwhelm even the most seasoned visitor. A restaurant menu might feature items of Armenian, Balkan, Anatolian, Slavic, and Sephardic Jewish origin, all coexisting with Istanbul's native olive oil-braised vegetable dishes. And the shops filled with exotic spices and potent pastes can be equally dizzying. Your dilemma—deciphering Istanbul's cuisine and ingredients—is as delicious as it is overwhelming.
One trip to the Queen of Cities won't be enough to crack the code, but you can transport the city's flavors and textures back home to family and friends and share a small part of the big picture with loved ones. (Or just keep them for yourself.) Here are 13 tips on what to bring back (all of which are legal to bring back to the States).
Katie Parla1/13Tomato and Pepper Pastes at Ulaş Baharat
The Spice Bazaar may be the default food-shopping destination for visitors, but many shops get by selling inferior or stale product to uninformed tourists. Discerning local cooks and savvy travelers prefer the variety, quality, and freshness of spices and pastes in the Kadıköy district's shops. Board a ferry bound for Istanbul's Anatolian side and head to Ulaş Baharat (Güneşli Bahçe Sokak, Kadıköy; +90 216 337 9376) to stock up on sweet and spicy pepper pastes and tomato paste for adding to sauces, dressings, and marinades. These pastes are brought up from Turkey's deep south, where artisans work the summer's tomato and pepper bounties into concentrated and intense products. While you're there, pick up some thick and tart pomegranate molasses to add to roasted vegetables and salad dressings.
Katie Parla2/13Spices at Mesut Güneş
Stock up on smokey isot-pepper flakes, intense black peppercorns, fragrant cumin, and piquant Marash-pepper flakes at Mesut Güneş (Yasa Caddesi No: 44/A, Kadıköy; +90 216 449 9228) just around the corner from Ulaş Baharat. Dry spices are sold by weight from jars on shelves throughout the store, and their quality and freshness puts most of what's peddled at the Spice Bazaar across the Bosphorus to shame.
Katie Parla3/13Cured Fish Roe
You'll still probably end up at the Spice Bazaar at some point during your Istanbul sojourn, but skip the spice shops and hit Taze Balıkçı (Tahmis Sokak No: 7, Eminönü; +902125281398) instead. This fish stall, one of the few in town to embrace sustainable fishing practices, sells the local version of bottarga, or cured grey-mullet roe. The intensely savory roe is salted, then encased in wax, which must be peeled off before grating, shaving, or slicing onto pasta, salads, or toast. It imparts pleasant brininess and fishy umami to food, and is more intense than what is commercially available in the U.S.
Katie Parla4/13Pickles at Asri Turşucu
Pickles are beloved feature of the city's cuisine, made at home or sold from historic storefronts throughout the city, and a traditional way to preserve fruits and vegetables year-round. At Asri Turşucu (Ağa Hamam Caddesi No: 29/1, Cihangir; +90 212 244 4724), all sorts of produce, from plums and tomatoes to garlic and ears of corn, are pickled in brine, rendering them bright and crisp. Purchase an assortment of seasonal pickles to take away, like apricots in the summer or grapes in the fall, but don't leave without sipping a cup of brine just for fun. Pick your garnishes from the vats of pickles in the shop, and heap on the pickled peppers for extra heat.
Katie Parla5/13Handcrafted Porcelain Cups by mO/santimetre Kağıthane
mO/santimetre porcelain cups are handcrafted in Ayvalık, a village on the Aegean coast of Turkey, and sold in design shops all over Istanbul. Look for olive-branch teapots, delicate teacups, and boldly colored coffee cups at Kağıthane (several locations) and Archive (Serdar-ı Ekrem No:19, Galata; +90 212 292 11 40; ), which are beautifully textured and wonderful to hold. Their colorful palettes and pleasing textures are fun to mix and match.
Katie Parla6/13Mesut Güneş Housewares
Founded in 1970 next to the spice shop of the same name, Mesut Güneş Housewares (Yasa Caddesi No:46/A, Kadıköy; +90 216 449 9228) sells soft, absorbent hammam towels, which can double as tablecloths. The cotton dish towels are identical to the ones sold at Williams-Sonoma, but here you'll pay noticeably less than what you would in the States.
Katie Parla7/13Handcrafted Kitchen Tools
Kutucular Caddesi (Eminönü), a busy commercial street northwest of the Spice Bazaar, is packed with shops selling knives, wooden cooking implements, and assorted kitchen tools. Purchase wooden spoons, massive cleavers, or tea trays off the rack, or commission something custom-made. Home grillers should keep an eye out for hand-forged skewers, while pizza bakers can commission a custom peel or choose from the dozens of designs hanging in the shops along Kutucular Caddesi.
Katie Parla8/13Pistachio Marzipan
Meşhur Bebek Badem Ezmesi (Cevdet Paşa Caddesi No: 53/C, Bebek; +90 212 263 59 84) has been selling fine Turkish confections since 1904. The fıstık ezmesi (pistachio marzipan) is made with coarsely ground pistachios from southeastern Anatolia. The highly specialized marzipan makers at Meşhur Bebek Badem Ezmesi never compromise on freshness or quality—a lesson that their industrial competitors ought to learn—and each bite of their handcrafted creations is packed with rich and earthy flavor enhanced by a subtle sweetness.
Katie Parla9/13Turkish Delight
The historic sweet shop Şekerci Cafe Erol (several locations) has been providing Istanbul with a sugar rush for more than two centuries. It is known for hard candies and syrup-rich pastries, not to mention some of the city's greatest lokum (Turkish delight), a ubiquitous chewy confection that comes in a range of shapes and flavors. While having a mixed box of pistachio, rose water, and mastic lokum packaged for home consumption, sample the kaymaklı lokum, which is filled with a thick pat of clotted cream made from buffalo's milk. It won't travel well, so eat your fill of this creamy delight in the shop.
Katie Parla10/13Wood-Roasted Coffee Beans
Since 1890, Kurukahveci Nuri Toplar (Hasırcılar Cad. No: 39, Eminönü; +90 212 5220728 ), near the Spice Bazaar, has been selling wood-roasted coffee beans for discerning consumers who prefer the balanced flavors of these beans to those of overworked and overhyped Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi down the street. The secret to Nuri Toplar's success is roasting in very small batches, followed by slow cooling, resulting in beans with greater complexity and deeper aromas than bulk-roasted beans. Purchase whole beans for home grinding, or grab a package of finely ground coffee from East Africa for recreating Turkish coffee at home.
Katie Parla11/13Copper Pots, Pans, and Kettles
With more than seven millennia of experience, Anatolian copper craftsmen have a formidable reputation. Soy (Büyük Yeni, Han 3, Taya Hatun Mahallesi, Sandalyeciler Sk., 34120 Fatih; +90 212 519 8868) makes pots, pans, skillets, kettles, and more, all hand-hammered in Turkey and adapted to all cooking styles. Snag a shallow pot for searing and braising, or a silver-plated, bronze-handled copper saucepan for that special cook in your life.
Katie Parla12/13Quirky Coasters
Kağıthane design shop (several locations) sells quirky paper goods and housewares. Check out the coasters shaped like iconic Turkish staples like simit (a sesame-encrusted bread ring), lahmacun (a meat-topped Anatolian flatbread), and teacup saucers.
Katie Parla13/13Triple-Distilled Rakı
Rakı is Turkey's national distilled beverage and a constant fixture at traditional restaurants serving mezes (assorted starters). For the best rakı around, seek out the Beylerbeyi brand (available at liquor stores and duty-free shops), which is triple-distilled for maximum smoothness and supreme balance.
