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GLOBAL SHORT RENTALS
 Streetside Istanbul Gastronomy

 Streetside Istanbul Gastronomy

Diana Rodríguez Pretel

Have you looked at the map? Istanbul straddles two continents. And well, so does its cuisine. Istanbul’s gastronomy is a fusion between the East and the West in a cosmopolitan city where you’ll have access to the most select of restaurants and the most peculiar food stands. What to eat and where to eat it? We’ll tell you in this post.

The best baklava in Istanbul

The best baklava in Istanbul

Wapitu

The baklava is a typical Eastern Mediterranean sweet. It´s origin is unclear, as some say that it´s Turkish, others consider it Greek and some even consider it Chinese. In any case, it´s a delicious dessert that I highly recommend that you try. The baklava has its origin in the old Mesopotamia, modern day Turkey, even though they believe that the Assyrians in the 7th century BC were the first ones to make such a sweet. In the old days, it was made in wood ovens. In the 19th century, it was considered a dessert for the high classes due to its aphrodisiac qualities. Greek merchants exported the recipe to Athens after their delight at having learned about this delicious sweet, and they adapted it to their recipes, improving the texture of the dough. It´s also considered a Chinese sweet due to the Mongol origin of the word. In 1330, it appears in a Chinese recipe book of the Yuan Dynasty. The original baklava is Turkish, and it´s made from a dough of crushed walnuts bathed in honey or syrup with sesame seeds or pistachios. However, the Greek version is filo pastry filled with walnuts and bathed in honey. Here´s a recipe in case you fancy trying it out: First you will need a few filo pastry layers. You then brush them with melted butter between layer and layer and add the crushed walnuts until you get as many layers as you wish, although the required 33 might be a bit hard for a novice. You cut the dough in same-size triangles and you moisten it with water before baking it...