Enough of Dubrovnik, on to Istanbul!
Istanbul is an amazing city, quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen before; a strange mixture of east and west and ancient and new. The bazaars and markets are an eclectic mix of food and people, the mosques are breathtaking and the Turks never fail to make me laugh. Their food is a selection of delicately grilled meats, fresh vegetable, yoghurts, spices and flat breads. Street food is very important, you are never far from a cart selling nuts, corn, breads or various treats.
During the summer months the thing to have is corn, fresh corn husks must arrive in central Istanbul everyday by the thousand, are then removed from their husks and loaded up on to the carts and whisked off ready to feed the hungry masses. The corn is prepared on the carts either of two ways, by boiling or charcoal grilling. Both ways end with more than a liberal sprinkling of salt, but very nice nonetheless. In winter months the corn is replaced with roasting chestnuts.
Istanbul is an amazing city, quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen before; a strange mixture of east and west and ancient and new. The bazaars and markets are an eclectic mix of food and people, the mosques are breathtaking and the Turks never fail to make me laugh. Their food is a selection of delicately grilled meats, fresh vegetable, yoghurts, spices and flat breads. Street food is very important, you are never far from a cart selling nuts, corn, breads or various treats.
During the summer months the thing to have is corn, fresh corn husks must arrive in central Istanbul everyday by the thousand, are then removed from their husks and loaded up on to the carts and whisked off ready to feed the hungry masses. The corn is prepared on the carts either of two ways, by boiling or charcoal grilling. Both ways end with more than a liberal sprinkling of salt, but very nice nonetheless. In winter months the corn is replaced with roasting chestnuts. 
If you don’t fancy a corn cob the next choice is a Simnet, which is a sesame seed covered bread twist, these come toasted with cream cheese, sort of a Turkish pretzel.
Other street vendors have carts loaded with nuts of all varieties. Fresh pistachios taste far better without the extra air miles. Also available is high speed apple tea. Young children and teenagers earn extra cash in the bazaars by whizzing about at high speed distributing tea to all the stall holders. If you look interested enough sometimes a glass is pushed into your hand. A quick glance at Istanbul’s litter reveals fruit peel, nut shells, corn husks and simnet wrappers. A far cry of London’s litter demographic of McDonald’s boxes and beer tins.
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