A full Turkish breakfast by the sea

I've made it to Istanbul for the first leg of my time in Turkey. When I come back, I'll be with my whole immediate family and we'll celebrate the wedding of Jen and Murat, Jen being an old friend from high school and Murat her lovely fiancee. These five days, however, are just me in Istanbul. Well, me in Istanbul with Jen and a bunch of her friends.

On the first morning, Jen and I ventured north up the Bosphorus, to a nice little cafe right on the water called Kale.

The meal was simple to order, a Turkish village breakfast with the works.

Nothing beats a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. So fresh, with the perfect amount of pulp. Produce! And, it was joined by the ever present cay, or Turkish tea, in the glass customary for that beverage. Nice liquid refreshment to begin the day.

Plates of typical breakfast food soon filled our table. There was simit, a sesame-seeded crusty bread. It is like a sesame bagel that had been stretched and cooked for a long time. Very good, and especially good at soaking up some of the delicious Turkish sauces. Next to that was a shepherd's salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and green peppers. All at the height of freshness, cut nicely, and refreshing to the bite. Behind that was the bal kaymak, a large dollop of clotted cream smothered in honey. This made my taste buds sing. It was so rich and delicious on both the simit and the french bread. It was the best of butter, cheese, sugar, and honey, all rolled into delectable bite after bite. I would get seriously addicted to this stuff if I had the chance. In front of that was a mixed cheese plate, with the cheeses offering substantial flavor. The string cheese had some excellent age to it, and the fresh cheese had that squeaky teeth bite. And, to finish off the photo, excellent mixed marinated olives. The kalamata olives, in particular, were fresher than I've had before.

Paired with the Turkish breakfast was a tomato, egg, and sucuk menemen. Essentially an egg casserole in a dish, this was warm and eggy. The sucuk (pronounced soo-jook), a local sausage, was the highlight of this dish.

So, one meal in Turkey and already I am delighted by the freshest of fresh produce and the regional specialities. Should be a good couple of weeks. And, easy for me to leave the meal happy.

Of course, maybe some of that as from the view.