In The Press

Turkey’s delights

Joanna Habdank, North Shore News
Published: Friday, April 17, 2009

If you’re one of the growing number of foodies and have an equal love of travel, this trip is for you.

This September West Vancouverite Brenda Farrell will lead an 11-day tour throughout Turkey, a country she says that we can learn lots from when it comes to healthy eating. “In Turkey people don’t worry about where the food is coming from because it’s local,” says Farrell, who has travelled to this Mediterranean land several times in the past few years. “I believe that Turkey is one of the only countries that is sustainable. They don’t have to import anything.”

As an example, she says, it was nearly impossible to find olive oil while she was visiting in June because, as someone explained to her, it’s not been pressed yet.

“They eat fresh food that is in season. They eat the way that the rest of the world is trying to go back to.”

Farrell, who works as a Turkey travel consultant with Renshaw Travel, is also the leader of Slow Food Lions Gate. Founded in Italy, the slow food movement aims to counter the growth of fast food and preserve the food traditions as well as combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat. This kind of culinary style seems integral to Turkish cuisine and can be witness along throughout the tour.

The trip begins in Istanbul with a welcome dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Golden Horn waterway. The next day the group will look at historic sites of the Blue Mosque and St. Sophia before taking the local ferry to Kadikoy, the Asian side of the city where the largest weekly open air street market is located. In the afternoon there will be a cooking class with a focus on Ottoman cuisine and the evolution of Turkish kitchen while dinner will be at an Istanbul restaurant. And that’s just the start.

Along the way travellers can expect to learn from experts how culture has influenced Turkish cuisine, says Farrell. An English-speaking Turkish culinary expert will be explaining the regional variations of the food and how it has evolved.

Participants will witness and participate in the harvest season, region by region, as the tour stops to sample goodies from street vendors and orchards laden with citrus, figs, quince, walnuts, pomegranates and more.

The group will get a chance to stop and explore farmers’ markets and bazaars stocked with spices, fresh fish, meat, olives, eggs and cheese and countless varieties of fruits and vegetables picked that same day, says Farrell, who also handpicked the restaurants and hotels.

“When I first went to Turkey, I was mesmerized. I think the combination of the history, the culture, the people, the food, the whole thing, just made a huge impression on me,” Farrell explains.

She went on to work for a Turkish tour operator for three years, and escorted several tours to Turkey during that time. Whenever she was in Turkey she went off to explore the hotels, the restaurants, the beaches, to learn everything that she could about it.

“I did a lot of exploring and got a lot of ideas,” says Farrell.

“As a result I put together this itinerary that really captures the essence of the cuisine in Turkey and how the history and the culture have influenced the culture of the cuisine.”

The tour begins Sept. 7 in Istanbul and wraps up on Sept. 18. Cost for accommodation, transportation within Turkey, meals and a tour guide is $4,549 US per person based on double occupancy.

8 TIPS FOR TRAVELLING IN TURKEY:

1. Read the terms and conditions. If you make reservations directly with an hotel, be sure to confirm the rate for your entire stay at the time of booking and ask for that information in writing. While room rates are often tied to events, it is important to note that policies may change on days where there is an event that is likely to increase demand. This is especially important when booking with smaller hotels.
2. Leave the heels at home. Turkey’s streets are old, many cobbled, and surfaces are uneven.
3. Use a map. Know where you are going and make sure the taxi meter is turned on when you get into the car and stays on until you arrive.
4. Ditch the watch! Turkish people live on Turkish time, so don’t expect time estimates to be accurate. Most of the time it doesn’t matter; after all, you are on holiday. If you have arranged to be picked up at an airport, make sure you have the telephone number of the driver and that the company has all your relevant arrival information and will hold up a card with your name and flight number.
5. Be respectful. Turkey is predominantly Muslim and although there is also a heavy Western influence, women are reminded that covering one’s head, bare arms and legs is a sign of respect when entering a mosque or museum.
6. Cash is king. Cash discounts are even offered by hotels for payment in cash.
7. Avoid confusion when shopping. Be aware of the relative exchange rates of the various currencies you will see quoted in Turkey: Turkish lira (TL), pound sterling, Canadian and US dollars and the euro.
8. Keep a pack of tissues with you at all times. Washrooms are plentiful and typically very clean. At some there will be a person at the door whose job is to keep them clean. To use these facilities, you will be asked to pay about 50 kurus (half a Turkish Lira) and you will also be given two very small pieces of tissue. Be prepared.

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Canadian Promotes Culinary Tourism in Turkey

Published by Ozgur Tore , Focus on Travel News
Tuesday, 24 March 2009

Vancouver resident Brenda Farrell is passionate about food, travel and Turkey, the country. During the same year that she started a local convivium of Slow Food®, Brenda, a retired qualitative researcher, also took her first trip to Turkey to help a friend decorate her new condominium.

On her return, mesmerized by the food and the warmth and friendliness of the Turkish people, she decided that she had to learn more about the connection between the culture and food of Turkey – this time for herself and not on behalf of a client.  “After all, cuisine is an expression of culture” says Farrell.

Today, after collecting Turkish cookbooks, hosting Turkish food evenings at her home,  reading many books about Islamic culture and, of course, several more visits to Turkey, Farrell has crafted an itinerary for a very unique tour of Turkey which she will host with Vancouver-based registered travel agency Renshaw Travel, in September 2009.

Designed to incorporate history, culture and food, Brenda says “While preparing this itinerary, we talked to food experts across Turkey and it became clear that if we were to truly understand the influence of history and culture on Turkish food, we would need to have a regional culinary expert with us throughout the tour as well as a licensed guide.”

Farrell, passionate about sharing Turkey with fellow culinary adventurers sums up the tour as “Starting and ending our journey in Istanbul, we will visit those must-see world-famous historic sites and monuments in Istanbul and also those in Troy, Ephesus, Pergamum, Harran.  As well, we will visit farmers’ markets, participate in cooking classes, sample local foods, including cheeses and olive oils.  We will visit vineyards and enjoy wine-tasting, explore picturesque villages unchanged by time, enjoy lunch with villagers, visit a farm that produces bulgur, and see the positive effects of a GAP project in a once-barren area, to name a few activities.  Of course, there will also be lots of free time to relax or explore alone.”  There is so much to see and do in Turkey that for those wishing to extend their visit, Brenda has many different ideas for add-on itineraries

Culinary tourism has always been of interest to chefs and other professionals who travel to learn.  Now it is becoming a passion for foodies the world over.  And it’s not just about eating.  Since the root of culinary tourism is in agriculture, people today want to know more about their food such as, where and how it is grown, and by whom.  This is becoming just as important as how it is prepared.

For a complete copy of this or other unique Explore Turkey Tours itineraries, please email brenda@renshawtravel.

Renshaw Travel is a licensed travel agency registered in the Province of British Columbia, Canada.  More information may be found at www.renshawtravel.com