One great thing about every county I’ve been to outside of America is the abundance of fresh produce! Yeah, we can go to farmer’s markets and special grocery stores in the states, but in other countries, they sell fresh local fruits and veggies on every street!
plums
pomegranates!!
apples
The pomegranates were EVERYWHERE in Istanbul! My friends and I finally bought one the third day I was there:
Can you imagine what it would be like to walk around New York or Boston and be able to buy a fresh pomegranate from a street vendor?
Unfortunately, due to Americanization of the whole freakin world, there are McDonalds and Burger Kings across from these wonderful fresh produce stands. There was even a Starbucks!!! The Turks are famous for their coffee, but there is still a demand for a commercialized coffee brand. *Sigh*
In addition to the produce stands, there were also a lot of other charming food vendors:
corn stand
roasted chestnuts
And my favorite:
stuffed mussels!
Mussels stuffed with rice with secret spices (well, secret to me b/c i don’t speak Turkish and couldn’t ask what they were…) served with fresh lemon. Two for one lira (less than a dollar).
The Turkish boys we were hanging out with told us that they like to hit up the mussel stands after they have been drinking at the bars for some late night munchies. In my college town, we have hot dog stands for that. So drunk American college kids eat hot dogs, and drunk Turks eat stuffed mussels. I found this fascinating. And delicious.
me and my stuffed mussel. yum.
My earrings and scarf are both finds from the Grand Bazaar that I will talk about next. TGIF everybody!
I would love it if they sold pomegranates on the street here. Or stuffed mussels. Yum.
Haha – stuffed mussels aren’t my FIRST choice of the drunchies
I hate how Americanized the world has become. I remember in Prague there were KFCs next to all of these beautiful buildings – it was so sad!
Wow! That pomegranate is like a work of art! How cool to be able to buy that on the street.
I can’t quite imagine trusting stuffed mussels I bought of the street in America. But in a different country I’d be up for it. And they sure do look good!
mmm, I love farmers markets!