Making gozleme for us.
As we drove north out of Silifke, we stopped at every tomb on the way. It took us much longer than we expected, and before we knew it, it was time for lunch. Last time we didn’t eat and we were forced (through hunger and desperation) to buy some gozleme from the local ladies out in the middle of nowhere–not the best in Turkey. So, I really wanted to find something. Jim was driving at a respectable speed through the winding mountain roads as we saw a banner for a restaurant, “Uzuncaburc. Perfect. We’re expecting it to be in one of the tiny villages, on a cement platform, so we were pleasantly surprised to find it was in the middle of a gorgeous pine forest, where they also had a campground.
The restaurant was in a beautiful round wooden building with a porch all around it. It had a mangal (grill) on one side and the kitchen was around back. There were plenty of tables inside, but it was such perfect “harvest” summer weather, that we ate outside. Not long after we sat down, the wife came out and gave me a hug and kiss, then proceeded to kiss everyone around the table. It seemed like she knew me. I didn’t think that I knew her. We’d just stopped because of their advertising. Of course, we pulled up and the place looked rather deserted. Out came a man, though, and I asked if the restaurant was open; it was. There was no menu so we asked what was available. The menu was quite extensive. We ordered esme, haydari (the best yogurt spread I”ve had anywhere), Sac Kavurma (lamb stew), tavuk sis (chicken shish), and some gozleme.
Right away a man comes out with the chicken and proceeds to chop it up and pound it flat on a tree trunk right by the grill. Then the woman who kissed us came out with a gas pan set up to make the gozleme. Next, she brought out the dough and then shaped it into small balls. The balls were then rolled out with a yufka rolling pin (a long thin wooden cylinder) and filled with cheese. At this point she put one on the pan (it looks like an inverted wok almost), folded it in half, let it cook a few minutes, and turned it over to do the same on the other side. Apparently, an order of gozleme is about four pieces because she kept on making them. I’m not a big gozleme fan, but almost everyone thought these ones were better than most. The rest of our food came out and it was a feast!
Every inch of the table was covered and the sac kavurma, as always, looked splendid in the pan it was cooked in, and tasted even better. It had tiny slices of green pepper cooked in with it that gave it just the right taste. The chicken was also delectable. We’ve got to figure out what the grilling spices are that they put on it.
Another man arrived and came right up to me. In Turkish he asked me if I had been to Uzuncaburc before. I said I had and he said he remembered me. Then I realized I’d remembered him as well. Last year I had met he and his wife, and she was sick. So, now I understood why she was so happy to see me. I took quite a few pics of her making the gozleme, the butcher (his brother), and their daughter. I asked them if they had an email so I could send them copies, but instead he said, no problem he could wait until next year when I came again…Inshallallah! That, that right there, is why I love it here. Yes, I will go back next year, if for no other reason than just to visit them and take them their photos and have lunch at their fabulous restaurant. I suggest that if you happen to be visiting Uzuncaburc, look for the sign and eat there; it was wonderful!
Chopping chicken for the grill.