Culinary Backstreets

Down to Earth Markets' #cunninghampark #farmersmarket and market manager, Kevin Sims, were recently profiled by Culinary Backstreets. This wonderful article by Queens correspondent, Dave Cook, highlights the market's special vibe, its connectedness with the local community and its diversity and range of offerings: https://bit.ly/4cdtKSD "“Very hands-on” is how Kevin describes the Cunningham market. In common with all the Down to Earth markets – which were created in response to industrial farming and all its attendant social and environmental concerns – Cunningham is home to smaller-scale operations. It’s “based on people,” Kevin adds, not on big business. The men and women staffing the tents might well have been growing, harvesting, baking, packaging or labeling their wares not too long before pulling up to the market." #downtoearthmkts #sustainableeating #localfood #CulinaryBackstreets #farmersmarket #agriculture #farming #eatlocal

Istanbul–Day 4 At 5am I woke to the call from the muezzin at a nearby mosque, the signal for the faithful to stop whatever they are doing & perform their prayers. The muezzin's voice resonates from the minarets and is loud & impossible to miss. I heard it, then promptly rolled over and went back to sleep. About 30 minutes later the shrieks of seagulls woke me again. That was okay. I’d gotten enough rest and needed to get to the other side of town by 9:30 to start a full-day food tour. Culinary Backstreets offers food tours & cooking classes around the globe. The one I signed up for, “Born on the Bosphorus: Exploring Three Distinct Waterside Neighborhoods,” was described as “From a workingman’s breakfast in a frenetic seaside market to a leisurely fish lunch in a waterside Bosphorus neighborhood, this full-day Istanbul food tour explores the diverse cultural & culinary range of Istanbul’s amazing waterside neighborhoods.” That description didn’t do it justice. Our guide, Gonca, was fun, clearly loved food & food history, and went above & beyond to make sure all of us had a fabulous time. She was the best guide I have had in a very long time, telling personal stories about her family's & friends’ traditions, explaining paths of food preparation around the globe, and incorporating history into food stories. I always thought baklava originated in Greece. Not true. The rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo filled with chopped nuts & sweetened with syrup or honey, has a history that spans centuries & cultures with origins in ancient civilizations in Syria. As trade & conquests spread culinary practices, it made its way to the Byzantine Empire & the Arab world with local ingredients & preferences. It’s most significant transformation happened at the royal palace of the 15th century Ottoman Empire, Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, where it was perfected into paper thin layers of filo dough, pistachios & sugar syrup. Common folk were not permitted to buy pistachios so they made a version with walnuts, now called “grandmother’s baklava.” The Greeks couldn’t get pistachios OR sugar, so they substituted honey & walnuts or hazelnuts. These kinds of stories about all sorts of foods made both history & the foods themselves fascinating. Our first tastings were in the Beşiktaş neighborhood which has streets that specialize in distinct types of food. We started on a block known for serving breakfast all day long with a feast--Turkish style scrambled eggs, simit--a circular bread, encrusted with sesame seeds - white bread, cheese, sausage, and my personal favorite, bal kaymak, clotted water buffalo cream blanketed in honey & eaten with a chocolate bread. If I had access to bal kaymak on a regular basis I’d have to buy a whole new wardrobe. We stopped at little hole-in-the-wall places, visited bakeries & markets. After 7 hours & 8 stops, we’d tried typical Turkish dishes for every meal. Based on my experience, I'll seek out Culinary Backstreets wherever I travel!