CAPPADOCIA FOR FOODIES
Day 1
Transfer to the airport for your flight to Kayseri. Upon arrival to Kayseri Airport you will be transferred to your hotel for check-in.
Today at dinner you will taste the deliciousTesti Kebab (meat stew cooked in a seamless pot, broken with a hammer upon service) as well as varieties of Turkish meze selections and local Cappadocian wine.
Day 2
Your first real encounter with Cappadocia’s almost Martian landscape is in the Dervent valley, where the rock formations are amazing. A walk through the Zelve Open Air Museum is a journey into the past, with its troglodyte houses. This is one of the earliest inhabited and latest abandoned monastic settlements in Cappadocia. After Zelve you will visit Pasabag’s “fairy chimneys”, where the voice of the wind harmonizes with the songs of the fairies. From here you will stop at Avanos, a centre of terracotta art since 2,000 BC, for a demonstration in a traditional pottery workshop.
Lunch is at a restaurant carved right in 2 fairy chimneys in Goreme village. The restaurant is most famous for its manti (Turkish ravioli) and you will watch the ladies while they are making it. There is also a tandur in the restaurant where they make tanduri bread here. This is going to be a an unparalled experience.
After lunch, you will visit the famous Goreme Open Air Museum to see the best examples of Byzantine art in Cappadocia. These are found in rock-cut churches with frescoes and paintings dating from as early as the 10th century. Next stop is theTurasan Winery in Urgup. This is the biggest and oldest winery (since 1943) of Cappadocia. Your day will day with a detailed tour of the winery while tasting their local wines.
Dinner will be served at a nearby village. This is a mansion built in 1887 by the Greeks and now owned and run as a restaurant by a Turkish family since 1992. The ladies of the family willcook for us. We will get there about 1 hour before the dinner, so you will be able to join the ladies of the family in the kitchen to cook some of what you willhave for dinner (ie. stuffed vine leaves). This is going to be one of the best dinners and you will sit on the floor in a traditional way while having your dinner.
A glimpse onthe menu: Sheppard's salad, beans in olive oil, cheese pastry, stuffed vine leaves, casserole (beef, egg plant, tomatoes, green pepper and garlic), chips, meatballs, rice and baklava.
Day 3
In the morning, you will descend towards the center of the earth, with a trip to the underground city of Kaymakli, one of the largest and deepest of Cappadocia's many such settlements.
Then, you will drive to Ayvali village, where you will watch the villagers make salcha (tomato paste) and pekmez (grape molasses) in a village type of kiln (September only).
Lunch will be served where the food is cooked in a tandur. You will spend about 2 hours in the restaurant to make the casserole and cook it in the tandur. The wife of the owner will be pleased to see you in the kitchen and help her with the food. This is going to be a hands on experience!
In the afternoon, you will visit the Soganli valley, which is one of the earliest settlements in Cappadocia. Later, you will be transferred to Kayseri Airport to take the 20:30 flight to Istanbul.
Upon request we also offer daily wine tours in Cappadocia visiting vineyards and tasting different wines of the region.
This tour can be organized privately at any requested date.
If you are interested in learning more about participation in a Culinary Vacation in Istanbul and Cappadocia please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
selin@turkishflavours.com
TURSAB Licence No 2554.
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