A Turkish Afternoon Feast // Sirince, Turkey
This Fall Dan and I had the opportunity to explore the beautiful little town of Sirince, Turkey, located 6km from the ancient city of Ephesus. Originally locals named their city Cirkince, meaning “ugly” in Turkish to keep away visitors. In 1926 the village’s name was changed to Sirince meaning “pleasant” by the governor of the Izmir province. Nestled in the hillside surrounded by olive farms, “pleasant” is right, this little village is sleepy and sweet. The locals are warm and kind and the food is life-changing (!). Our meal at Sirincem Restaurant was one of my favorite meals of 2013. The food was melt-in-your mouth wonderful. The owner was super sweet and after the meal took me up to one of the lookout points above the town to take pictures.
fresh hummus, baba ganoush and stuffed grape leaves
sautéed veggies, bread, olive oil, olives and local wine
fresh clementines, pomegranate, oranges and quince
(which kind of tastes like a mix of pear and apple)
The friendliest restaurant owner in the world. This guy hung out at our table for almost an hour telling us about life in Sirince. At the end of the meal he sold us a liter of olive oil from his father’s olive farm for 5E. We’re still working our way through it – soo yummy.
