Turkish breakfast

The last few days, the Ankara weather has been so beautiful. We’ve typically experienced a high of 90 degrees, but now it’s a high of 75, the skies are still blue, there’s a gentle breeze blowing, and the sun is shining. That’s my kind of weather!

Last Friday, my first full day here in Ankara, which will forever be known to me as Pukey Friday, I went to the campus cafeteria to get something to eat at about 11:00 a.m. After much signing, broken Turkish on my part, and broken English on the part of the guy at the cash register, we collectively decided I should have some breakfast.

“Breakfast” to me usually consists of yogurt, eggs, toast, and coffee. Welcome to Turkey where it’s…much more. When the man let me know my breakfast was ready, I looked at the plate which had an omelet, bread, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, olives, cheese, jam, honey, and tea. Now that’s breakfast! Sadly, I was only able to eat a few bites before I felt queasy due to the heat and having waited so long to eat, so I asked for a to-go box. (I know, I know. That’s a very American thing to do. If you don’t believe me, watch Eddie Izzard’s comedy special “Circle” and he’ll fill you in.) I finished it off a few hours later once I’d returned to my room, but the delicious breakfast decided to make a cameo appearance at the mall later that evening.

Yesterday, at the store, I decided I was going to get the ingredients to make myself a real Turkish breakfast. I didn’t buy cucumbers or honey, but you’ll see from the photo below that I did have everything else. From what I can gather, Turkish breakfast eggs will either be in the form of an omelet or hard-boiled. I like both, but I really enjoy sunny-side up so that I can dip my toast in the yolks. Also, that is cheese just below the bread. I don’t want anyone thinking that I’ve suddenly taken to eating massive pats of butter by themselves, a revolting idea even to someone who loves butter as much as I do. The butter, by the way, is the dome-shaped container behind the plate, to the immediate right of the raspberry jam.