Voyaging Through History along the Western Coast of Turkey
The Lost Secrets of Ottoman Cuisine
By Maud McInerney
On the last day of our Far Horizons trip, we visited the Church of St. Saviour in Chora, which is one of the most exquisite of all Byzantine churches. It is decorated with mosaics and frescoes from the century before the fall of Constantinople, depicting the Life of the Virgin and the Life of Christ. Scholars tend to see Italian influences in these lovely images; they aren’t stiff and stylized like so much Byzantine art, but instead are moving and personal, almost sentimental. My favorite is, perhaps, the mosaic showing the first steps of the Virgin Mary: she’s a tiny little girl (only six months old, according to tradition) but already very dignified and confident, walking all by herself away from her mother’s hands. It’s perfectly familiar—I have three friends with toddler babies at the moment—and yet wonderfully strange, set against a backdrop of the Holy Land as imagined by a 14th century Byzantine artist, all strange perspectives and garden walls.
Ottoman food turns out to be wonderfully strange as well. The Ottoman Empire, at its apogee, encompassed Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria and the Balkans as well as present day Turkey. The master chefs who catered to the whims of the rulers of this empire could thus draw on a wide range of ingredients and techniques. They were famous for their inventiveness and skill, and also for keeping their recipes secret, so that no lesser person might eat what the Sultan ate. Almost next door to St Saviour, in a beautiful green garden with high walls and trellises, there is a restaurant that specializes in rediscovering the lost recipes of the Ottoman chefs. They have re-invented dishes based upon cookbooks from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries discovered in remote archives, all listed in the menu with the century next to the name of the dish.
There we ate lamb cooked in an earthenware pot with dried apricots and coriander; grape leaves stuffed with minced meat and rice and sour cherries; chicken cooked in honey; squid stuffed with a filling of couscous and cinnamon; and we had tiny glasses of tamarind sherbet to drink (an Ottoman favorite, not like ice-cream at all but rather like very cold sweet fruit juice), along with glasses of cold white wine from Cappadocia. Everything was exotic and subtle and delicious, nothing like any cuisine I’ve ever tasted. I thought about those later Ottoman sultans, prisoners of their own viziers in the great palace of Topkapi, with their stables of gorgeous Arab horses, their harem full of beautiful women, their painted walls and their stunning jewels, their pleasure gardens and their chefs… decadent, perhaps, but not such a bad life.
Mustafa’s Onboard Kitchen
Our boat is a ninety-foot gület, two-masted and fairly broad beamed, designed for coastal sailing. There are eight cabins for guests, six forward and two aft, in addition to a bunk room right up in the prow of the ship for the crew and the captain’s cabin across from the galley. Inside, the ship is entirely wood paneled and has made to order Turkish carpets that announce its name: Arif Kaptan C, for the father of the present owner, Hussein. The present Captain is inscrutably friendly. Utgur, who is 21, is graceful, at least half-cat and apparently capable of teleportation, is the person you shout for whenever you need something (a kayak; a drink; to have the sails hoisted); and for twenty years, Mustafa has been the cook on this ship.
We are on board for nine days, and for almost every one of those days, Mustafa produces three meals, plus 
tea. Breakfast is cucumber and tomato and Turkish cheese and some kind of egg (scrambled or fried) and sublime peaches, skinned before they come to the table. Lunch is various; today, we had köfte, little Turkish meatballs beautifully spiced, roasted zucchini and eggplant, a huge green salad with tomatoes and lettuce and shreds of purple cabbage and lots of dill, and beautiful pasta, just lightly sauced with tomato and olive oil. Dinners are even more elaborate. We start with the mezes: esme, spicy tomato smoodge that you eat on bread, patliçan salat, which is garlicky smoky eggplant mash, cacik, like Greek tzatziki but with a mysterious green leafy thing in it instead of cucumber, and if we’re very lucky, also sigarete börek, long tubes of pastry filled with soft cheese, or the divine zucchini fritters. The challenge is not to go into food coma before the main course comes to the table. It’s usually quite simple, after all those varied entrées. One night, each one of us got a whole sea bream, caught fresh that day and then grilled over a tiny hibachi at the front of the ship. Or it might be roast chicken, or lamb chops and grilled vegetables. Dessert comes last: fresh fruit usually (cherries and apricots and melon) but sometimes also halvah, which I personally don’t care for, but which sends others into raptures.
In the photo, you can see how beautiful Mustafa’s meals are, and this is all the more remarkable as he has no formal training. What you can’t see is the size of his kitchen; it can’t possibly be more than 6 feet by 6 feet, and it’s often a day’s sail away from anything resembling a village shop let alone a supermarket, and yet out of it comes some of the most extraordinary food I’ve ever eaten.
Maybe I’ll miss Mustafa most of all; no one else has ever peeled my peaches for me.
Mustafa’a Zucchini Fritters Recipe
4 middle-sized zucchini, peeled
3 smallish onions
Grate the zucchini and the onion together. Then add two eggs and enough flour to make a stiff batter, along with 2 tsp of baking powder. I think he put in about a cup or so of flour, but since Mustafa (predictably) measures nothing but does it all by feel, it was hard to tell. Add 2 tsp of dried mint and about the same of red pepper and salt.
Shape this into patties and fry (deep frying isn’t necessary) in some fairly light oil (not olive oil—the taste would be too heavy) until they are golden.
I have had the chance to try this since getting back to France. Mine were not up to Mustafa’s standards, but they were pretty damn good. I served them to my nephew Tim and his girlfriend, and not a one was left over. I’ll work on perfecting my technique.
Malta: Jewel of the Mediterranean
Mdina Walled City
For such a tiny island country, Malta is without a doubt one of the most interesting places in the world. Its location in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea has made it accessible to many different groups of people. Pottery found here by archeologists suggests that the Maltese Islands were first settled in 5200 BC mainly by Stone Age hunters or farmers who had arrived from the larger island of Sicily. About 3500 BC, these people built some of the oldest existing, free-standing structures in the world in the form of huge megalithic temples – seven of them inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. The also created the Hypogeum, a unique necropolis and temple carved three-stories deep underground. And the Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantine and Arabs all marched through these tiny islands, leaving behind evidence of their stays.
The Knights of the Hospital of St. John, a military religious order also known as the Knights of Malta, had been driven out of Rhodes by the Ottoman Empire in 1522, and in 1530 Charles I of Spain gave them Malta to be their new home. Under the rule of the Knights, often referred to as the Golden Age for Malta, Renaissance and Baroque architecture was introduced in Maltese towns and villages which is still evident in many places, most notably the capital city Valletta and the Valletta Grand Harbor. They also laid the foundation of the present-day University of Malta, which as a result is one of the oldest extant universities in Europe.
Valletta Grand Harbor
Many of Malta’s most attractive buildings were built during this period. The buildings of Valletta, its fortifications and the art treasures in its museums, magnificent palaces, and churches, are the work of the best European engineers and artists of the time. The fortification of Valletta was begun in 1566, soon becoming the home port of one of the Mediterranean’s most powerful navies. The island’s hospitals were expanded as well. The main hospital could accommodate 500 patients and was renowned as one of the finest in the world. Valletta itself became a center of art and culture and the impressive architecture still stands as testament to the power of the Knights. In the magnificent Co-Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, completed in 1577, superb paintings by Caravaggio still hang on the walls. Displayed within the opulent Grand Masters Palace, built to house the government under the Knights, are priceless tapestries, elaborately painted ceilings, intricate frescoes, and other exquisite works of art.
Travel on Far Horizons’ tour to Cyprus and Malta and experience these two historically rich islands of the Mediterranean!
Click here for more information on Far Horizons’ tour to Cyprus and Malta
Sphere: Related Content
Tour Mongolia with Far Horizons
By Sara Barbieri
Outside Erdene Zuu Monastery in Kharkhorin, Mongolia
Flying into Ulaanbaatar is akin to landing in a green ocean with the waves of the steppe greeting your gaze from the window of the plane. The buildings, Russian cinder block, modern glass skyscrapers, and even the gers (yurts) that snuggle right up to the concrete, all vie to announce the arrival of the capital and the country into the 21st century. Thankfully, the country has not quite arrived in this new decade which allows the traveler to see a staggeringly unspoiled and remarkable landscape.
Allowing for lots of driving along bumpy “roads”, the delight of seeing the steppe stretch to the horizon at every turn and the subsequent thrill of coming upon a monastery such as Amarbyasgalant tucked behind the next rise is worth every moment of jostling. Hearing your first strains of Khoomei, or throat singing, a form of overtone singing and an integral component of the Mongolian culture, silences your mind, tethering you to the moment.
Don’t miss striding in the footsteps of Genghis Khan through the remains of Karakoram, legendary 13th century capital of his empire, and Erdene Zuu Monastery, built on this site – an experience to inspire awe in even the most hardened traveler.
Wed to their land then and now, the Mongolians are a triumphant, hospitable, and long-lived people. At least one trip to their land is a must in a true explorer’s lifetime.
Click here for more information on Far Horizons’ tour to Mongolia
Sphere: Related Content
Tour to Easter Island and Tahiti
Join Far Horizons Archaeological and Cultural trips on a 13 day journey through the heart of Polynesia!
The Society Islands including Tahiti, Moorea and Huahine, are a group of mostly volcanic islands and atolls strewn across the eastern South Pacific. Since first discovered, these lovely Polynesian isles have depicted paradise on earth. Early explorers brought back tales of a land of captivating loveliness and a welcoming people. And the islands still retain this lush beauty and warm hospitality.
At the southeastern tip of the Polynesian triangle lies windswept Easter Island, one of the most remote spots on the planet. Surrounded by an endless ocean as blue as the sky and located 2,300 miles west of Chile, this tiny dot of land is sixty square miles of rocky grasslands, extinct volcanic cones, and steep ocean cliffs. Called Rapa Nui by the Polynesian people who live here, this island is a unique open-air archaeological museum. Nearly a thousand immense stone statues, called moai, gaze with brooding eyes over the gently rolling hills, hundreds of perplexing petroglyphs stand out from rock surfaces, and colorful cave paintings depict brightly painted birds in flight.
The trip is timed to include the wonderful Tapati Festival, a celebration of the Rapa Nui culture. Each day will dawn with new and exciting contests of strength and skill, while evenings will bring the mesmerizing melodies of Polynesian music as grass skirted dancers perform beneath the stars. It is a time of revelry and feasts, and of honoring the past with performances of cat’s cradle, string figures with the hypnotic chant used to hand down the island’s history from generation to generation.
Click here for more information
Sphere: Related Content
Join us for the next Bob Brier Tour: The Majesty of Egypt
Great Pyramid on Giza Plateau
Far Horizons presents an extraordinary 17-day trip to Egypt that includes many highlights. We have made special arrangements to enter the Queen’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid, Seti I’s Tomb, Nefatari’s Burial Chamber, the Unas Temple at Sakkara, and the Red Pyramid—all closed to the public. We will meet with the excavation director at Elephantine Island, and hear about the Kharga Oasis Project from the archaeologist working there. At the Chicago House, a major center for Egyptian Studies, we will be hosted by the Director and join working archaeologists for cocktails and a tour of the incredible library. And finally, we will board a small vessel, the Eugènie, to cruise from Aswan to Abu Simbal, visiting rarely-seen Nubian sites along the way.
Click for more information on Majesty of Egypt
Bob Brier received his Ph.D from the University of North Carolina. He is not only one of the nation’s leading Egyptologists, but a brilliant lecturer and storyteller. He is professor of philosophy at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and the author of several books including The Murder of Tutankhamen: A True Story (Berkley Books, 1998), The Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians (Greenwood Press, 1999) and The Secret of the Great Pyramid: How One Man’s Obsession Led to the Solution of Ancient Egypt’s Greatest Mystery (2008). Professor Brier has served as director of the “Egyptology Today” program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and as host of the Learning Channel series, The Great Egyptians. He has twice been selected as a Fulbright Scholar, and has received Long Island University’s David Newton Award for Teaching Excellence in recognition of his achievements as a lecturer. He is a wonderful teacher with a special flair for evoking the distant past in ways that make it seem vividly present.
Patricia Remler is an author, photographer, and art historian. She was the Researcher for four important Learning Channel documentaries – the three-part Pyramids, Tombs, and Mummies, the six-part series The Great Egyptians, the one hour Napoleon’s Obsession: The Quest for Egypt, and the three-part series Unwrapped, The Mysterious World of Mummies. She is the author of Egyptian Mythology A – Z.
Click for more information on tours with Bob Brier
Sphere: Related Content
My World
By Dr. Gary O. Rollefson
- Enthusiastic semi-resident, archaeologist, and fan of Jordan and its lovely people
Welcome to my world! It’s been mine as an archaeologist and part-time resident for 30 years, and I’d like you to share it with me. “My world” in Jordan includes majestic archaeological sites, but also includes the modern residents of Jordan, some of the warmest and most hospitable people I’ve ever known. I am constantly impressed with the sense of welcome that Jordanians offer, whether in a small grocery shop in a remote rural village or on the shaded streets of the major metropolises of the kingdom.
There is a glorious, silent majesty about the sheer 1,000-foot cliffs of red sandstone that constitute the walls of Wadi Rum, a stark canyon near Jordan’s southern border with Saudi Arabia, where Lawrence of Arabia first saw the potentials of the Great Arab Revolt against the Turkish overlords of a small but feisty territory during World War I. The initial battles of this conflict took place amid the mute witnesses of a sacred location dating back more than five thousand years, testified by rock art in the canyon walls to mark appeals to the gods for another year of safety and prosperity in the forbidding sands of a challenging desert landscape.
While Jordan is mostly desert, about one-seventh of the land is rich farmland that today continues to provide more food than the local population needs. The agricultural wealth is made clear by the remains of teeming cities constructed as early as the Neolithic period some 10,000 years ago. The world’s largest Neolithic town – ‘Ain Ghazal, near the modern capital city of Amman – was occupied by a people for whom ancestor veneration was the fundamental cornerstone of their spiritual life, for which the world’s oldest statues were produced.
The natural bounty of the countryside was attractive to outside groups who saw opportunity for political and financial gain. A battlefield for the competing armies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Turkey dating back to the 14th century BC, Jordan underwent see-saw control by the armies of great civilizations, but always maintaining its own distinctive stamp on the foreign influences that inevitably altered the local fabric of art, architecture, and religion. Old Testament era tells (artificial 
mounded cities) dot the Jordan Valley, including Pella, and the highland plateaus. Splendid cities grew during Greek and especially Roman times, including Jerash, the best preserved Roman ruins outside of the Italian peninsula.
The list of Jordan’s riches, steeped in historical importance and austere beauty, goes on and on. I’d like to introduce you to “my people,” and to the impressive history (and prehistory) and thrilling landscapes of a land whose treasures are indeed impressive. Ask anyone who has visited Jordan before; they’ll give you resounding encouragement!
Sphere: Related Content
The Splendors of Jordan: A Traveler’s Perspective
By Morton Fisher
When most travelers think about Jordan they think only inevitably about Petra — but there is much more to Jordan than Petra.
Petra is every bit amazing as you may envision. Our most lasting memory of Petra, aside from the breathtaking entrance, was climbing to the high place above Petra Valley on the backs of our donkeys. We don’t know who was more glad to reach the top — our guides, ourselves or the donkeys. The view was spectacular. What made Petra especially interesting and enjoyable was that we were able to explore it on three separate days, not just the one day or part of a day most tours spend in Petra. Almost equally amazing were the Roman cities, Jerash in particular. We could almost hear the Roman soldiers marching along the wide streets and the chariots in the Hippodrome.
The real key to the success of our trip to Jordan was Professor Gary Rollefson. With little or no background in archeology we learned more about archeology in twelve days than we had 
previously learned in our lifetimes. We witnessed unbelievable archeological digs and came away with a full understanding of how seemingly meaningless rock piles to the naked eye could explain much of the lives of earlier civilization. Cave dwellings taught us much as well about the early cave dwellers.
But the single most memorable site on our trip to us was not even Petra, the archeological sites or the Roman ruins. It was standing on a mountain top looking over the Jordan Valley in the very place where Moses once stood when he looked over the promised land that he would never live to go to. It made us remember how much of our own heritage was born in this desert land.
Click here for more information
Sphere: Related Content
Discovering the Treasures of Greece
By Dr. Kyra Nourse
st as early as the late 8th century BC, Greeks came to Delphi to consult Apollo’s oracle. By the middle of the 6th century BC, the oracle had developed an international reputation and was consulted even by foreign kings. Its fame is well reflected in its architectural remains, from Apollo’s temple to the theatre perched above it.
emselves, you can see the impressive collection of artifacts that were discovered in Tombs II and III, including golden funeral wreaths, delicate ivory carvings, ceremonial weapons, and silver vessels used to prepare and serve wine at ancient drinking parties. It is a sight that effectively evokes not only the culture and artistry, but also the wealth, power, and ruthless dynastic ambitions of the age that succeeded the Classical period.
Uncovering Turkey’s Past
By Professor Andy Goldman, study leader
For those of you who have ever wondered about Turkey, it can be a challenging place to describ
e. Friends have often asked me to do just that, to try and encapsulate my various experiences there, having lived in Ankara for over two years and having visited almost every summer since 1992. The true difficulty lies in not what to say, but where to start. The country is home to such a broad variety of ancient civilizations, such magnificent sites and monuments, such a welcoming and hospitable people, that I am never exactly sure where to begin. But once I do, like all of us who know and love the country, I find it can be very, very difficult to stop…
That said, a short story about why you might want to go. In 2006, my wife and I were honeymooning in the Antalya region, on the Mediterranean coastal plain of south-central Turkey, what was the ancient territory of Pamphylia. Borrowing a car from a friend’s brother, we headed up to a site that we’d never seen, the ancient city of Termessos. In recent years it has become a national park, but in ancient times it was a formidable city/citadel, one which Alexander the Great himself was unwilling to spend the time and energy to conquer. After a short but invigorating climb, we found ourselves on top of a mountain and nearly alone in a vast Greco-Roman metropolis. It was one of the most romantic places I’ve ever been. Most of the buildings, including a gorgeous theater, are still in place and largely intact, tucked amid the creeping vines and trees. We felt like 19th-century explorers as we wandered across the city, discovering the fading inscriptions, broken columns, ancient tombs, each turn of the winding pathways providing us with new and delightful vistas. Best of all was the complete absence of noise, of hawkers, of the modern world intruding upon our experience.
And, this experience awaits at many of Turkey’s well-preserved sites, including Sagalassos and Arykanda, two of the many inspiring sites to which I will be shepherdi
ng a group in August of this year. Few countries in the Mediterranean today can provide the average traveler with such an idyllic and unfettered experience. That such opportunities are still available in Turkey is just one of many reasons to go, not to mention why I personally will continue to travel there and why I will never cease to try and persuade others to do so…
Hiking the Inka Trail
By Elise Gochberg, Trip Participant 2007
I did this trip for my 40th b-day with 6 girlfriends and it met every expectation I had and beyond. I think what stood out most about our trip was how well organized Far Horizons was and how they went above and beyond in making sure our trip was a success. We stayed at the most wonderful hotels all across Peru and ate at the most exquisite and interesting restaurants – 4 star all the way.
And Juan, our tour guide, was insightful, knowledgeable, kind and caring. He had lots of information and knowledge to share and he made sure that what we did each day met our needs and was flexible to any changes we required. Juan was such a cool guy and I can’t imagine having a better tour guide with us!
We experienced various cities throughout Peru that were beautiful and wonderful – Lima and Cusco to name a few, but the real objective and experience of our trip was hiking the Inka Trail and hitting Machu Picchu. It was spectacular and awe-inspiring and we had the best time of our lives. And you can really see the difference in the groups and the camp sites while trekking – Far Horizons takes you on the trails and camp sites that are remote and are not crowded. When traveling with Far Horizons on this trek you understand why you are going with this group and not the others. The food is awesome, the guides are spectacular and the trip is planned and organized with precise detail that benefits the individual in so many countless and indescribable ways…
After experiencing Peru with Far Horizons I started thinking and planning the next trip with them. But, I am not sure anything will compare to Peru – the people and the living cultures are wonderful and it is a trip everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime!
