Today turned into another random day in Istanbul as I stumbled upon hans full of beads, racks of wool yarn, masquerade masks and of course, some charcuterie.
This morning, I met a few friends in Emin�n�. I needed to refill some of my spices at the Misir �arsisi and buy pastry supplies while they were looking for colorful yarns and other crafty items. We first went to the the yarn han called K�rkc� Han (Furrier Han) on Mahmutpasa street. (See my previous post on the K�rkc� Han here.)
For some reason, I do enjoy admiring all the gigantic spools of yarn, but I have no desire to knit whatsoever. However, give me some icing and a pastry bag and I'm one happy baker! (Valentine's Day-themed baking classes coming soon.)
While my friends were plunking down lira for their purchases, we stumbled across the nut man of the K�rkc� Han. He took a liking to my friend's six-month-old baby girl and gave the mom a small bag of hot nuts for free. Turks love, absolutely love, babies here! As he cooed over the baby, he handed out freshly roasted, still warm findik (hazelnuts) to all of us.
 |
| This Turk would certainly be able sell his wares down Bourbon Street in New Orleans! |
These nuts were so good that I bought a small bag for only 5 lira and devoured half the bag in seconds. Apparently, he roams around the neighborhood every day so I highly recommend popping in the han if you are in Emin�n�.
Also, I couldn't resist the gentleman's outrageously-decorated nut cart! Just one more reason to love Istanbul!