Topig, an Armenian vegan dish that very much looks like a bindle, featured prominently in Lenten diets. As those who observed the lent avoided meat products and refrained from eating after sunset during the lent, they needed nutritious, filling, healthy but also tasty alternatives and topig emerged as the most satisfactory of these…

So, how has a dish that is so easy to prepare using such common ingredients stolen so many hearts all over the world? Because of the refreshing, or even rejuvenating effect it has once the first spoonful touches your taste buds. 

And of course, realising Istanbulites’ penchant for the vegetable-cum-fruit, meyhanes were quick to ensure they would serve the tastiest, most succulent aubergine mezzes to their habitués…

Barring the introduction of different spices – particularly sumac – and adding fried potatoes to the garnish, the recipe for this delicious dish hasn’t changed for centuries.

But why is it called Albanian? …

The first written recipe for pilaki is found in traveler Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatname written in the 17th century and interestingly, it is the only recipe we find in the lofty travelogue.

According to Çelebi, pilaki is made in a special pan made from limestone...

Stuffed mussels’ origins go all the way back to Byzantion. According to the Byzantine Annals edited by T.H. Maggakis in 1888, Armenians living in the city stuffed large mussels with rice cooked in sheep lard.

Bostans were Istanbul’s market gardens that provisioned the city with fresh vegetables from the 5th century onwards.

What is it that makes lakerda to stand out amongst its succulent rivals? Well, lakerda has such an enchanting taste that one could easily take it for the food of Gods, of Olympian deities that indulged only in nectar and ambrosia...