Lunch after a cooking class. Shooting people and food was a prime focus of our workshop. Instructor Dave Hagerman took this shot. He’s a great fan of overhead shots and hands.
What fun it is to make new friends, amp up photo skills, take a cooking class and eat way too much Turkish food. That’s what I did at a food photography and writing workshop in the cobbled Aegean town of Alacati (pronounced Ala-CHAT-ee), in Western Turkey near Izmir. Food photographer Dave Hagerman led the photo instruction. Food and travel writer Robyn Eckhardt organized the workshop and gave a talk on her research processes, and I instructed on food writing technique and trends.
Students spent a morning roaming a gigantic open-air market in Tire, with street after street of vendors selling everything from food to fabric to riding saddles. Photography instructor Dave Hagerman took this shot.
Robyn and Dave set their workshop in Turkey because they love to travel there and because they are producing a cookbook on Turkish food. Robyn speaks Turkish, which helped when we visited a huge outdoor market in the town of Tire, armed with cameras after instruction from Dave. He encouraged students to take photos of people, not just food, and always with their permission.
Robyn Eckhardt talks with a street vendor in Tire. In his case is simit, an addictive snack of crispy bread coated in sesame seeds. It looks a little like a bagel. I ate one every morning at breakfast. (Photo by Chai Nagappa)
Robyn cooked dinner for the students the first night, a courageous move, I thought. She made a yogurt dip with spinach, a dried fava bean dip with dill, a spicy tomato dip, her own homemade bread, fish simmered in tomato sauce, okra with lemon and tomato, and risotto with wheat berries, pumpkin, and purple basil. There were also local cheeses and bakery cookies flavored with mastic, orange and almond for dessert.
At the Alacati Tas Hotel, we ate breakfast outside each morning, feasting on jams, cheese, breads, eggs, olives and fruits. Here we’re eating beans, rice and pickles, a traditional Turkish lunch. It was a welcome change not to overeat, and short lived. (Photo by Fiona Reilly)
One of the things I liked best about Turkish food is its mildness. While most dishes employ spices and herbs, they don’t take your head off. Instead, everything tastes like home cooking. And indeed, one workshop dinner took place al fresco, next to a winery, at a chef’s home. Now, a few more photos:
Dave Hagerman holds the ladder steady for an overhead shot, as some of us stuff peppers with meat and rice at our cooking class at Babushka restaurant. We also made a cheese and herb pastry with hand-made phyllo dough, red lentil kofta, smoked eggplant salad, and a semolina cake. (Photo by Sandrine Orban)
Nissa Pierson (right) and I begin stretching phyllo dough for a coiled pastry stuffed with cheese and herbs. Eventually we stretched the dough thin enough to cover a card table! Applications of melted butter helped with elasticity. (Photo by Shalini Nanda Nagappa)
Isn’t this a great idea? Cooking instructor and chef Olga Tikhanovah keeps her herbs washed, dried, and ready in this plastic box, between layers of paper towels. Turks eat tons of herbs in salads, and on their own, strewn over plates of food. (Photo by Nissa Pierson)
This is Alacati, the pretty seaside town where we were based. (Photo by Theng Lan Khong)
It was Robyn and Dave’s second food photography workshop, and plans for more are in the works, in Turkey and elsewhere. If you’d like to find out about the next one, leave a comment here. Thanks again to Dave and Robyn for inviting me on this fantastic adventure. And thanks to the students (and one accompanying husband) for sharing their terrific photos.
Thanks for this post, Dianne, and for contributing your own special something to the workshop. I can’t believe how quickly those four days passed. But the glow lingers, wouldn’t you agree?
(By the way, it is pronounced Ahl-ah-chah-tuh. The final ‘i’ is actually an ‘ı’ — Turkish ‘i’ without the dot, which sounds like ‘uh’. Apparently the town, which was settled by Greeks, is Alatsata in Greek.)
Yes! Still basking in the glow and showing people photos on my phone. Thanks for the correction about pronunciation. I could hardly say a word in Turkish — usually I do better than that when I travel.
Thank you Dianne for sharing. It took me back to my trips in Turkey, the markets I visited and the wonderful food I had. Nice pictures, great place to have a workshop.
Maria, lucky you to travel there. We got in a few days at the end in Istanbul, which you probably visited as well. There was way too much eating because everything looked and tasted so good. I was struck, particularly, by the baklava, which was so much more tasty there, due to a lower ratio of dough to filling.
Yes Dianne, I visited Istanbul as well. I was there a few times already, you can’t help falling in love with the city. Food is just wonderful. Like you said so much to try and I agree, the Baklava is special there . I also love crossing the Bosphorus by boat to the Asian side and then sit in a coffee shop with delicious pastries enjoying the view over Istanbul.
Oh, what a great time you all had! You were remembered fondly at Food Blogger Connect in London, Dianne. I waved the new edition of your book around and saw several attendees whip out their phones and order it on the spot!
Thank you so much for taking the new edition of my book to Food Blogger Connect. What a huge compliment, Mary-Denise!
Dianne, thank you! So descriptive:-), so informative. I know Olga and her restaurant from her blog, Delicious Istanbul. I never met her in person but used many of her recipes at home.
http://www.deliciousistanbul.com/
Oh right, from her previous life in Istanbul. Now she runs a restaurant in Alacati with her husband. see http://www.deliciousistanbul.com/blog/ozgur-irez/
At the end of the cooking class, she brought out a copy of Will Write for Food for me to sign. I was astounded!
Oooh so glad you had a good time. I’m drooling thinking about the Baklava. Hand-made Filo dough–I’m impressed!! And the herbs. You just made me remember an herb salad dressed with pomegranate I had in Istanbul. I think “mildness” is a good term. I felt like the flavors of the vegetables and meat really shined through.
The baklava was mostly filling with a tiny amount of dough and syrup. So different from what we eat here — and so much better! I also saw people at restaurants just grab handfuls of herbs and eat them like salad — which surprised me. I’m glad you agree about the mildness. I feel so much pressure here in the US to create super-punchy flavors when I cook.
Hi Diane,
I enjoyed reading about Turkey. I never thought of it as a place to put on my bucket list but the way you write about it and the culinary experiences you had, I think I would truly bask in it’s culture!
Diane I am writing because I am a 51 year old woman who recently created a profile of my start up business and of myself on RocketHub.com. I am going to start a CrowdFunding campaign and was wondering if you could take the time to read my bio and the profile of my business and if you have any suggestions as to different organizations I may benefit from becoming a member, etc it would be appreciated. RocketHub is asking me to first find 10-25 people that would be willing to fund small amounts, perhaps $1,000 -$3,000 so I will first get up about $10,000 before I start pitching to Angel Investors that they will help me with. They would like to see me get some “traction” as it looks good before I pitch to investor groups. If you know of any groups that would take the time to read my bio and and profile on RocketHub and invest in start ups such as mine, I would appreciate it if you would forward this link to them. Thank you for your time and consideration. Best,
Terry Gadoury
Restaurant Raves.com
http://www.rockethub.com/projects/62228-american-restaurants-providing-vibrant-culture-throughout-the-us-landscape
You would enjoy it very much, Terry! Best of luck with your new venture. I’d love to help but this is really not my area of expertise.
As an attendee I can say it was an amazing week of food and learning. I loved hanging out with like-minded fellow food obsessives, and talking about food, cooking, agriculture, food politics and travel. But best of all was meeting people whose work I’ve long admired, like yourself Dianne, who all shared their knowledge and expertise so generously. Thanks again for a great workshop!
Exactly how I felt about it! Sorry if this is a mutual admiration society kind of comment, Fiona, but it was a really fun and inspiring time. Thanks again for coming and sharing yourself with us. I look forward to learning about what’s next for you.
Hello,
I would appreciate being notified when you have the dates for your 2016 workshop. Thanks in advance.
Linda Boone email: llubitz@aol.com
I sent your info on to Robyn Eckhardt, Linda. Otherwise if you’re following me or my blog, you’ll know about it!
Hi Dianne!
I would like to join on your next workshop in Turkey if you have schedule this year or 2018. Thanks in advance.
Geoffrey F. Mayano email: geoffreymayano@hotmail.com
Hi Geoffrey, I’m not sure when we’ll be back in Turkey but I’ll add you to my newsletter to make sure you find out about upcoming workshops. Thank you!