Beykoz

on the way to work

I saw this writing on a wall today.

I can't really read the english part.
If someone could help me, that would be cool.






Today we shot new episodes from the Teknosohbet show.

Cheesecake

Today I made my first cheesecake. The New-York Cheesecake.

Here is how I did :

I mixed up 150 grams (5.30 ounces) of Flour, 60 grams (2.10 ounces) of sugar, some lemon zest and 5 grams (0.20 ounce) of vanilla powder. Add 120 grams (4.20 ounces) of melted butter and 1 egg yolk. Let the butter cool down if you melted it bain-marie, otherwise you will cook the egg.

Handle until you get a homogeneous dough. Make a ball with it, wrap it with stretch film and leave it half an hour in the fridge.
-----------------
Preheat your oven at 210 °C (410°F).
Butter up your mold, spread the dough evenly up to the upper side. Cook it for 10-15 minutes. Have a look often, mine almost started to burn by the 10th minute. Then take it out and let it out to cool down.
-----------------
In a big bowl, mix up 650 grams (1.4 pounds) of Labne Cheese if you are in Turkey, Saint-Moret or fromage blanc if you're in France, or any softened cheese cream you can find. Add some lemon zest, 200 grams (0.45 pounds) of sugar, 1 table spoon of flower, 5 grams (0.20 ounce) of vanilla powder, mix it all.


In a separate little bowl, mix up 3 eggs + 1 egg yolk, then add it to your previous ingredients. mix.

Have your oven preheated at 270°C (518°F). Pour your new mix in the mold on the cooled dough.
Put it in the oven.
After 5 minutes lower your oven's temperature to 90°C (194°F) and let it cook for an hour (maybe a bit more, depending on your oven.

Let it cool for 3 hours. Serve cold.

Bon appétit.

Satellite dishes

Today's picture :

Nutella

Man, Did you know the nuts variety used for the production of Nutella is mainly coming from Turkey ? The needed quantities are so huge that approximately 80% of the turkish production is bought by the manufacturer : Ferrero.
The volumes bought are so big that Ferrero can select the best nuts leaving its competitors the smallest calibers and lower quality nuts. This could explain why no other product quite match the specific taste of Nutella.
Another incredible fact : The Nutella found in the U.S.A. does not include E and B12 vitamins as it does in Europe.

I need to ask someone living in the States if this is all true.
The american Nutella is enriched in iron but impoverished in phosphor.
There is more peanut butter (mono-saturated fat), which is of a lower nutritional quality than vegetal oil (richer in Polyunsaturated fat acids) usually used.
It has more sugar and the peanut butter is preferred instead of cocoa butter.
It is sold in disposable plastic can and not in recyclable glas.
They say that the american Nutella would taste more like chocolaty peanut butter with a less smooth texture and less homogeneous making it less easier to spread.

Although I have some doubts about most those facts about the american Nutella. Those are probably old data.

Anyway, Nutella Rules everywhere.

- And if you ever go to Paris, France you'll be able to eat the best Nutella flavored Italian ice cream.
This is the only place in Paris where they really use Nutella to make their ice cream. The other flavors are also delicious; made from real fresh fruits.
The name of the place ? : Amorino.
Where to find it ? : Click here to see the 7 shops on google map.
There is one in Strasbourg at 11 rue Mercière.
And even 3 in Shanghai.

Cat

So many cats in the streets here. This one is sleeping in this old fountain in the streets in Cihangir.

Happy Birthday

Mustafa













& Umut

Bulgur King

The picture was taken while driving. Sorry for the poor composition ;)










The restaurant is here for those who are interested in raw meat balls. This one does it without meat though. They use bulgur (dried crushed wheat) instead. You can't really tell but on the sign you have the web address of the place. Every body has a website here, even the street salesmen. A place for vegetarian I guess.

Toilet Seat

I saw this very cool toilet seat in the streets of Cihangir today. It was here. The building it's in is abandoned with many graffities and stencils on the outside wall. You may see them soon on another blog I will create just for wall art.

Blue cat

The kids in the neighborhood love him so much they painted him in blue.

Bimbo

Today I went To Ikea with Jake, we took a look at the new outlet (Meydan) adjoining it they recently finished and went into this new hypermarket (Real) in which we found this amazing cherry juice.
This new outlet is an open-air shopping center. The air-conditioning is provided by one of the largest geothermic units in Europe. The center is heated and cooled using mainly geothermic energy.

Bosphorus at night

We went to see Gülper in Istinye, She has one of the best views over the Bosphorus.

Today's Picture

What is it ?

Flag Day

Today is a National Holiday in Turkey, it is the Turkish 4th of July. In 1923 the (secular) Republic of Turkey was finally established. And as a good citizen you should put your flag at your window. If you are a real nationalist you'll put it in you car as well.
By law, Shops must put a flag on this day.

Canada (Amsterdam) jour 1

Départ de l'aéroport Atatürk d'Istanbul à 05h40 du matin.

Après avoir seulement dormit une heure, en route pour l'aéroport, on y est à 03h40, il y a du monde, bizarrement. On enregistre nos bagages. On passe la douane, moi du côté Français, Ekin du côté turc. L'avion décolle à l'heure. On a trois siège pour nous deux mais les accoudoirs ne remontent pas totalement. J'espère désespérément de trouver une position confortable pour essayer de dormir un peu, sans succès, je me déboîte au moins 10 vertèbres en me réveillant, Le vol semble interminable.
Mais heureusement, arrivée à 08h10 à L'aéroport Schipol d'Amsterdam après 3h30 de vol. L'arrivée sur Amsterdam est magnifique, au lever du soleil. On aperçoit dans les champs de grands ensembles illuminés qui semble être des serres.

Ayant 5 heures d'escales nous décidons de sortir de l'aéroport et d'aller au centre ville nous balader. Il fait beau, il fait frais, La ville est belle. L'aéroport se trouve à 10 minutes du centre ville en train. Il y a un train toutes les 10 minutes, c'est super pratique et génial.

Arrivé à Centraal Station, on se dirige vers Dam Platz où on décide de faire un petit déj. Après avoir mangé des pains au chocolat (ça faisait longtemps) on est parti se balader dans les rues d'Amsterdam. L'Europe nous avait manqué ;)

Après avoir passé 2 heures à glaner dans les rues d'Amsterdam, retour à l'aéroport où le Duty Free est immense. Il y en a un dans chaque terminal, il fait d'ailleurs penser à celui du film du même nom de Spielberg. Il est très agréable avec ses chaises longues avec vue su la piste.








After grabbing something to eat and wandering around the airport we head toward the terminal. The plane is great, a nice big blue 747. It's the first time I ride a plane that big (that I remember of).
We're nicely seated in the middle part of the plane by the left wing right next to the emergency exit which gives us plenty of room for our legs. The TV is at a fair distance allowing us to watch the movies without having to break our neck. Movies ? yes, two : Nacho Libre and The Devil wears Prada. The plane leaves near 2 pm.

Very clear and nice weather during the flight until we arrive near Toronto where the weather started to get bad. We turned around in the sky for a bit due to weather conditions and traffic. We only saw the tarmac when coming out of the clouds and rain which was at approximately 50 meters from the ground.
Time at arrival : 4.30 pm.

Nice chat with a paranoiac Canadian Border Policeman right out of the plane. The only tensed experience we had in Canada, Canadian being probably the most friendly and polite people I've met.
cop : where are you going to stay ? How is this person related to you, etc. I'm the one talking with the guy until this question where Ekin (my wife, my half, my spouse, my love) answered as well.
Cop : How long are you planning on staying in Canada ?
me : Ten days.
Ekin : For ten days.
Cop : Which one ?
me : which one what ?
Cop : How long ?
me ten days.
Ekin : For ten days.
Cop : which one, ten days or fourteen days ?
me : ten days.
Ekin : I said for ten days not fourteen days.
Cop : ah.... ok.

Ekin's accent is pretty good and was not subject to discussion here. I think the preposition 'for' mixed up this guy's mind. But I never got why he was so nervous. We're both french citizen and are allowed to stay 6 months if we want to. Anyway. The border policewoman at the border desk was much nicer.
We picked up the luggage and headed out of the airport where Umut, Ekin's Brother was waiting for us. We went right away to their place near Yonge & Eglington.

We chilled out that night and went out to eat Japanese food. It had been so long since the last sashimi I ate. I missed it.


That night, Ekin was in a better shape than me. I started to feel the jetlag by 8 pm when my eyes started to close in the living room. I can wait to go to sleep to be in good shape to goo around the city.
Good night.

Météo

Une magnifique vague de chaleur a enveloppée Istanbul depuis une dizaine de jours. Après un début de moi de mai frais et pluvieux avec des températures ne dépassant jamais les 15 degrés, On est directement passé aux 30°C. Depuis 3 jours nous avons même atteint les 37 degrés. Retour à la normale depuis ce lundi avec des températures avoisinants les 25-27°C. Il s'agit du mois de juin le plus chaud depuis 75 ans. C'est génial, j'adore la chaleur, cette chaleur, sentir ce vent chaud me caresser la peau, yesss. Donc, qu'est-ce que je fais ? Je marche. Je marche, autant que possible sous le soleil brillant. Je bois de l'eau comme un taré. J'observe les gens marchant sur l'Istiklal de mon café Ist. J'observe les bateaux de pêche, de croisière, de marchandise; les vapurs, les mouettes sur le Bosphore.
Il y a 2 jours, nous avons tourné un clip vidéo sur le bord du Bosphore à Ortaköy. C'était génial. Toute la journée sous le soleil. J'adore ça. Une grosse pensée à mes ami(e)s à Paris qui ont des températures de merde. A ce propos, Un marchand de Köfte ) ouvert à Bodrum, son nom : "Köftecim Merde".