I don't know her name, but she felt like family. She sells her homemade Rosehip jam at the Sariyer Tuesday market. Two big pots full of these delicious, gooey goodness. And with her welcoming smile and more than enough of tasting, you want to sit down with her to have a cup of Çay and a chat.
So, what is Rosehip? It is the seed pods or fruit of the Roseplant. If you leave roses alone to wither instead of picking them, they will produce Rosehip. They are typically red to orange in color.
Rosehip do not taste like Roses. The jam is more tangy in taste with a velvety smoothness. A great start to your day, spread on toast and it is a very good source of Vitamin C. They say almost four times more than oranges.
It is times like this when I walk through a new market with everybody so helpful and smiling that I appreciate my days in Istanbul. I do miss my sister, but she is coming to visit soon and I can't wait to show off this amazing country and it's people. Thank you to everybody in Istanbul and Turkey for making my time in your beautiful country so special.
Sharing a Turkish New Year tradition:
When you walk the markets of Turkey at this time of the year you will see red underwear hanging everywhere.
New Years in Turkey is like Christmas is to me. They have all the family over for lots of Food, and presents are given to everybody. One of the New Years traditions is for the women in the family to give each other red underwear. With the strike of midnight every lady in the house from 7 to 70 runs into a private corner to put on their new underwear. It is said that it brings good luck for the new year.
So go and find your Red underwear and have a Happy New Year! (Maybe a bottle of red wine will bring the same luck.)
I am off to go and pop a bottle of Champagne! See you in 2013!
Mutlu Yillar!!!
Happy New Year!
