On a recent Wednesday we were both teaching and at the end of the day needed to get something to eat before going to an artist’s talk at a local art gallery. We decided to go to the Athens on Quinpool to split one of their calamari salads and a large draught. I was glad we did.
We checked out the menu to confirm that the salad was what we wanted and agreed that we would have to request extra olive oil on it because The Athens doesn’t seem to think the calamari salad needed much. We were sure about the beer but not so sure about whether we should order something more so we explored the Appetizers section. I was intrigued by the taramosalata, a dip made from caviar, lemon juice, and potato, so we ordered it. I was glad we did.
The dip came first, with wedges of pita. What I loved was the fact that the first taste took me right back to Gölyazı, an island in Ulubat Gölü, a large shallow lake just west of Bursa. Once we watched a fish auction in Gölyazı in the open area just beyond the big yellow camii where the local sellers and buyers stood in a circle around a kind of small arena where various large and strange-looking fish were dumped in the centre and bid on. I don’t know if any were beluga, but I do remember one prehistoric looking creature with a row of large, thick spikes along its spine. It must have weighed fifty or more kg and I wonder now if it was a bearer of caviar.
The other connection was to a medium-sized jar with a white plastic top that I bought from a compact man in a sports coat and cap in the market area in front of the camii close to where the minibus parked. I may have paid only 5 TL for it, but it was a treasure I kept in the fridge back on campus and spread on toast whenever I needed a treat, taramosalata made by the small man in Gölyazı, a memory of a time and place and of a distinct and wonderful taste, sometimes augmented by a cold glass of beer.
Next we had our calamari salad, which the Athens is very good at making, as long as you remind them of the need to add the olive oil. Here the connection was not so immediate and direct, unlike the taramosalata whose sharp and immediate taste put you right there in Gölyazı. Instead, the Athens salad reminded us of the kalamar we always ordered at Unsal Balık on the waterfront in Yalova where the ferries from the islands always tied up.
You can read here a detailed account of the great fish soup and salads they serve there. What we also loved about kalamar in Türkiye was the fact that it was always fresh and always served with a thick white sauce, maybe made from yoghurt and bread crumbs. We have enjoyed it at Unsal on the Yalova waterfront and from the high terraces of the fish restaurants overlooking the harbour and beach at Şile as the sun was setting into the Black Sea. It was consistently a treat and often a sign that soon we were heading back to the school and getting ready for another week of work.
So the good old Athens, Halifax’s favourite family restaurant, I’ve heard, provided us with a nice treat for supper after teaching and a nice hit of nostalgia for places and dishes we love and for the good people we shared them with
Afiyet olsun, they would say over there. Here it is simply Enjoy, and we do.
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