All good things start with good friends, good food, good drinks and lots to talk about. I presume that writing for this blog is going to be a good thing and so this started with a good friend, some tasty food and Raki.
Imran and I met for dinner a couple of weeks ago. After being bored out of my mind that day or that week or even longer his suggestion to meet up came as brilliant idea. Imran describes our connection to each other quite superbe in his introduction to this blog about me (and I have nothing to add to that) but what struck me (again) that evening was the fact that having a great night out with a friend is among the Top 5 most cherished things in my life.
As we went for the classic, the Raki Sofrasi (the Raki Table) which has its own ritual, I think this particular experience led to that lightning in my head. It doesn’t have to be fancy but it can be fancy, it doesn’t have to expensive but it can get expensive thanks to the massive taxes on alcohol but always and always it’s an uplifting experience when three things that shouldn’t be missing are well chosen.
( NB: This kind of dinner is ingrained in turkish culture as is the Christbaum tradition in german aka christian culture no matter what certain people aka prime ministers might say now right here. There are a lot of varieties how to master the ceremony of a raki sofrasi according to the different regions in Turkey but to put it in a nutshell: you have to taste it. Period.)
Here it goes:
First: the namesake of this feast, the national liquor, the booze of all boozes in Turkey: RAKI. You can either drink just the liquor (sec) or diluted with water and hosted by another glass of water. I won’t go into the details what either people are praising about it or others ranting about it. Just that: there is something to that drink that captures you. Without further explaining I like to add a marvellous aphorism about Raki by Küçük Iskender, a turkish poet: „Raki might be the only drink in the world which is served with two glasses, like body and soul. They stand next to each other and listen to each others worries, never mind their complaints, proud and selfish at the same time.“ Exclamation Point!
Second: The food. A meyhane, similar to the Taverna, is the traditional location to enjoy a raki sofrasi. First comes a vast variety of mezes, the antipasti, then comes ‘ara sicaklar’ similar to the first course in italian cuisine, usually a hot dish which is served in the middle before the fish comes. The fish is the king&queen of the table. Lots of roka salad, lemon and onions are served aside. It can be elaborately prepared or served just grilled with nothing but its fresh flavor. No matter how, the fish and the raki go together like hand and glove or other pairings in life which are inseparable.
Last but not least, comes three: The friend. When friends are involved in a raki sofrasi and preferably they are ’cause otherwise you would be sitting alone, also enjoying raki&fish, but missing out on the part where the ‘muhabbet’ kicks in: the chat, the talk, the discussion. With us that evening it was hopping from one topic to the other (and we had some good ones!), eating a bit of meze, sipping some raki, eating cupra fish, smoking, talking more, realizing that we were the last guests, mastering the tango of who pays the bill in an elegant way then heading off for the next place to listen to some great tunes.
Raki+Food+Friend= Swell Night! I am asking myself which part of this equation I could spare to get to the same result. I guess in this particular case, although I LOVE good food or food in general, this would go out of the window first. By doing this the traditional way of enjoying raki is ruined. Traditionalists might kick my ass right now because they would NEVER EVER drink without eating but I like to try variations of traditions and put a modern spin on it.
So drinking raki with a friend and enjoying the muhabbet is what stays in the picture and this I love. (You could also kick raki out and keep the friend part and you would still have the muhabbet but this isn’t about this.)