High-Octane Baklava

The Turks have it pretty good when it comes to food.  Greens nearly automatically placed on the table, bountiful breakfast buffets, a variety of (olive) oils, pulses,  spices, nuts, and diluted yoghurts, and Ğ (<–?), for starters.  Drowning in a deluge of döner? (ok, I’ll stop with the alliterations for now)  Not to worry, as there’s much more room for imagination as to where that meat on a spit comes from.  Wondering why Turkish Airlines pilots used to take off during the 20-minute long safety video?  I don’t.

And then there’s the baklava.  Fillings and flavors consisting of sour cherry, or vişne, pistachios, walnuts, kaymak (akin to clotted cream), hazelnuts (if I said Nutella, would you swoon?), among other ingredients.  Whether or not you add a bit of honey, baklava are a heavy dessert, best enjoyed after a meal (common enough), prior to viewing the nausea-inducing Whirling Dervishes,  or at a petrol station during a slog up a hill in a city with which you have no familiarity.

That last one is a bit of a mouthful, so we’ll let the photo lend a hand:

Ankara, Baklava at Petrol Station

What a novel idea!  If ever the internet didn’t need another superfluous “Top Ten list,” the world’s greatest petrol stations would be a solid contender.  The one shown above, and here, can be found in the Dikmen area of Ankara.  But, is this a common pairing in Turkey?  Even more confusing, to the left of the picture (and still on the petrol station grounds) is a small aviary.  Thus, while pumping gas you can savor a sari burma and gawk at pheasants.  The only point I can’t remember is if station attendants helped.  If so, then the Turks really have something going…

Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary at petrol stations (or in Turkish, benzin istasyonu)?  Care to share a picture with us?

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