Food
I cook and eat with passion. I cook a lot, eat a little, serve friends and torture them until I recieve kudos from everyone and find real happiness. Some Sunday mornings, I wake up with an urge to cook, go shopping for fresh vegies, and lock myself in my kitchen with my favorite album playing again and again and cook... Turkish cuisine is of course my favorite but I also like and try many recipes from other countries like sushi or carbonara or enchiladas. I have been writing a recipe book with my mom's recipes and my addition of some 'secret' ingredients. I also secretly dream about moving to Paris and attending a cooking school.
Books
Books have been my connection to the real and imaginary worlds since my childhood. I still remember the four days and nights I have spent with the great book "War and Peace" by Tolstoy in my bed without stopping at all. Nowadays I am very into science/fantasy fiction, and I simply cannot stop reading Ursula K. Le Guin. She blends science, sex, morality and politics in such a great way that I get fascinated by her creativity. My all time favorites are Borges, Marquez, Virginia Wolfe, Tolstoy, Jack London, Saramago and of course Kazantzakis. Turkish books have a special place in my library with Atilla Ilhan, Nazim Hikmet, and Orhan Pamuk in lead.
Travelling
Everybody likes travelling I assume, a great way to meet new people, discover recipes, and learn about world. I have been taking long road trips in US to various destinations and intend to do more of those in the future. I will head out to the wine country in California soon since I am very into wines nowadays.
Turkish Manti
Looking for a gas station in New Mexico, June '08.
Ursula Le Guin: My inspiration!