**Exclusive from ALO magazine.**

The pandemic and social justice are dominating the headlines—as they should—this summer. For me, the impact on my normal travel is starting to weigh on my being and I’ve been searching for solutions as I watch the growing list of countries that don’t want U.S. travelers potentially bringing Coronavirus into their lands.

I was excited to see a small list of countries open to U.S. citizens without restrictions: Albania, Dominican Republic, Kosovo, Maldives, Mexico, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia and Turkey. The one that stood out the most is Turkey. With non-stop flights from multiple U.S. cities, including my home base of Los Angeles, I imagined Turkish Airlines incredible business class whisking me to Istanbul from gate to gate in around 13-and-a-half hours. What the worst that can happen up in the air for half a day, right?

In the middle of my fantasy, CNN and Dr. Anthony Fauci screamed across my television, talking about second and third waves and the meteoric surge in COVID-19 cases throughout the States. It made me think twice about jumping on a plane this summer.

But while my summer travel is still pending, I imagined a way to work out my travel bug at home. How? Turkish cuisine, that’s how.

A little backstory for you…

Turkey is located at the meeting point of the Middle East, Asia and Europe with its geographic serving as one of the most critical routes along the Silk Road. Spices were incredibly valuable in the global trade. It is said the salt was just as valuable as gold. Imagine that. With that kind of history, it’s no wonder that Turkey has remained as the center of the global spice trade for centuries.

In the inimitable and delightful dishes of the Turkish cuisine, spices are never used in excess, but rather judiciously curated, ensuring that spices are just as important as the key base ingredients in every meal. Considering how rich the Turkish cuisine is in terms of spices, it’s certainly not a shocker that İstanbul has one of the most revered spice markets in the world.

Hosting visitors since 1664, the Spice Bazaar is one of the oldest covered bazaars in İstanbul. Situated on the European side of the city, the Spice Bazaar is a historic landmark spread across a large area where various genuine items that belong to the Turkish culture as well as all kinds of spices are sold.

Let’s dive into some of the most popular spices of the Turkish culinary culture:

Bay Leaf—Grown in many regions across Turkey, the bay leaf is a spice that has long been used in the Turkish cuisine with its pleasant smell and distinct aroma. Consumed in main dishes and salads, bay leaf is dried before being used in various areas such as dishes, sweetened fruit juices, tomato pastes, pickles and soups. Bay leaf adds zest to meat and fish dishes with its aroma. Particularly added to sauces used for meat dishes, bay leaf is also used to marinate fish, in pilaf, fish soup as well as in the bottom of the pot while boiling turkey and chicken. When bay leaves are placed inside large fish during grilling, the fish meat will absorb the smell and taste of the leaf, gaining a very delicious aroma.

Cinnamon—The king of the sweets. Obtained from the bark of the cinnamon tree and known for its strong and sweet flavor, this spice is widely used in the Turkish cuisine in both desserts and salty dishes. It is used in all types stuffing including stuffed mussels, seasoned rice, dried fruits, and chicken dishes that create a special flavor unique to this cuisine. As a sweet spice, it’s also useful to cut down the sugar intake, becoming an indispensable part of Turkish desserts. It plays the lead role in cakes and traditional Turkish puddings such as sütlaç (rice pudding), kazandibi (white pudding with caramel base), and muhallebi (milk pudding). Add a stick of cinnamon while brewing tea to add extra flavor in place of a processed sugar cube.

Clove—When combined with cinnamon, clove offers decadent flavor and because of that it is widely used in cakes and desserts, tarts and fruit. In many Turkish restaurants, and in meat and kebab restaurants in particular, it is served after meals with onions and garlic to eliminate bad breath. If you have a toothache, you can bite down on a clove and it will lessen the pain (it works, trust me!).

Cumin—A member of the parsley family, it’s used to spice stuffing, meatballs, and soups, and it is an indispensable ingredient agent in meat sauces and foul beans (breakfast dish). Used as a medicinal herb since the ancient times, the black cumin seeds contain approximately 100 different essential elements including carbohydrates, minerals, proteins and fatty acids.

Mint—The dried version is widely used in soups, mantı (Turkish dumplings), and on cacık (a yogurt side dish), while fresh mint is added to salads and served as a calming tea steeped in water.

Red Pepper Flakes—Grown in the Southeastern Anatolia region, this spice is added when you want to add heat to recipes. Most restaurants serve it in tableside next to the salt and pepper. It can be added while cooking meat sauces, soups, legumes (beans and chickpeas), and stews.

Rosemary—A versatile spice used fresh or dried in red meat dishes, poultry and stews thanks to its pleasant taste and aroma. It’s sometimes added to omelets and soups or to the raw dough of breads and pastries. Most home chefs add a teaspoon of dried rosemary to their potato puree for a distinctive Turkish taste.

Saffron—Cultivated in Safranbolu saffron usage originated in Ottoman cuisine. Saffron is typically diluted in rose water or vinegar for pilafs and meat dishes. It is also the critical element of milk pudding recipes due to its pungent aroma and hay-like taste.

Sumac—One of the most widely consumed spices in the Turkish cuisine, sumac gives the dishes a sour and piquant taste together with a pleasant aroma. The spice comes from the crimson part of the sumac plant before grinding it together with table salt. It is popular when mixed with red onions or regular onions and parsley to be eaten as salad or mixed into yogurt as a dip.

Thyme—As a species that naturally grows in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions, classic thyme is produced by drying and crumbling the leaves. It can be used poultry or lamb marinades. A simple pinch of pinch of thyme in a bowl of olive oil as a dip for fresh bread is also very popular. Fresh thyme is preferred especially in salads for both its taste and aroma. Many choose to place a small twig of fresh thyme in olive oil dispensers to add zest with the aroma of thyme.

Cinnamon

Cumin

Mint

Rosemary

Saffron

Sumac

Thyme

The post Try Turkish Spices to Cure Your Pandemic Woes appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

I’ve spent parts of Ramadan all over the Middle East including Lebanon, the Sultanate of Oman, and Syria. Without creating serious debate, one of the best places for anyone to be during the holy month of Ramadan is in Turkey. Here, the solidarity of the holiday reaches its peak while honoring many of centuries-old traditions across all parts of the society.

For many outside of Islam, it would be easy to put Ramadan into a bucket of religious holidays, but truthfully it is much more than praying multiple times a day and fasting from before dawn until night. It’s also as much about bringing people together as much as any other kind of biased opinion you may have heard other the years.

In Turkey, Iftar is a daily celebration of the breaking of the fast. Tables are elaborately set where families, friends and neighbors gather around the same table to feast on dishes that are prepared throughout the day. When I recall Ramadan traditions, the first to come to mind are crowded Iftar dinners, delicious treats, and home chefs revealing their culinary skills.

These rich dinner tables, extraordinarily adorned with a large variety of dishes, are an indicator of the hospitality and family values—with very few countries more adept at it that the Turkey people. Iftar is also where you discover that the centuries-old tradition of helping the poor and those in need shine bright. It’s a place where you can invite the needy over for Iftar, or prepare a special dinner for them for a greater sense of community. Even better is the incredible amount of hot food distributed to thousands of people by institutions, organizations, and of course, the locals.

Foods most frequently served on the tables include regional and traditional varieties of lamb and beef dishes, vegetable and legume dishes, soups, pilafs, dates, olives and cheese varieties, soujouk (fermented halal sausages), fattoush salads, various pastries and pies made of thin sheets of dough.

One these long summer days, there isn’t time for more than formal meal, but in the true underlying meaning of unity, Sahur is prepared and consumed in the wee hours of the morning. Only members of the household attend this meal, proceeding the upcoming 12-15 hours fast of the coming day.

Sahur comes from one of the oldest traditions of the month of Ramadan, the mesaharati (or the Ramadan drummer) wandered from one street and neighborhood to another, informing those who fast about the approaching Sahur time. This tradition, which started to make sure that nobody would miss Sahur in an era when not every household had a clock, may have lost its functionality today but symbolically, it continues across the entire country. The drummers are rewarded for their month-long effort to wake up the people by collecting tips on the last night of Ramadan. Sahur tables are highlighted by lighter dishes like yogurt parfait, dates, fruits, toast with lebne dips and cheeses, and the all-important freshly-brewed chai.

An essential part of Ramadan centers on the “Ramadan pita.” In Turkey, it is a traditional delicacy of the cuisine. In pre-COVID days, pita queues in front of bakeries start hours before iftar. These days, takeaway isn’t as readily available, so breakout your chefs hats and baking sheets and let’s make some delicious Turkish pita.

Ingredients
• A pack of yeast (25g)
• 2 water glasses of warm milk
• ½ dessertspoon of sugar
• ½ water glass of warm water
• ½ tea glass of oil
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 5 ½ water glasses of flour (more if necessary)

To be used while shaping the dough:
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 5-6 tablespoons of water
• (Mix the flour and water well; it must be a fluid mix so add more water if necessary)

To apply on the pita:
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 1 tablespoon of milk
• 1 dessertspoon of yoghurt
• Plenty of sesame
• Black sesame

Preparation

Put the yeast, milk and sugar in a deep bowl and keep for 10 minutes (until the yeast melts). Add the remaining ingredients in order, knead the flour, and after it thickens, wait for 40 minutes after it thickens (ensure it is a soft dough that does not stick to your hand). Divide the dough into 2 or 3 pieces.

Sprinkle some flour on the surface and take some flour on your hands before spreading the dough. Give it a circular or oval shape. Place the spread out dough on a tray that is either previously oiled or lined with a baking paper. Also sprinkle some corn flour on the tray so it won’t stick. Immerse your hands in the water-flour mixture and give it a square or lozenge shape by first pressing on the edges and then on the middle. The trick is to keep on immersing your hands in the water-flour mixture so that the shapes won’t disappear during baking. The dough is left for half an hour to leaven and the same procedure is repeated on the shaped parts to make sure that they will last. Finish off by applying the sauce on and sprinkling a lot of sesame and black sesame.

Bake in an oven pre-heated to 200°C until golden brown.

Note: This article originally appeared in ALO magazine.

The post Making Turkish Pita: The Ramadan Way appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

Okay, so where am I?

I’m at a local eatery working, of course, on finding the next big idea. The last few years have been fruitful on my pursuit of these grand plans for advertising and marketing grandeur. It never stops. But the quest for being great should never stop. Employers and businesses want that. They demand it actually and I am one to oblige them at every time.

My work should be a performance of sorts; at least in the advertising world. My ego tells me that I’m on the payroll is because the people paying my bills want to see me perform for the same reason you went to see Baryshnikov dance, Christian Bale act or the sun set over the white sands of Hawaii. It’s art in the form of advertising. It’s not work, it’s a recital. I can’t be just an ad man. I must be a virtuoso. Itzhak Perlman with a violin. Michelangeli at the piano. Gretzky with the puck.

I don’t play the ad game where everyone else does. I play it behind the scenes. I don’t bluster in meetings trying to charm people to go forward with my ideas. I work in the sanctity of my office, or offsite, sifting through muse and the magic of data. I come in for a landing every now and then, usually with a creative brief fresh from the design team. Sometimes I get the feeling my colleagues don’t know where I have gone until I plop the brief down in an email and shout “right over here.”

Yet I digress…

So why am I not in the office collaborating all “think tank-like” in a brainstorming session, you ask? Eating alone has become a crucial aspect of modern living. The commuter, the businessperson, the student—everyone is doing it these days and according to the Great Britain’s Wellbeing Index nearly a third of adults in major metropolitan cities are eating alone “most or all of the time.” I remember in high school doing things solo was a red flag that you were an irreversible loner, or worse, a Unibomber type. Things are different now, as we’ve become less embarrassed about solo dining habits. Bookings websites report that reservations for one have soared, home delivery of meals is a cottage industry, while communal and cafeteria tables are increasingly popular in restaurants everywhere.

Unaccompanied dietary habits are steering us into unexplored terrain. Group dining has long been a universal human ceremony. Not only is it sensible (more hands make lighter work) but meals have, customarily been used to meet our essential need to connect with others. The multi-generational family meals that were often lore of television ads are going the way of dial-up modems. Take a look at Peggy’s pitch about “connecting” for their advertising pitch.

The concept of communal dining existed from the 1960s until present day, but despite the fact that the default number that cookbook recipes serve is still four or six, changes are afoot. Most of us are time-poor and overworked (at
least in our own mind). Eating alone, at least for me, has turned into a
brilliant space to image campaigns. As I wrote earlier in the year, (and
not just Taco Bell) best Big Ideas can be found in the smooth future heartburn of a Taco Bell quesadilla with fire sauce food. 

–>

The trend for eating alone has contributed to the popularity of hummus and guacamole dips for less polished lone cooks who aren’t seasoned enough to whip up 15-minute meals out of those new bestsellers or get expensive Postmates or DoorDash. The boom in dips can be ascribed to people eating on their own because they are so simple to consume if you’re concurrently in a hurry and eating alone. It’s a combination of getting into a habit of thinking it’s not worth cooking for yourself mixed with comfort.

The splendor of independent dining is that you are free to savor your guilty pleasure without judgment from others. Mealtimes now are an ideal way to have quality time to yourself. It becomes a blurred border between work and pleasure and that makes work seem less like, “work.”

Another thing that may entice you to dine alone is your waistline. Eating with other actually makes you eat more and the bigger your group, the more you eat. Take a  dinner for two—you’ll eat approximately one-third more than you would alone. A party of four? Plan to increase your consumption as much as 75%, because that’s what happens on average.

Trust me and the forty plus pounds I’ve left behind this year while eating alone. Try it and you make just discover the Big Ideas you’ve left on the communal dining table.

The post Eating Alone Can Be Your Virtuoso Moment appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

Here’s my tongue-in-cheek take on Dia de Amor.

You know what they say about gin, right?

Nothing says, “I love you” like a bouquet of steak flowers.

What’s better than some Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting for Valentine’s Day? This recipe hit my inbox on Friday [sorry, I don’t know whom to credit for the recipe]. 

I have to say they were pretty, pretty good.

Cupcake Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of sugar

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, room temperature

• 2 eggs, room temperature

• 2 1/3 cups of cake flour

• 2 tablespoons of Dutch-processed cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon of baking soda

• 1 teaspoon of baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

• 1 cup of buttermilk*

• 1 1/2 tablespoons of red food coloring

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon of distilled white vinegar

Frosting Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature

• 8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature

• 2 – 3 cups of powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

*You can make your own buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar to milk and letting it stand for about 10 minutes.

Methodology

The Cupcakes

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.

2 Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is fully incorporated. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

3 In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring.

4 Add a fourth of the dry ingredients and mix, then add a third of the wet. Continue adding in a dry, wet, dry pattern, ending with the dry ingredients.

5 Scoop into cupcake papers, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes of baking to ensure even baking.

6 Allow to cool for one minute in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

The Frosting

1 Cream the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

2 Add the vanilla extract and mix.

3 Add the powdered sugar, continually taste to get to desired sweetness.

Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes.

The post Valentine’s Day: A Tongue-in-Cheek Perspective appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

As Lebanon searches for ways to bring the country and tourism back, it turns to the food that made it famous, while giving an emphatic YES to the question: Will food be Lebanon’s savior?

Beirut has always been kind to me. Eating has always been a guilty pleasure where the only thing more exciting than the culinary delights is the entertainment fueled by the superior nightlife. To me (and the rest of the world it seems) Lebanon is all about food and nightlife, right on par with Paris and Manhattan. I have long concluded that nightlife is so popular because the only thing that keeps those indulgent pounds off is dancing the night away.

Shredded Beef Fillet with Onion and Pomegranate Serves four   1 pound premium beef filet   2 large onions cut into strips   4 tablespoons vegetable oil   4 tablespoons water   4 garlic cloves mashed   1 tablespoon pomegranate juice   1 tablespoon chopped fresh iklil al jabal or rosemary   1⁄4 cup chopped radish for garnish   Salt and pepper Cut the fillet into small flat strips. Heat oil in skillet on high and cook meat in three batches. Remove meat and saute onion in the same pan until soft. Add water, cover and continue to cook until water evaporates. Add garlic and cook until garlic softens.   Add meat, pomegranate juice, iklil al jaba and salt and pepper to taste. Heat to serving temperature. Place on a large plate and garnish with chopped radish. Also perfect for serving in hollowed out sourdough loaves or as a sandwich in pita bread.

The post World Travels: Open Again appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

Blueberry Muffin Then: 1.5 ounces, 210 calories Now: 5 ounces, 500 calories

• 57% believe an unattractive (but qualified) job candidate will have a harder time getting hired;
• 68% believe that, once hired, looks will continue to affect the way managers rate job performance.
• 63% said being physically attractive is beneficial to men who are looking for work,
• 72% said it was an advantage for women.
• On a priority scale, education came in third. Experience was second, and yep (!), attractiveness was first.

Spaghetti and Meatballs Then: 1 cup of spaghetti and sauce with 3 meatballs, 500 calories Now: 2 cups of pasta and sauce with 3 meatballs, 1,025 calories

Bagels Then: 3-inch diameter, 140 calories Now: 6-inch diameter, 350 calories

Fast Food Cheeseburgers Then: 333 calories Now: 590 Calories

French Fries Then: 2.4 ounces, 210 calories Now: 6.9 ounces, 610 calories

Soda Then: 6.5 ounces, 85 calories Now: 20 ounces, 250 calories

The post Huge Food – What’s a Media Guy to Do? appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

It was time…We started exchanging “Coffee?” emails last January with the search for good coffee as our excuse to travel the world.

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