Icmeler Online Holiday Forum & Reviews - Turkey

Need a bit of advice here please.
A friend of mine who is a chef asked about spices in Turkey so i am going to get him some.
So i will go to the market but how do you buy spices ?
By the weight ?
By the packet ?
Also do you barter on spices or is it a fixed price ?
Also what is the rough price ?

Sorry for all the questions but i could get the bargain of the century or ripped off and i would not have a clue.

Hero.

Depends how much you want. If its just one bag then you can usually get them to stick a bit more in the bag for you.

Last time I bought my yearly stash I got prices for what I wanted got them bagged up and then bartered.

She started at 80 lira I think and walked away paying about 55. This was at the market and I did buy a lot.

The only spice that I would buy would be saffron (is it a spice or flower or herb) and Sumak

Any other spice would probably bought cheaper in Chinese or Indian supermarkets in the UK in 1kg bags

hi,
in a way I agree with john, however, most of the stalls do a " special mix" which is fantastic with lamb especially on the barby, so hence due to the nice weather we are having im running rather low...... roll on septemeber.

wayne

Ah ok I see what you mean, they do their own recipes

I have never really stopped to check them out

john you need to stop rushing round..............from bar to bar hahahaha

wayne

Hero, if it is just standard spices your chef friends want, they would definitely be cheaper in UK from India/Chinese supermarkets. Even Tesco are doing these 1kg bags now!

Tim

Thanks for all your advice everyone.
It looks like i will give buying spices a miss unless i get back,go to Tesco and buy a load and put them in different bags
Once again thanks as always for the advice.

Hero.

Got it right there. Saffron is stupidly cheap and it's the spice mixes they make just can't find it anywhere else that has the same taste.

That's usually all we bring back too - saffron is a lot cheaper and sumac can be hard to find here. The different mixes lamb, chicken, meatballs, salad, etc - are also good and hard to replicate on your own.

Wonder if anyone can help??

I bought some spices - saffron 1/50th the price in uk!) sumac and a "casserole mix" that tasted so good

I couldn't resist -- now does anyone know how much of this to use per casserole for example?

Blogger - try Binnur's Turkish Cookbook - they have a website and a Facebook page - packed with lovely recipes and should give you an ideal of how much to use.