Holiday! Part Four: The Christmas Baklava

Expat Christmas in G’Antep

A few more folks trickled in from nearby Osmaniye and our Christmas crew swelled to fifteen Americans. After a late night in Antakya (after which my houseguest ladies and I consumed tons of tea and cookies and had a glorious gab sesh under my single string of twinkle lights) we reconvened late in the morning for a cafe khavaltı spread. Groups fractioned off to hit up some key Gaziantep tour sites, the Zeugma Mosaic Museum, old town and the copper bazaar, and of course the Gaziantep Zoo. I jumped on that last bandwagon. Christmas at the zoo was definitely a first for me but such a great choice! Antep has the largest zoo (according to quantity and variety of animals) in Turkey with an incredibly impressive aquarium--a classic favorite of mine. (Upon entering said aquarium, Abby of Osmaniye turned to me and asked, “Is that normal for you?” I had no idea what she meant. Apparently when we walked in a group of dudes just stopped talking and stared at me. “Yes, it’s the hair. The blatant transfixion only lasts a minute or two.” And indeed it did, thankfully.) Christmas Day eve in Gaziantep involved baklava in old town and some ol’ fashioned merry making at my place with leftover party beverages. To all a good night.

Lahmacun, minced meat, peppers, and spices on super thin flat bread. A Gaziantep specialty of Arab origin.

Best (read: only appealing) super hot with lots of lemon. The Christmas colors were too good to pass up!

Le Baklava et la Çay
Yes, there are multiple kinds. It has a lot to do with the pistachio-phyllo dough ratio. That green guy? Pretty much pure pistachio. By the way, that walnut baklava junk? What a joke.

Christmas Day dinner at a popular tourist restaurant, İmam Çağdaş. Not an establishment we indulge in frequendly, and definitely not as delightfully funky as Çulcuoğlu, but the baklava is dang good and everyone needs a nice treat on Christmas! Well, everyone except Carla (to my left). Poor woman's allergic to nuts...and a vegetarian. Welcome to Antep, where you can eat...nothing. What a sweetie to spend the holiday down south anyways!