All right, I confess. I didn’t cook at all in July. I was working on an archaeological dig, so Around the World in 12 Plates: Turkey has to take a different approach. Did you know I moonlight as an archaeologist? I spent my first season working at Çadır Höyük as a student in 2012, and I’ve been lucky enough to return two more times as an illustrator: Apparently I’m good at drawing pottery and ancient walls — who knew. For Around the World in 12 Plates: Turkey, I’m not going to tell you what I cooked because I didn’t cook! I’m going to tell you about what Satihanim made for us each and every day.

Satihanim’s kitchen

Three meals a day in the field

There are actually four meals consumed each day working at Çadır Höyük, and I was basically hungry all the time, so I ate a lot. Here’s how it all goes down.

First breakfast

Before we go out to the excavations in the early hours of the morning, we eat a quick and simple first breakfast. Tea and coffee, bread with creamy cheese or Çokokrem (Turkish Nutella). This meal is often consumed while hopping onto Sadiq’s van as he drives us out to the field.

Second breakfast

This is my favourite meal of the day, so much so I wrote a whole blog post about it two years ago. Read about it here. On days off, we are lucky enough to get menemen, a delicious egg dish made with stewed tomatoes, green peppers and oregano.

Lunch

Lunch and dinner look very similar at the dig. Satihanim makes a variety of things: a stew made with fresh okra and tomatoes, manti with a rich yoghurt sauce or çiğ köfte, a vegetarian kofte made with bulgur. Stuffed peppers are always a favourite, and stuffed eggplant is welcomed with whoops of joy.

There is always çoban salatası (shepherd’s salad) with cucumber, tomato, greens and parsley with a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil and salt. There is always a giant vat of thick yoghurt to smother your food with deliciousness. There is always bread.

Dinner

Carbs on carbs on carbs. It would not be strange to eat a meal with rice, potatoes and bread at the same time — sometimes there are french fries too. Like lunch, dinner is eaten together as we devour things like rich lentil soup, dolmas or meat kofte.

Snackbox

While not a set meal, the Snackbox was instituted in the lab (the place where we do our non-field work) a few years ago. We pool money together to keep this treasure trove of treats mountainous at all times. Needless to say, I didn’t lose any weight on the dig. From paprika flavoured potato chips to chocolate covered brownies, the Turkish know how to snack.

What everyone cooked for Around the World in 12 Plates: Turkey

Here’s all the awesome bloggers involved in Around the World in 12 Plates: Turkey. They actually cooked things!

Korena in the Kitchen made Simit

Bernice from Dish n’ the Kitchen made a full Turkish supper

Sugar Loves Spices whipped up one of my favourites, Gozleme!