Turkey...the country that is!

Several weeks ago my friend Laila discovered the best kept secret in D.C…. embassy parties! In D.C. all of the embassies are located in a beautiful part of town called Embassy Row. Apparently, every now and then the embassies host parties in order to up their popularity within the District, the trick is finding out about them. After getting an insider tip (from a website called Cloture Club), my friend Laila invited our entire class to a party at the Turkish Embassy Residence. Amazingly, only two of us showed up (Abby and I), but it was great. The building was beautiful and ornate, plus there was music, food, drinks, and culture, and it was all free!

We mingled in the living room of the Turkish Ambassador, dined on Turkish delicacies, and even hung our coats in the official embassy coatroom, complete with moving shelves!

The Embassy Residence

Free food!

Overall, the evening was pretty perfect, however there were two awkward moments…

First, after we sat down to eat, a Turkish man who wanted to chat with us, but who obviously didn’t speak English very well, joined us. This led to a very strange interaction, which ended with he and I silently and awkwardly smiling at each other for a while before he got up and walked away.  After that, I became concerned that he didn’t know anyone. Accordingly, I followed him around for the rest of the night to make sure that he was having fun.

Second, we ingested the most disgusting food that was ever created. In general, Turkish food is amazing! It’s savory and unctuous and wonderful, however, every genre has it’s pitfalls, and Turkish cuisine is not exempt. With dinner we were served some baba ganoush that’s recipe goes like this:

Take one eggplant and soak in 4 cups of formaldehyde until ripe and tender

Macerate with a large fork until chucky and yet simultaneously milky

Add in a squirt of Vegemite and a pinch of ash

Heat in a smoker at 800 degrees Fahrenheit for 7 hours

Garnish with chopped tomatoes, serve, and enjoy!

…Even Abby, who is vegetarian and eats like an exotic bird, literally spit her’s out before exclaiming “Dear Jesus! Get it off my tongue!”

The offensive culprit can be seen in the top left corner of the middle plate. (cream colored)

Lesson of the day: Always go to the embassy parties, but keep that baba ganoush out of your mouth!

My beautiful dates :)

The Queen of Turkey