Slowly-by-Slowly

A review of Cafe Mangal, by the Karagöz puppets

Posted on November 10, 2012 by lizcameron

Copper dome over my dinner (Image by Esma, the photo-happy puppet, for LIz Cameron)

Here we Karagöz puppets again, M’lady no typing! We use translator Dragon program for write for her, but it not understand we accent. Today we make review of lokanta – oops – you say restaraunt America’da.

So, today, nice lady invite us to Cafe Mangal for taste home flavor dinner, we appreciate! M’lady & M drive in car long way round – we only recognize Armenian market with lots of dark. M. Sings old Turkish song along radio box to M’lady for cheer up, working pretty good, but he tone deaf, so you say.

We arrive Cafe Mangal, we puppet smell good baking there, but feel ears loud with all people jam pack in there. We think pretty place, we enjoy fresh bread from fırın (brick oven) especially one with olive. Why Americans no have warm fresh bread from oven enough? We make comfort with that. Americans need comfort, think we.

A mangal (Image by Esma, the photo-happy puppet, for LIz Cameron)

There in Cafe Mangal, we see familiar things, so we miss home little bit, but ignore that and eat lots. Big copper Ottoman Mangal in corner for making kahve & keeping warm – M’lady not even know what is that – M tell her right there! She need much more know Ottoman history and stuff, shameful, we must whisper in her ear nighttime! Anyway, we sneak iPhone take close ups of pretty copper. Must be from Gaziantep, we visit and remember “tink tink tink” sound of coppersmiths.

So, review of food is ok good, we think pretty pricey! Our mouths watering at sight of meze and especially havuç salatası (carrot salad) and patlıcan salatası (smoky eggplant salad, but they put beyyaz peynir in, strange but good!). We enjoy. M’lady, M., m’lady mother & friend enjoy too – they demolish plate, leave mess, we stop Karagöz lick plate clean from their mess. Trickster, rude Karagöz strike again, almost! We puppet think pretty good although lady friend şiş a tough cut – fısh kebap, rack of lamb w stewed figs, köfte Yummy. Nice salad vegetables mix in, American style. This place like Chinese rester aunt make American style food – but Turkish, not Chinese. Americans feel better maybe? It good though.

Our major complaint – we hungry puppets wait *long* *long* time for supper come – maybe 45 minutes, why?

M’lady can’t resist helva & ice cream – friend take limon sorbet – and yummy both, we sneak, M’lady pretend not to notice. M’lady order çay – it come with milk, spice, we horrified! What is this çay? Mercan Bey, our spice man, you know him, he explain it to be Hindustan çay tea. Why Turkish place make Hindustan tea we don’t know, we accept globalization reality and move on.

On way out, we notice silver mirror only have American flag, not Turkish one, stick there, flag not. Someone take Turkish flag? We think maybe relate to 9-11? M say maybe or we paranoid maybe. Maybe yes we paranoid.

Our decision? We want return for lamacun & börek but hope not wait so so so long.

Teşekkür ederim Cafe Mangal! We go back for fırın baking soon.

Posted in Turkish Food!, Turkish-American Matters, Visits from the Karagöz puppets | Tagged ABD, Gaziantep, kebap, lokanta, mangal, Ottoman, Turkish, şiş | 2 Comments

We is Karagöz puppets, worried ’bout M’lady, don’t speak İngilizce good

Posted on November 9, 2012 by lizcameron

We is Karagöz puppets, we worried about m’lady. she sleeping now lots. dr. says good. she depressed a lot so we learn iPhone jumping on pad it’s slippery we fall we like play with phone we like solitaire, sudoku when she sleep.

We would like take picture with iPhone, it takes many of us small puppet to lift iPhone to take picture. We take a picture of what m’lady see out the window from bed. Is pretty fall color, at least she open window some for nice air that blows we across room sometimes for fun.

we walk with m’lady today to Dr. Dr. check on arm problem. We saw garden full of frosty red hot peppers, stopped Karagoz from taking & make mischief at Dr. like he threat to. Dr. Also check m’lady brain problem. Drs. say m’lady going to be okay! M’lady say hope so, soon. We say she need more tea. Lots more, and sulphur spring in Dalyan too. And no more university job, she need be artist. She say, can’t be starving artist.

we think M’lady arm hurts so she cant make tea, takes mind away from feel happy. friend of m’lady make her laugh, make her tea in house today. We happy then. she must have puppets in her house. not ottoman ones though.

friend leave, we make lots of tea and m’lady likes us to keep her company. M’lady came home from brain doctor and nice flower on Step – all fall color rolls together nice like, we take close up because we not good w camera. We like texture, chorus of dancing ladies do flower dance for m’lady. M’lady cry because nice flower present. We puppet don’t understand how cry = happy, we best try on stage? Maybe American thing? Not in ottoman court.

M’lady resting now, looking at blue sky, red leaf out window, while she sleep, we take photo for her.

We helping m’lady get better now. She be just fine.

Posted in Family Challenges, Visits from the Karagöz puppets | Tagged Depression, iphone, Puppet, Puppetry, tea | 3 Comments

The Karagöz puppets vote…İznik vs. mid-century modern tiles

Posted on November 9, 2012 by lizcameron

Too expensive for a whole bathroom, this may become the kitchen backsplash in Provincetown…with clementine colored paint above it on one accent wall, if M. has any say in the matter (I quite like the idea) (Image by Liz Cameron)

These days, my shoulder hurts more than one might imagine possible, and those Karagöz puppets, well, they are trying to keep me still, but my right hand *needs* to type occasionally.

Luckily, I am somewhat ambidextrous, and I can both use scissors and take photos with my iPhone using my right hand.

Therefore, the puppets have been egging me on to take and post photos.

So, that leads me to tell the story of the day M. and I woke up to a horde of sobbing puppets, looking lovingly at page after page of İznik ceramics in the book that graces our coffee table.

Turkish Iznik tile (Photo credit: Scott MacLeod Liddle)

It was, of course, and they knew it, the day we were to set off looking for tile for our bathroom renovations in Provincetown. Here, the puppets share their favorites – what do you vote on?

Simple, elegant pale blue pennyround tiles with brown edges (Image by Liz Cameron)

Olive-ish in nature, this is also too expensive, and might drive us nuts after a while, so it too, may become kitchen backsplash materia instead of the above…(Image by Liz Cameron)