More about Dondurma (Turkish ice-cream)

Ali invites Tai to try Turkish ice- cream called dondurma, and she happily does.

Tai describes her lemon-flavored dondurma as chewy and stretchy,

Have you ever tasted ice cream that was chewy and stretchy?

Can you think of what could make ice cream different from place to place ? 

If you said the ingredients, then you are right!

Gum called mastic is taken from mastic trees found in places like Turkey. It is this mastic gum that gives the ice- cream its stretchy texture. Powdered orchid bulbs called salep, makes the ice- cream firm and chewy.

Dondurma sellers turn the ice- cream with long metal rods and knead it like dough to keep the texture.

It’s sticky texture can lead to a lot of fun when you buy one. Playful dondurma sellers will often put your grabbing skills to the test!

More about Turkish Delight

When Tai tries Turkish delight for the first time, she thought the yummiest were the ones with pistachios.

Did you know that Turkish delight is one of the most ancient sweets in the world?

Called “Lokum” in Turkey they have been around for over 250 years!

This means children have been enjoying these delicious sweets for a very long time!

Though quick to eat, making Turkish delight is really slow.

First the maker mixes starch and water together then adds sugar.  Flavored with rosewater or lemon, the mixture is cooked for two to four hours then poured onto trays dusted with starch, where it stays for two days.

Once set, it is cut into small squares, often filled with chopped nuts like walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios and almonds or ready to eat in fruity or spicy flavors like pomegranate, rose, strawberry, orange, lemon, coconut, mint, chocolate, ginger, cinnamon and clove.

Loved by everyone in Turkey, including its Sultans of long ago, Turkish delight is served on holidays and other special occasions and given as gifts when visiting each other.

More about the Spice Bazaar

The Spice Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the oldest covered markets in the world and one of the most famous markets in Istanbul.

The Spice Bazaar receives hundreds of visitors daily. People enjoy the large array of spices on display, usually stacked in colorful mounds, as well as wonderful smelling teas and rainbows of lokum (Turkish delight), among the many other things available to taste and buy.

Although built in the 17th century, the spice bazaar still looks and feels today much as it did back in ancient times when it was the center of the historical spice trade in Istanbul.

With just a little imagination one can still picture long lines of dusty camel caravans, laden with cargos of fragrant spices, arriving at the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, their final stop, after a long journey on the Silk Road through China, India and Persia.

Have you ever been to a place like the Spice Bazaar? You can tell Tai about it here

More about Istanbul

Tai discovers that although Istanbul is one city it has two parts, each in a different continent!

Do you know what are continents?* Do you know the number of Continents and their names?

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey with a population of more than 15 million people!

It is the only city in the world that sits on two continents, all at the same time!

The two continents on which Istanbul sits are Europe and Asia.

A body of water called the Bosporus strait passes through the city of Istanbul and separates it into two parts, the European part and the Asian part.

This means some of the people of Istanbul live on the Asian side and some on the European side. Isn’t that great!

If your city could be in two continents which two would you choose?

Did you know that in ancient times Greeks and Romans lived in Istanbul.

Byzantium and Constantinople are two of the old names for Istanbul.

In addition to being a very beautiful and picturesque city, many of the monuments and buildings in Istanbul, like the Hagia Sophia and the Hagia Eirene, are of historical importance. Visitors from all over the world travel to Istanbul to see them.

Maybe one day you will go to see them too.

*A continent is a large continuous land mass. Geographers have name the largest areas of continuous land on earth, continents, This makes them easier to identify.

* The seven continents, from largest to smallest, are:

Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.

More about Delhi and Chandni Chowk Market

Delhi is a big city in India with a population of twenty-six million people. 

This large city is divided up into eleven districts.

New Delhi and Old Delhi are just two of its districts.  

New Delhi is known as the capital of India.

Chandni Chowk Market can be found in Old Delhi. 

The name Chandni Chowk means “moonlight square.”

It is the oldest and busiest market in Old Delhi and one of the largest wholesale markets in India.

Inside the market, hundreds of shops sell everything from food and sweets to saris and gold and silver jewelry. 

Chandni Chowk has been the setting of several Indian movies.

Do you know the name of your country’s capital city?  

Have you ever been to place like Chandni Chowk Market?   

You can tell Tai all about it.

More about Holi, the Festival of Color

Have you ever noticed how colorful it gets in spring time?

The grass and the trees grow green again and flowers pop up like little splashes of rainbow everywhere.  

The sun smiles warmly and paints up our world, and we are happy to stay out and play all day long.

In places like India, people celebrate the start of spring with their own amazing show of colors.

“Holi” is a special holiday, a time for everyone to eat sweets together and to splash the warmest colors of spring on each other from head to toe. 

The bigger the splash, the brighter the color . . . the greater the fun!

Everyone can take part in Holi. It doesn’t matter how young or how old you are or where you are from.

It’s a fantastic time for all.

Questions about Holi

How do the people get color to throw around?

On the day of Holi, people carry specially made powders and liquid color to throw and squirt on each other. The colors are sold in shops and in the streets, so no one ever has to run out of color during Holi.

What are the colors made of?

Long ago, the colors were made from flowers and herbs, like turmeric for yellow and neem leaves for green. More recently artificial colors have been used, but many people have again started to use plant-based colors because they are safe and good for the skin and eyes.

Will the color wash off or does it stay forever?

Before going out to have fun at Holi, people usually moisturize their skin and hair with certain oils to make the colors easier to wash off.

Do adults mind when kids throw color on them?

Not at all. This is a day when everyone is happy to throw and have color thrown on them.

It’s a fun time for everyone.

Do you have any questions about Holi for Tai? You can ask her now!

At Home with Tai.

Tai lives on an island called Jamaica.

Do you know that islands have water around them on every side?

Jamaica is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, and when Tai is not dreaming up new places to travel to, her favorite thing to do is to play on the beach.

Jamaica has many beautiful beaches with white sand.

Do you know that sand comes in different shades like white, yellow, pink, and even black?

On the beach, Tai likes to eat coconuts. Have you ever tried one? They grow at the top of tall trees that are not very easy to climb.

Inside green coconuts there is sweet, delicious water to drink and a soft white jelly to scoop out and eat. This makes it special because it is both a food and a drink at the same time.

Here is a question for you, is coconut a fruit or a nut?*

Tai also likes to eat mangos, bananas, and pineapples, fruits that grow in the tropical climate of Jamaica.

A tropical climate means that Tai’s home is warm all year round. It never gets cold in winter and doesn’t ever snow.

How is Tai’s home country different from yours? You can write to her to let her know!

*Answer: A coconut is both a fruit and a nut!