When you think of Adana, kebabs are the first thing that come to mind. Yet we were confronted with a complex cuisine, from desserts to meze appetizers and from börek pastries to drinks...
We packed our equipment and hit the streets of Adana without any other preparation to bring all the incredible flavors of the city together. We started to film the delicacies of the street using guerilla filming techniques. Timur Savcı began to speak and Menderes Samancılar, Nebil Özgentürk, Emre Karayel all were joined by other famous Adana locals. We discovered dozens of flavors, each dish with its own story to tell. We made sure to listen to each one.
Yılmaz Güney, Yaşar Kemal and other Adana icons graced our documentary and made the event even better. And, of course, anything in Adana wouldn't be the same without Fatih Hoca, who took his place in the conversation. Some of Adana's famed dishes include BiciBici, a sweet iced drink. Şırdanı, an offal dish that is often itself served with Şalgam, or fermented turnip juice. Wandering salesmen selling wares of all varieties pass by as well... Adana may be best known for kebabs, but we've seen that it features a truly complex cuisine for desserts, drinks and all kinds of local delicacies.
There's a saying in Adana: There are only 3 complete cuisines in Turkey: Adana, Gaziantep, and Antakya. We'll leave the debate to you while we finish off our kebab!
