There are a lot of things that we owe to the Silk Road besides silk itself. Some examples include paper, Algebra and bathroom tiles. Personally I am thankful for kebabs. Served from Xi’an to Istanbul, there is something about kebabs that make them my favourite way to eat meat.
Since I am currently far from the Silk Road, I have to make due with restaurants from the region.
As a Valentine’s date my wife and I tried out the Village Mangal in Amersham and loved it. It is probably the best Turkish restaurant in Buckinghamshire, and possibly the best Turkish restaurant in the South East of England.
Mangal is the Turkish word for barbecue. We were seated right next to the barbecue itself, and the crackling charcoal and puffs of smoke lent an atmosphere of authenticity to our experience.
The food – from the bread, hummus and grilled onion starter – to the kebab, rice and salad main was absolutely delicious.
I am not a coffee drinker and much prefer tea, but I had to make an exception for a cup of Turkish coffee. Who could resist when it looks like this? And the best part was that it was on the house.
Other Side of the Mountains 
I read this while the morning coffee is brewing and the wood stove is warming the house again after having burned down to coals. Now I am salivating!
One of my first posts was on kifta, a spiced ground meat mixture cooked on skewers
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Sounds lovely… I do love a wood stove. I wonder if kifta is similar to the kofta of South Asia? Also made with ground meat.
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I think it is a variation of the same word, but spiced differently. Moroccans do eat meat kebabs too, but not so regularly. In Iran, while travelling, I existed on chello kebab, kebabs on bed of rice.
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this looks so good and I love this coffee “cup”.
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I have to agree with you about “meat on a stick”. Perhaps this is modern man’s return to how his ancestors first cooked meat. I just had Kafta a day ago, in a Lebanese restaurant in Vancouver. Delicious! I see you have started following my retiredanddownunda blog. Thank you for reading. This blog spot is full and there will be no new posts. You are certainly welcome to read from the beginning, as it documents our 2014/15 trip through New Zealand, to Cairns and Vancouver and beyond. My new blog is at https://photoblographysite.wordpress.com/.
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Thanks! Have just followed it.
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