Catch the birdy!

Round the corner from Süleyman’s flat there is a little stall that sells live quails. The cages are perched on a wooden trestle table, with boxes of quails eggs surrounding them. The wee birds look healthy enough to me – although I’m no expert on that kind of thing. And I suppose the least you can say about the set-up is that you’d know the eggs were fresh.

As I was taking the photo, the guy running the stall kept saying “doner, doner” to me, and I realised he was explaining the final destination of the balls of feathers in front of me. Forget doner kebab, it was doner quail on the menu that day! And that was when the evil carnivorous devil on my left shoulder appeared and told me I just had to have some quail.

Often, when I’m keeping Süleyman company while he’s working late at the bar, we’ll get some food delivered from a traditional Turkish grill restaurant nearby called Buhara. Usually we have something simple, like lamb köfte with aubergine, and the yummy – although ubiquitous – tomato and onion salad. After my conversation with the quail man, Süleyman mentioned that Buhara has grilled quail on its menu. So, guess what I had for dinner last night…?

One thing no-one can ever accuse me of being is squeamish about where my meals come from!

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