AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Turning Point AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Turning Point

Winter is about to turn into spring. The days and nights will be equal for a day. The turning point is marked by Spring equinox, the word coming from the Latin aequinoctium, combining the words aequus (equal) and noctis (night). Equinox is described as the instant of time when Earth’s equator is on the same plane with the center of the Sun. This year the moment will be at 20 March 21:58 Universal Time, which will be 00:58 21 March for Turkey.

March 17 2019
The g-word: Gastronomy AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

The g-word: Gastronomy

Gastronomy seems to be the magical key word to open doors to many worlds nowadays. The word gastronomy comes from Ancient Greek: Gastér meaning stomach and “nómos” meaning laws that govern. The power of the word comes inevitably from its roots: The governance of our stomachs over our lives.

March 10 2019
Lent, Life and Longevity AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Lent, Life and Longevity

Last week was hectic. I was late for my next appointment, I had to rush out as soon as possible, but I just could not move; I was nailed listening to the ‘young’ man aged 83 years, standing straight up, and talking lively on secrets of longevity and life after 80, with an assertive and highly convincing tone through experience and wisdom. I was already an admirer of his photography, I remotely knew him as a person, but only now I was actually listening to him. Izzet Keribar, one of renowned photographers in Turkey, a former successful businessman in textile sector, a keen collector of antique porcelain; he is apparently a man of great achievements, a standing monument of celebrating life.

March 03 2019
Magic power of Baba Marta AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Magic power of Baba Marta

March is a fearful month. In Turkish there is a saying which is the equivalent of “March comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb”, or more accurately “Never cast a clout till May be out”.

February 24 2019
Monsters and masquerades AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Monsters and masquerades

As the carnival seasons start, many think of colorful parades of Rio or mysterious masqueraded figures gracefully gliding in the canals of Venice. However, there is much more to the world of carnivals that need to be explored; sooner the better, before they go extinct, or on the contrary, before they become overly touristic and lose their authentic thrill.

February 17 2019
Sweet and swift AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Sweet and swift

I was recently faced with two totally unrelated questions. The first question was timely for the calendar: My daughter asked me a good place to dine for the Valentine’s Day in the Anatolian side of Istanbul.

February 10 2019
Lucky piggy AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Lucky piggy

Pigs are symbols of good fortune in life. This is a widely held belief in Germany, where the New Year is met with either a pig running around or a pinky pig-shaped marzipan to bring good luck. But in 2019, pigs belong to Asia, to all the countries that follow the 12-animal zodiac. Now that we are stepping today to the year of pig according to the Chinese calendar, we must expect a lucky year, especially for the ones born in 2007, 1995, 1983, 1971, 1959 (like myself), 1947 or 1935, all years of the lucky piggy.

February 04 2019
Basques with Toques AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Basques with Toques

In late1980’s we had a driving safari all the way passing from Biarritz to Algiers. Our mission was to bring a car to our office in Algiers.

January 27 2019
A stale tale AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

A stale tale

Bread is considered sacred in Turkey, or better to say it was so in the past. Throwing away bread was believed to be a serious sin. If one would notice even a small morsel of bread dropped on the street, the common practice was to put it in a higher place...

January 21 2019