Married and Feasted in Anatolia

The next three dishes are served at wedding feasts in rural Turkey. Here’s what happens first ...

Boy meets girl. Boy tells his mother this girl might be the one for him. Mother makes inquiries in the village to check out girl’s suitability, then contacts her mother, saying: ‘We would like to visit you for a good reason.’ Girl’s mother has a pretty good idea what this means, and replies: ‘Would you like to come over for afternoon tea?’

Girl’s mother asks the girl if she’s interested in the boy, and if she gets the reply ‘It’s up to you’, she tells the father there may be an offer to consider. (If the girl is not interested, the afternoon tea would still go ahead, but it would not end happily.)