Any day in Turkey, Fall 2008 "Aeden and his yogurt"

Aeden loves Turkish yogurt. Most days he drinks some Ayran or eats some yogurt with me for an afternoon snack. The yogurt is plain and has a distinct non-Yoplait bite to it. But he loves it. This photo is the result of yogurt-face trying to attack the photographer as she was trying to document the yogurt eater. There's no focus, but "the photographer" is somewhat partial to her subject and still loves the photo.

Ayran is a Turkish drink made with yogurt, water, and salt. It is purported to have a host of healthful benefits and be "very refreshing" on a hot summer day. None of the family has acquired a taste for it yet, except for Aeden. We tasted it our first week here and all just about spit it out, but Aeden just gives a little shiver and opens his mouth for more. It is most closely described as liquified cottage cheese, and served as a beverage a few times per week at school, alongside Happy Meals at McDonald's, and on airplanes.

Also to note is that the g in yogurt has the little "u" over it, otherwise known as a hat or a smiley face, and so is silent in Turkish and only elongates the sound of the letter preceding it. So yogurt is yo-urt. Plain yogurt is served on everything, sometimes with garlic in it, sometimes cucumber, sometimes just plain. If you don't put yogurt and/or a tomato paste-based sauce on the dish, then most likely you'll be squirting ketchup and/or mayonnaise on it instead. It is all about the condiments here!