Cheesy Bodrum

While I was struggling to get back from a Greek Island, Bodrum was having a cheesy time.  I missed most of the events, but caught the cheese tasting in Oasis Shopping Mall.  I was particularly taken with a Gravyer made in Kars, which not surprisingly tasted just like Gruyere.  I now have an excuse to dust off the fondue set that is on a back shelf somewhere in my village storeroom and get stirring.  I always think of fondue as being a Swiss/French/Italian dish only earned after a day on the ski slopes, but according to Mr. Google there is a recipe for melted goats' cheese, Pramnos wine and flour in Homer's Iliad, so we are geographically ideally placed to stage a Fondue Renaissance. 

While on the subject of cheese, I'm going to plug my local cheese supplier: İnci Peynir is a family business based in Mumcular that has been supplying dairy products for over 50 years. I used to top up my fridge every Sunday at the local market but now Mehmet İnci has opened a shop in the centre of Bodrum. I recommend a visit because apart from an array of different cheeses, he has buffalo butter, great yogurt and a shifting display of village made savouries and desserts.

For anyone of my age,  a cheese shop will always be an excuse to "come over all peckish " and "negotiate the vending of some cheesy comestibles" so I will leave you with a reminder of the cheese shop that shaped a generation's expectation of fermented curd emporiums.

İnci Peynir Evi is to be found behind the greengrocers' stalls on the main road into Bodrum from the bus garage.