Farmers Market visit & Turkish Cooking Class

The trip operator cancelled our booking, made weeks ago, on less than 12 hours notice. We were in port on a cruise. Would gladly have made other plans if had known they would oversell and cancel our paid booking. I’m a US lawyer and this is totally unacceptable. Someone had better contact me asap.

What a great experience! We booked through TA at half the price our cruise charged for a similar tour. Going to the market was a great experience & a chance to taste a lot of interesting nibbles. After a brief drive we arrived to our vineyard/ restaurant to be sous chefs for the wonderful chef. We laughed, we learned, we chopped & enjoyed wine. A great day was had by all.

Had a fabulous day learning about the food and culture of turkey. Would highly recommend to novices and experts. A great and beautiful way to spend the day.

We thoroughly enjoyed our market tour and cooking class. A group of six friends traveling on a bike and boat trip. We had an extra day before we sailed and decided to do this. Started off with a tour of the market with
Asli. We’ve been to farmers’ markets all ice the world and I think the produce here was some of the freshest ever. We then drive to the Karnas winery for our class rather than Ashli’s home as in the other reviews. It was a beautiful venue and the weather was perfect for an outdoor meal. Deniz was our chef. And was great. He explained the dishes and cooking methods and we helped prepare our lunch. Eggplant, green beans and tomatoes, zucchini, meat dumplings, feta stuffed phyllo, and ice cream for dessert. Lots of good conversation with our meal. We also got a tour of the winery and had excellent wine with our meal. I highly recommend this tour.

My friend and I took part in the Turkish cooking class. It was amazing. Both the ride from the port to the home of the instructor and then the view from her house. We made multiple dishes and then ate them with a glass of wine. I highly recommend this activity. I will definitely make some of the dishes we prepared when I get home. Everything we made was veggie so perfect for vegetarians

Although we enjoyed our class, we didn't have the whole experience that was advertised. I am uncertain of the reasons, but we did not have the visit to the farmers market but to a local garden that we picked vegetables for our meal. After our class we left without a dessert course. It felt as if we were abruptly leaving to return to our ship. The chef did not interact much with our large group due to some confusion with her restaurant (at least that's the impression we had).

Fantastic lens on Turkish cuisine and culture. We spent a super day with Asli visiting the market and then to her very well equipped kitchen. Everything except our market produce was already prepped and we soon set to cooking an array of sublime dishes. We were concerned about cooking on such a hot day but the kitchen is cool and comfortable and the entire experience was both relaxing and engaging. Would highly recommend this class and Asli was a gracious and warm host with deep knowledge of not only Turkish cuisine but cooking in general.

Visiting the market and sampling the food, experiencing the wine match with the food, tastng teh food we had prepared.

The farmer’s market tour was interesting and we bought some spices. The vineyard d olive grove venue for cooking was beautiful but an hour ride. The cooking instructor was great and the meal even better!

Ours was a wonderfully small-group (3 couples) experience. Lots of personalized attention from Asli. Loved learning about her culinary trajectory and about the vineyard where her tastings, cooking classes, etc., operate. Amazingly gorgeous setting - extremely serene. Low-stress food prep/cooking, even for non-chefs. Delicious meal on a series of sumptuously set tables. Even got to drink the vineyard's beautiful wine. Market experience beforehand was tasty and interesting, but adds travel time, depending where market is held on a given day (location changes daily). Considerable travel time to the vineyard, but well worth it to be among its olive trees, grape vines and resident pets. Enthusiastic five stars!

When traveling to a new place, it is often difficult to find experiences that allow you to truly enjoy the cultural cuisine, history, landscape, and personal connections one desires. Spending the day with Asli in her beautiful home afforded all of this and more! Having newly moved Izmir, I had never been to Bodrum and was looking for unique experiences to share with my parents while they were visiting me in Turkey for a couple weeks. The beaches and restaurants and seaside are undoubtedly stunning, yet our day visiting a local market, riding together as a group up to Asli's home, and slowly, intentionally preparing traditional Turkish mezes and lunch dishes was a true highlight of our holiday. A teacher at heart, Asli's patience, kindness, and evident love for Turkish food and people created a warm and insightful experience. She not only explained in detail each dish and its ingredients, but also its history and geographical idiosyncrasies; a kind host, she joined us at the table where we enjoyed wonderful conversation and the quintessential Turkish hospitality. A fun detail that was unique to our visit....my parents and I joined another visiting group of four who turned out to be from my father's hometown in the U.S. While this coincidence is not specifically connected to the cooking class, it is the vehicle by which those visiting Bodrum can not only enjoy every element explained above, but also perhaps meet others who are keen to experience the beauty and wonders this slice of Turkey has to offer. Highly, highly recommend!

We had an amazing day. We had the opportunity to try new food and spices at the market. The winery the cooking class was in was beautiful. Our instructor was fantastic she was very knowledgeable about the cooking techniques and the history behind them. I would recommend this class to anyone.

So, you’re thinking of taking a cooking class in Türkiye? Stop. Book this RIGHT NOW!!! I’ll wait…

Okay, you want more details? This is the real deal for foodies, a full day of food shopping, preparation and sumptuous dining. Your instructor Asli is a restauranteur (and a partner in a winery!) She is a completely fluent English speaker, a superb cook, a delightful conversationalist, and a terrific teacher. You’ll begin with an in-depth immersion in a locals-only market of fresh produce, enticing spices, nuts, cheeses, cured meats, just-made filo dough (in 2 foot / 60cm circles!), aromatic teas, and, and, and. You’ll taste nearly everything you see as Asli shops for the day’s ingredients. And then it’s off to Asli’s home for the cooking class. Her patio is graced with breathtaking views and a wonderful outdoor kitchen. You’ll sit around the spacious table and learn the secrets of Turkish cooking from a true master. My wife and I learned at least a dozen new preparation techniques — (You cook eggplant like that? OMG!!!) — and quite a bit about Turkish history and culture. Plus we made some great friends with the other participants in our small-group class. And when it finally came time for the meal, the food we made under Asli’s guidance was truly great, bordering on celestial. Course after course after course, a complete dinner-and-a-half. Yum-a-rama! It was a sensational day, and without a doubt the best cooking class we’ve ever had. (And we’ve had a lot!)

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The experience was fabulous. There were only four of us. We were picked up at the cruise ship terminal with no hassle by our host, then driven in an SUV to a local market where we actually shopped for the ingredients for making lunch. We then went to the host's home and cooked lunch. It was just wonderful getting cooking tips (like grating tomatoes vs chopping them). The five of us sat at her dining room table and ate the food we had prepared. The host was so gracious and it was awesome to be able to see a functioning Turkish home. The tour was just great!

We had the great privilege of a sabbatical that allowed us to travel throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe for 7 weeks - and while this was the very last activity we did - it was also one of the very best. For those of you who have ever watched Ina Garten or Lydia, it was like being in their Turkish kitchen, only this time with Asli, who is the real deal - she's an amazing chef, a warm host, and the pace and flow of the day was just wonderful. We started with her picking us up at our Bodrum hotel and driving us to the famers market of the day - in this case it was about 30 minutes away. Such a neat experience - we were the only foreigners there. We tried a bunch of food and picked out foods to cook - we had a couple of dietary preferences and Asli took these fully into account. Then we drove back to her house and cooked the meal, drank wine, talked, and enjoyed to spectacular views. Finally, we made an impromptu stop at the nearby winery, Karnas, where Asli is the head chef, and were able to see the beautiful vineyards and buy some amazing olives and olive oil for about the quarter of the price we would have paid in the U.S. This is an absolute gem of Bodrum and Turkey as a whole, as is Asli!

My family and I did a farmer's market visit with Asli and then visited her lovely home to learn how to cook a few traditional Turkish dishes. Asli couldn't have been more warm and welcoming. The meal she taught us how to cook was one of the most delicious meals we had in Turkey (which is really saying something as the cuisine is fabulous). We ate the food we helped prepare on the patio overlooking the countryside outside Bodrum. It was an unforgettable experience and the perfect conclusion to our 10 day trip across this amazing country.

One of the best cooking classes I've had. Asli was an amazing host, she explained things really well and the food was delicious. We started with a charming trip to the market where we sampled a ton of delicious food and had tea. Then we spent a great day cooking and eating! You won't regret cooking with Asli!