The word “Brunch” is derived from the words “Breakfast” and “Lunch” meaning breakfast and lunch. With this new word, they mean the morning breakfasts that continue until noon. You will appreciate that; It is only on holidays, or rather Sundays, that the meal starts in the morning and lasts until the end of noon. About 10-15 years ago, big hotels introduced this Sunday meal habit into our lives as if it were something new. To make us believe that it is new, they released that made-up name, "Brunch".
Hundred Years of Tradition
However, the people of Adana have been continuing this
tradition for hundreds of years. He even institutionalized this tradition from
being a market meal prepared only at home, and even created a bazaar serving
it. The Cigerciler Bazaar in Kazancılar... Let's go into the story a little
more if you want... We don't know what the first start date is, but we will
tell you about a tradition that has been going on in Adana for at least 150
years and a bazaar created by this tradition. Afterwards, we will spend a
Sunday in this bazaar together.
Adana Kebabs
Adanalı loves meat dishes. When we say meat dishes, we are
talking about kebabs, not meat cooked by throwing in other ingredients.
Although only minced meat kebab is called "Adana Kebab", "Shish Kebab",
which the people of Adana call "tike", and "Ciger Kebab",
which is cooked by adding pieces of tail fat to the tike form of sheep liver,
is also completely Adana. and local kebabs. For hundreds of years, Adana
residents get up early on holidays; He had the habit of preparing one of these
kebabs using special skewers and a special barbecue, and eating and drinking
together with raki or drowned raki until late afternoon. The main purpose of
this eating tradition was not to be full, but to spend the holiday chatting and
singing. Adana is not a place to be satiated, but a place to have fun.
Cigerciler Bazaar
As this Sunday entertainment, which groups of friends spent together, became more widespread, it must have occurred to someone to institutionalize it, as a "Ciğerciler Çarşısı" was established in Kazancılar, one of the city's bazaars at that time. In those years, a "Bird Market" was also set up in Kazancılar on holidays. Raising birds (especially pigeons) is a common hobby in Adana, just like eating kebab and drinking strangler… Therefore, it is not a coincidence that the Cigerciler Bazaar opened on the same day as the Bird Bazaar. Just an economic acumen.
We can't help but tell you something that has been conveyed to you from big to small. Adana Kebab, which the people of Adana call "Mince Kebab", was also invented to increase eating options in this economic area. The person who conveyed this to us heard from Sağır Sülo, a kebab connoisseur, in his childhood.
This tradition, which has existed for hundreds of years, still continues in the same place, on the same day and at the same time. If you enter the historical Kazancılar Bazaar from 06:00 on a Sunday, from the street opposite the historical Carsi Hamam, you can experience the Cigerciler Bazaar. This is the only kebab bazaar in the world, where you can go with both men and women, where raki is a friend to the table. If it's entertainment, it's a place… The best part is that it is a place where people from all walks of life can spend time together.
Boğma Raki
Boğma rakı is a type of alcoholic beverage produced from grapes or figs by distillation and produced in Adana and its region for many years without a license. Although it is produced in homes without a license, a strict prohibition has not been applied and this tradition has been kept alive. Today, it is not sold in shops, but anyone who wants can find raki in Adana.
You should travel
Kazancılar Bazaar is actually the part of the historical Grand Bazaar where copper boiler manufacturers and tinsmiths are located. The Grand Bazaar is a bazaar built in 1575 during the time of the sons of Ramadan. Although it took this name because it was covered in the years it was built, in the following years it was opened due to the heat. The only unopened section is the section called “Bedesten” today. Although it is closed on Sundays, the market is worth visiting on other days. There are still boilers, tinsmiths, antique shops, chest sellers, kebab skewers and producers of tahini halva, a local dessert. In the evenings, you can't get enough of having a meal and belly dancing accompanied by music at the kebab restaurant known as "Historical Istanbul".
Adana Destination is taken from S. Haluk Uygur's book "52 Weeks Adana and Its Surroundings".
Photos belong to İlhan Maraşlı.
