random thoughts – Day 2,206 (Wednesday) – market treasures

A couple weeks ago, friends and I went to a belly dance show and I got to try Turkish Delight. Ever since, I have been collecting Turkish Delight items in my A-Z shopping cart, and particularly the flavor my friend said she liked.

Online searches for local sellers of Turkish Delight weren’t super fruitful, but I stuck gold recently with another search term. “Mediterranean market near me” produced a list of locations which were mostly in Worcester and what I expected. But in the list was a new surprise entrant with Yaya Mediterranean Halal Market in Fitchburg. Through their Facebook page, I sent a message and received a response that they had what I was looking for.

I hit the road for a quick drive with a box of rose flavor Turkish Delight envisioned at the end of the journey. The front of the building is an unassuming brown brick wall of boredom but a sign on the side of the building at the parking area confirmed it was the correct place. Across the threshold was not only Turkish Delight, but a world of delights.

Treasures from Yaya's.

The bright and tidy shop had shelves loaded with colorful packaging and hundreds of products. There were grains and lentils, sweets, tea, coffee, canned goods, fresh pita bread, snacks, frozen foods, coffee sets, cookware and a very nice shopkeeper. She offered me coffee and poured it into a beautiful small cup. It was dark, rich, and delicious and I ended up buying a bag.

In addition to the target item of a gift box of rose flavor Turkish Delight, I got a second box of rose flavor and a box of pistachio flavor, toasted chickpea snacks, cans of hummus and baba ghanoush, two bags of the largest pita breads I’ve ever seen, and Turkish coffee. I can’t wait to go back. The next visit, I will be armed with a shopping list.

Once home, I opened the can of baba ghanoush, cut up a giant pita, and halved some grape tomatoes for lunch. Eating the lunchtime snack gave me a chance to wonder what I would do with enough giant pita bread for an army. Recipes for pita chips were reviewed. 

Freshly baked pita chips.

After checking a couple sources for time and oven temperature guidance, olive oil, garlic salt, sea salt, were lined up on the counter. Pita bread was halved and sliced and brushed with oil and several cooking sheets of it were baked. 

The pita was very thin and it turned out five minutes was too long, but four minutes was better, but chips cooked at both times came out delicious. There is still a lot of pita left for additional chip making sessions. The next time I’ll use a lower oven temperature and experiment with some more seasonings.