Turkish Orchard, photo by Helen Cook, via Flickr
Cruise ship passengers often have a short leash, rarely ranging beyond sight-distance of the ship they arrived on. In the summer capital of Kusadasi, on the Aegean Sea, this is especially true and visitors regularly fill the city’s significant beach, party, and nightlife venues clustered near the port. Relatively few go very far inland on a Kusadasi shore excursion, often due to the fear of cutting the umbilical cord with the known and stepping into the unknown, of which Turkey admittedly has a lot. But in nearly every case of exploration, the results are astonishing and occasionally outright magical.
From Kusadasi, a good deal of enchantment can be found eight miles east in the village of Kirazlı, whose name alone wets the appetite: cherry. Set in a bowl-shaped valley replete with orchards and greenery beneath the protected pine forests of Gül Dağ (Rose Mountain). Inside, life appears to remain little changed since Ottoman days, as the villagers, mostly consisting of a few families, continue in centuries-old traditions of sowing and reaping, which makes for idyllic people watching from tables and chairs outside the town’s coffeehouses. It’s also not unheard of to be invited into homes by locals for a tea and a chat. Should you accept, expect to spend at least an hour, as it’s rude to drink and run.
In one respect, however, Kirazli has eagerly embraced a modern trend (although they’d probably disagree with how “modern” it is): organic farming. By doing so, it’s made the village increasingly attractive to culinary explorers, who come for the absurdly fresh, natural, and delicious produce. Cherries are the highlight, and their June harvest the focal point of the year, but the valley and hillsides equally team with olives, figs, grapes, walnuts, mandarins, and pomegranates, providing ample ingredients for the dishes at the growing number of village restaurants. But don’t expect much innovation in the mostly traditional meals, just tremendous deliciousness. Arrive on a Sunday, and purchase your own produce and handicrafts at Turkey’s first certified organic product market. To reach Kirazli Village, public minibuses run about every half an hour from Kusadasi during the day.
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