Jason Goodwin's Blog: Talking Turkey, page 13

Turkey – a recommended reading list from Time Out

http://www.seasong.com/rrlist.htm

 

 

Remembering Libya

I've just revisited an article I wrote for CN Traveler seven years ago, when Libya allowed its first foreign visitors to explore its deserts and ruins. I've posted the article above.

I mentioned the violence of my reception – but not the terrible Saharan brothel I visited one night with my driver, my guide and an Algerian tourist camp agent. While the driver went to jigjig with one of the Nigerian girls, we sat on low stools in a stuffy room painted dark, glossy green to dado level. My guide pounced on a book there, leafed through it, and snorted: "English dictionary!" It was, in fact, the King James Bible.

For the girls, sending back money to their families in Nigerian villages, Libya was a step towards Europe. They all wanted to go there. None of them, I think, ever would. They were chatty, and sweet, and talked about crocodiles and other things.

Next day, the driver and the guide took me into the desert and I decided they meant to kill me. Libyan brothels were not The Man's idea of creating a good image. They had made a mistake, letting me come. They would kill me, and my corpse would never be found. It seemed perfectly reasonable, at the time.

Every time the poor fellows picked up a tyre-iron, I assumed my time had come. They wedged the irons in the sand, to set up a barbecque. We would eat; I would grow sleepy; they would kill me.

It was not a good night, in spite of the stars.

 

 

 

 

 

Starred review for An Evil Eye

Lovely to have a great review in Publisher's Weekly – An Evil Eye is 'masterful', no less!

An Evil Eye

Jason Goodwin, FSG/Sarah Crichton, $26 (304p) ISBN 978-0-374-11040-6
[image error]Edgar-winner Goodwin's masterful fourth mystery thriller set in Istanbul under the Ottoman Turks (after The Bellini Card) finds his series hero, the eunuch Yashim, attempting to navigate treacherous political shoals following the death of Sultan Mahmut II in 1840. International pressures heighten the uncertainty surrounding the empire's direction under Mahmut's youthful successor. In this tense climate, Yashim looks into the killing of an unknown man dumped in a Christian monastery's cistern. A flap of skin cut from the body bearing a death's-head brand, an item that someone tries to take from Yashim at gunpoint, may point to a Russian connection to the murder. While Goodwin excels at plotting, the book's main strength lies in the assured depiction of a nation restrained by a corrupt leadership far removed from the old traditions of transparency and justice. The details of how Yashim prepares meals may amuse Robert Parker fans. (Apr.)

Permalink: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0... (978-0-374-11040-6)

 

Lemuria Bookstore, Jackson Mississippi

Is where the US Magic Carpet Tour for April 2011 is kicking off. I'll be there on 6th April at 5.30 pm for reading and talking and signing. Come along – and send your friends, too!

The whole tour is a celebration of the independent bookstores of America, the people who make an effort to put new books in front of their readers, who know their stuff, care about what's read, and create the proper atmosphere in their own stores. This is the week, after all, that the giant bookseller Borders filed for bankruptcy.

Lemuria fits the bill – and here's a link to their thoughtful blog about the very future of books:

http://blog.lemuriabooks.com/2011/01/bookstore-keys-the-changing-book-industry/

Greek fisherman's stew: kakavia

In An Evil Eye, the fourth Yashim mystery, Yashim and his friend Palewski are invited to share a meal with some Greek fishermen. I've promised to give the recipe, so here it is. It contains one ingredient that sparks off a considerable debate about whether it is good for you, or not. I leave it to you to guess which one!

The main thing about making kakavia is to stay relaxed. You'll make a fish stock using heads and bones (fishmongers call them 'frames', and give them away), a sofrito as a base, and then put in the fish to cook. If you like mussels, for instance, use them too. It's catch-of-the-day stuff,nothing set in stone, but don't use oily fish like salmon or mackerel.

The stock – easy. Just simmer a bunch of heads and bones in a pint or two of water, along with a pinch of salt, a few peppercorns and a bayleaf.

That'll take about half an hour, so now you can get the sofrito underway. This is my favourite bit, because you can use your imagination to throw in anything you like, if you think it will be tasty – chilli if you want, chopped leek maybe, garlic (I would), and thyme. A few sliced potatoes are good – put them in as soon as the onion begins to soften. It's really useful to have a heavy-bottomed pan, like a casserole, to take this part slowly – melt two or three sliced onions in olive oil until they turn clear, even a bit sticky, and then stir in a few chopped tomatoes, and simmer it down. I believe that a high-sided pan is best for this. So does Yashim.

Look to your fish. You might have 2-3 lbs (a generous kilo) of mullet, cod, hake, bass in any combination, but try to keep a mix of fish; have it filleted – skinned, too, if you like – and keep the pieces at least an inch square, or bigger.

When the stock is done, strain it into the sofritto – all hissing steam and then a comfortable bubble. Use as much stock as you want, depending how soupy you'd like this kakavia to be. I make it thick, so that it can be soaked up with bread, because the children seem to weary of eating soup. Not Yashim's problem, of course.

Now stir the fish pieces into the stewing pan and simmer them for about ten minutes, till done but not collapsing. Mussels five minutes before the end, if you use them.

Good bread, squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper on the table.

Καλή σας όρεξη! Bon appetit…

The Magic Carpet Tour 1

Calling all readers in the USA – and their friends and relations, and the relations and friends and acquaintances of their friends &c.

" When you read a historical mystery by Jason Goodwin, you take a magic carpet ride to the most exotic place on earth ." So Marilyn Stasio wrote sweetly in The New York Times.

Well, in April I'm going to take a Magic Carpet ride myself, to the exotic regions of America's South and West, talking and signing and generally spouting in bookstores and radio stations, and I'd like to meet everyone I can while I'm there. It's to coincide with the publication of An Evil Eye (Yashim no. 4) but I'm going to be travelling with my son, Izzy, on his first big away and the first time in America. Being 17 and a guitar and fiddle boy, he's got his own ideas about, say, Jackson, Mississippi. I think: Old Hickory. He thinks: Robert Johnson. It will be fun.

Jackson (the 6th), then Oxford, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama, on the 8th; New Orleans next day. Then – and this is the great bit, because we're driving much of it – we'll do a Thelma and Louise to reach Austin around the 12th. Houston on the 15th, then San Diego, LA a while, San Fransisco on the 21st, where we'll be a few days, before Portland, Oregon and Powell's Bookstore on the 26th.

The bookstore readings should be lively: to judge from past appearances it'll be conversation which might roam over history v historical fiction, the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East, novel-writing, characters… and this time a few thoughts on the blues, jazz,  and where to find the best grub in the South.

See you there!

Guilt, Overload, and New Year resolutions

Can you blog and write a novel at the same time? Not me. Maybe it's having four children underfoot (and in the car, and hungry for meals, or help with homework – ie chased upstairs to do some) not to mention the geese, the hens and the ducks…

Meantime I'm dotting the i's on An Evil Eye, the fourth of the Yashim tales. It is set in Istanbul in 1839, and the action moves between the Princes' Islands and the sultan's harem, with a few excursions, as Summer turns to Winter snows.

Apart from the ordinary resolutions, no sooner made than broken, I intend to redesign the blog, or to re-animate the website, or both. Good idea or what?

Happy New Year to you all!

Port Eliot Festival

Getting ready to cook a pilaff, with uskumru dolmasi, or mackerel stuffed with nuts and spices!

Facebook

You can follow me on Facebook too – this is a slightly mysterious fan site set up by someone Spanish? But not the Spanish publishers, Seix Barral!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jason-Goodwin/52428425027?ref=ts

The Essay Radio 3

Here's a link to Radio 3′s Istanbul essay series – this is mine!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s7dc7

And since the BBC have taken it down, you can download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TXRSLV30