I remember these spice merchant brothers in the Urfa bazaar so clearly – they invited us into their booth for some çay and a chat, after which I proceeded to buy a kilo of their isot, or very hot Turkish dried pepper flakes from Urfa, which I used (and still do) in almost all of my cooking. A friend from Turkey keeps me supplied ;-).

Şanlıurfa, also known as Urfa, is located in Turkey's heavily Kurdish Southeast and reputed in Jewish and Muslim tradition to be the home of the prophet Abraham. The Southeast was a fascinating region, so different from the rest of the country.

Urfa headgear, posted earlier: