Tag #125062 - Interview #97653 (Rebeka Evgin)

When I came to Istanbul, I went to her house.  She lived in Kuledibi [A neighborhood in Istanbul.  The surrounding area of Galata Tower was known as Kuledibi.  This area was densely populated by Jews.  Even all the merchants around were Jewish.  Galata Tower was built by Genoveans.  It is one of the important touristic spots of Istanbul today.  There are small restaurants in the narrow streets around Galata Tower.  The Neve Shalom Synagogue [3] is in this area too].  This was a large house with 5 rooms and a living room.  Old-fashioned sofas and mirrors decorated the livingroom.  There was a large section they called “hamam” [Turkish bath] in the house too.  Laundry would be washed in this section in large pots.  Food was kept in wire closets [there would be a closet in a cool part of the house in an era when there were no refrigerators.  It was called a wire closet because the door was made of wire].  The house was heated by stove.  She prepared a meal made with garbanzo beans called “abushifte”.  You added potatoes, meat and onions to this meal.