NO ONE should ever doubt the ingenuity of the Romans. They were nothing if not innovative.
How else can we explain their hugely inventive idea of building a secret underground passage from the splendid Library of Celsus in the ancient city of Ephesus to the building opposite, which was – you’ve guessed it – a brothel? Cunning doesn’t even begin to cover it.
The tunnel is just one of many breathtaking elements to be found at Ephesus, a city known as “The Pompeii of the East”. Situated an hour south of the bustling modern Turkish city of Izmir (the country’s third-largest after Istanbul and Ankara), this is a location simply bursting with history.
The largest extant Roman city after Pompeii, Ephesus was once home to 250,000 inhabitants. It is now the most popular tourist destination in Turkey after the historic centre of Istanbul.
At its height in the first century AD, Ephesus was four times the size of Pompeii, and it still spreads out over several acres.
Incredibly, only 20 per cent of the ancient city has yet been uncovered, so goodness knows what archaeological treasures still lie beneath.
Ephesus is also astonishingly well preserved. As the sun beats down on marble buildings hot enough to toast pitta bread, you half expect to turn round and be confronted by Russell Crowe’s Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius crying out, “At my signal, unleash hell!”
On the way into Ephesus, you drive past the Temple of Artemis, one of only two surviving Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, alongside the Pyramids. All that is left of the Temple is a single column, which dominates its arid surroundings and gives off an undeniable aura of ancient power.
Once inside the city walls you are immediately confronted by the Odeon, the mighty parliament building. In ancient times, the edifice included a temple, reinforcing the popular belief that politicians were divine. I can’t imagine our parliamentarians getting away with such delusions of grandeur today.
Inscribed on the marble outside the Odeon is the outline of the first-ever game of backgammon. Soldiers would pretend to play the game, while actually surreptitiously guarding the city walls.
At the top of the main thoroughfare, Curetes Street, a thriving commercial centre in the Roman era, you encounter the Gate of Heracles. This was an early form of traffic calming, as all citizens had to abandon their chariots at this point.
Further down the street, you come across the aforementioned Library of Celsus. One of just a handful of two-storey buildings from the Roman period that are still standing, it is an awe-inspiring sight. It is no surprise to discover that it is employed as a national symbol in Turkey.
Opposite the library is a discreet sign chiselled onto the pavement. It portrays a foot next to a wad of cash, a comely young girl and a heart. Yes, it is the world’s first advert for a brothel.
Further down the street lies the magnificent Grand Theatre. Here St Paul is thought to have delivered sermons to the pagans. His preaching whipped up such trouble, that the saint was soon incarcerated in a tower on a distant hill that still bears his name today.
The Grand Theatre is still used for concerts occasionally, with acts such as the late Luciano Pavarotti and Sting having performed here. The beautifully preserved amphitheatre still boasts perfect acoustics – from the back row, it’s said you can hear the sound if a mouse scurries across the stage.
On the way out of Ephesus, I bump into TV chef Allegra McEvedy, who is in the midst of filming. She is standing in the middle of Curetes Street, extolling the virtues of the local cuisine for a new series, Allegra McEvedy’s Turkish Delight, which begins on the Good Food Channel tomorrow.
“Turkish food is totally delicious,” says the 41-year-old chef, who co-founded the Leon chain of healthy restaurants. “It is absolutely my kind of food. It is a very good, very simple peasant food, but it feels like it’s cooking that comes from the heart.”
In making this series, McEvedy is aiming to explode British stereotypes about Turkish cuisine. “I’m going to go for some rubbish generalisations here, but even though 2.5 million British travellers head to Turkey every year, all the average person in the UK street knows about Turkish cuisine is kebabs.
“But there is so much more to it than that. People don’t realise about the wonderful history of Turkish cuisine, its gorgeous flavours and how beautifully fresh and light the ingredients are. It’s the antithesis of heavy French cuisine. I want to take authentic Turkish recipes and show them to the lovely British public. I’m keen to do a bit of gentle handholding.”
The series producer Mark Beers chips in that, “It would be lovely if we could overturn the idea that Turkish cooking is monotonous. The UK perception is that a kebab is a kebab is a kebab, but in fact every region of Turkey has its own version of that dish. This series is about getting people to cook Turkish food at home by tempting them with the flavours of this great country and showing them how easy it can be to put something fresh on the dinner table.
“Because of its location as the bridge between Europe and Asia, you can find influences from all over the world in Turkey’s cooking and culture. You can almost visit anywhere by coming here. Its cookery draws on so many different elements from Europe and Asia to create a unique taste experience.”
During the course of the series, McEvedy presents such dishes as sausage and artichoke hearts with fava beans in the ruins of Ephesus, barbecued sardines wrapped in vine leaves, and hazelnut steamed pudding with hazelnut pralines on the Black Sea Coast, stuffed trout and burnt rosewater rice pudding in the lake region, and courgette fritters and stuffed courgettes and baklava in the spice markets of Istanbul. Not a queasy, sweating, post-pub, British-style doner kebab in sight.
Later on, to prove the point, McEvedy prepares for me a quite delicious slow-cooked lamb shank in a self-christened “Fabulous Sauce”.
So McEvedy is on a mission with her new programme. “I do want to spread the word about Turkish cuisine. It may not be for you if all you care about is egg and chips. But if you want to put in a small amount of work, Turkish cooking pays dividends in full.”
So just remember, there is life beyond the kebab.
THE FACTS
Turkish Airlines (tel: (+90 212 444 08 49, www.turkishairlines.com) fly from Edinburgh to Izmir via Istanbul from £363; in September, rooms at the Korumar Hotel in Kusadasi start at £160 per night. For more information tel: +90 256 618 15 30 or visit www.korumar.com.tr
Allegra McEvedy’s Turkish Delight begins on the Good Food Channel tomorrow