Walking through the “old town” section of Izmir we noticed many people eating little donuts. They were five to a paper bowl and looked delicious. I assumed the Turkish people enjoyed Dunkin’ as much as we do so I thought nothing of it. As we were strolling through the donut-eating crowd we heard my husband’s name being called.
Our tour guide, who had earlier left us to our own devices, was standing on a corner waving us over. Free Lokma was being handed out to everyone lining up. Why? In “our tradition” as Orhan would say, many people honor the death of their loved one in this manner. 40 days after their departure from this life the family will hire a Lokma cart to go out in public, frying and delivering donuts to the chosen number of people the family intends to serve. (1,000 or more is a good number.) The men will continue working until all of their dough is gone. This is a big business.
The depth of explanation here is lacking, but the thought is lovely. We enjoyed celebrating what we hoped was the deceased’s passing to eternal life with hot hand-made donuts.
I’m thinking an ice cream cart serving cones of coconut ice cream upon my departure. Nothing screams, “outta this world,” like coconut ice cream. Truly heavenly.
Love this! ~Nancy