Turkish cuisine is renowned as one of the world’s best. It draws its influences from all corners of the former Ottoman Empire, and each region has its own specialities. Turkey is self-sufficient in food production and produces enough surplus for export as well. This means that Turkish food is usually-made from fresh, local ingredients and is all the tastier for it. A main meal will usually start with the meze, a variety of small cold and hot dishes which are made for sharing.
In many restaurants a waiter will bring these round on a tray for you to inspect and make your choice. Turks are also fond of stews or what they term sulu yemek (food with sauce) and there are restaurants which specialise in these and will usually have large containers of the different varieties on display. In any case, it is common for a Turk to have a look at the food being prepared in the kitchen before deciding on what to eat, so if you are not sure, don’t feel shy about asking.
Turkish breakfast usually consists of fresh white bread, honey, beyazpeynir – cheese similar to feta, literally translated as ‘white cheese’- tomatoes, cucumber and black olives, washed down with black tea. The Turkish equivalent of a fry up is menemen a type of omelette with peppers and other vegetables or eggs fried with sucuk, a garlic sausage.
The main course is usually meat or fish. Turks always eat bread with their meal and main courses are usually served with rice. Typically a coban salatasi, a ‘shepherd’s salad’ of tomato, cucumber and onion, dressed with olive oil and served with lemon, will be placed in the middle of the table to share. Lamb is the most common meat and this and chicken are prepared in a variety of ways and usually grilled. sis kebab (cubes of meat on a skewer) is popular and well known.
Meze includes anything from dips such as taramascdata and cacik (yoghurt, garlic and cucumber) to dolma (anything stuffed with rice such as vine leaves or peppers), karides (prawns) or arnavut tiger (cubes of liver fried with spices and onions). Turks have hundreds of ways to prepare aubergine and imam bayddi is one of the best; aubergine cooked in olive oil and filled with tomato and onions, its name literally means ‘the priest swooned’ – presumably due to the delicious taste.
Bodrum and the coastal resorts are big on fish and seafood. Mostly fish is simply grilled to bring out its natural flavour and there is a wide variety of seafood meze including midye tava (or mussel kebab served on a skewer). It is worth asking for recommendations but some of the most tasty are levrek (seabass) and kalkan (turbot). Fish is often sold by weight and many restaurants will show you the freshly caught fish to make your choice before cooking it. Do check the price, however, as it can work out to be relatively expensive. Mostly a meal will be rounded off by a plate of fresh fruit, beautifully prepared and placed in the centre of the table for sharing.
Kofte, which are like small lamb burgers are well worth trying and those who prefer something a little spicier should order the Adana kebab, which is also made of minced lamb but with the addition of peppers and formed around a skewer.
Turkish Kebab
There are numerous variations and regional specialities of the kebab. Somewhat rich but very tasty, is the iskender or Bursa kebab, which is slices of doner meat layered with yoghurt, tomato sauce and pitta bread.
Fast Food
Turkey is full of street vendors selling all sorts of different snacks, from the better known doner kebab, which can be made of chicken or lamb to kokoreg, which is lamb entrails cooked on a skewer- popular with the locals, but not for the timid. Turks have their own variety of pizza, pide, a type of pitta bread with toppings such as cheese, minced meat, egg and sucuk (garlic sausage) as well as lahmacun which is a very thin flat bread spread with minced meat, which is rolled up before eating.
Soup has a special place in the Turkish diet and is drunk at any time of day. There are cafes which only serve soup and are popularly frequented after a big night out. Mercimek (lentil) and domates (tomato) are common as are more exotic soups such as iskembe (tripe), yayla (yoghurt with mint) and dugiin (literally ‘wedding’ soup) which contains egg and lemon.
Borek can be served as part of a meze or as a snack on its own. It is frequently translated on menus as ‘pie’ which is completely misleading. It is actually different variations on filo pastry filled with cheese, minced meat, egg, potato or spinach – or combinations thereof. Sigara borek and muska borek are respectively small cigar and triangle-shaped filo parcels usually filled with cheese, which come as a part of the meze. Su boregi is layered pastry which is soft and runny and can be served with sugar or white cheese as a snack, and can taste more like thin layers of pasta than pastry.
Desserts
Karpuz (water melon) and kavun (melon) are popular. Those with a sweet tooth will be delighted by the sticky, honeyed desserts. There are many varieties, of which baklava (layers of filo pastry and pistachio nuts soaked in honey) is perhaps the most common.
Among other popular desserts, Also worth trying is the sutlac, a cold, slightly sweet milky rice pudding.
One of Turkey’s most famous exports, lokum or Turkish delight as we know it, comes in many flavours and not only the rose, lemon and pistachio varieties which are common elsewhere. It is often served with Turkish coffee at the end of a meal. There are now some Turkish Delight factories where you can book a tour to watch it being made and sample the wares.
Soft Drinks
Common fruit juices include visne – sour cherry juice – and seftali – peach. Another favourite drink, particularly in hot weather, which is credited with curing all ills, is ayran, a yoghurt drink, which is often salted and, therefore, somewhat of an acquired taste. Bottled mineral water or su is cheap and easily available and fizzy drinks are sold everywhere.
Alcoholic Drinks
Alcohol is freely available in Turkish resorts and cities. It is only if you are heading off the beaten track or to particularly conservative areas that you may have to check whether or not restaurants serve alcohol. The traditional tipple is raki, an aniseed based spirit, which is sometimes known as lion’s milk. It is clear but turns cloudy when water is added. Most people do dilute it with water although some drink it only with ice. It is unusual for a Turk to drink alcohol without eating at the same time.
Turkish coffee or Türk kahvesi is the perfect way to finish off a good meal. When ordering you specify whether you want it sade (plain), orta (with some sugar) or sekerli (very sweet) and it is brewed with the specified amount of sugar mixed in with the coffee granules. It is served in small cups. It is quite an art to know-when to stop drinking as one sip too many and you will end up with a mouthful of the sludgy residue which falls to the bottom of the cup.
Usually Turkish tea is brewed in a sort of combined kettle tea pot which is placed directly on the hob and has water boiling in the bottom section and tea brewing in the top so it can be made weaker or stronger as required. It is drunk from small tulip-shaped glasses, always black and usually with plenty of sugar. Unless you specifically ask for Turkish tea, hotels will assume you want English tea and often present you with a cup of boiling water and a tea bag on the side.