Frequently used ingredients in Turkish dishes include eggplant, green pepper, onion, lentil, bean, tomato, garlic, and cucumber. Grape, apricot, cherry, melon, fig, lemon, pistachio, pine nut, almond, hazelnut, watermelon, and walnut are among the most abundantly used fruits and nuts. As the variety can be observed in the Spice Bazaar (Misir Çarsisi), spices have a special place in the Turkish cuisine. Preferred spices and herbs are parsley, cumin, pepper, paprika, mint, oregano and thyme.
Turkish cuisine, taken as a whole, is not a homogenous cuisine. Actually, in Turkey, specialities varry according to region. Aside from common Turkish specialities which can be found throughout the country and traditional eating habits, there are also region-specific specialities. The Black Sea region's cuisine (Northern part of Turkey) is mainly based on corn and hamsi (anchovy, a kind of fish). On the other hand, south eastern cuisine lead by Urfa, Antep and Adana is famous for kebaps, mezes and dough based desserts such as baklava, kadayif or künefe. Especially in the western parts of Turkey, where olive trees are grown abundantly, olive oil is the major type of oil used for cooking. The cuisines of Aegean, Marmara and Mediterannean regions display basic characteristics of the Mediterrannean cuisine as they are rich in vegetable, herbs and fish. It is quite frequent in Turkey that the name of specialities are accompanied with the name of a city or a region (either within the borders of Turkey or not). It suggests that it is a speciality of that city/region. Alternatively, it refers to the specific technique or ingredients used in that specific city or region to prepare that speciality. For example the difference between Urfa kebap differs from Adana kebap in the use of garlic instead of onion and the level of hot peppers which kebap contains. On the other hand, central Anatolia is famous for its pasta-based specialities such as keskek (kashkak) or manti (Kayseri).
Hating Habits
Turkish cuisine went through dramatic changes in 20th century and the eating habits of the Turkish people has significantly changed due to the Western influence. Fast food is gaining in popularity and all major fast food chains can be seen all over Turkey. At home, however, microwaveable goods and pre-prepared or frozen foods are rare and households rely primarily on the rich and extensive dishes of the Ottoman Empire.
As with most cuisines, until recently, meat was always considered a luxury item for the Turkish people, mainly since milk-fed lambs, the most popular source of meat, have a very low yield. Meat was eaten almost only at the wedding ceremonies and during Kurban Bayrami (Eid ul-Adha), usually not in the form of kebabs but as etli pilav (pilaf with meat). However, after the advent of fast-food chains all around Turkey and introduction of industrial meat production, meat had become a part of the daily diet for most Turks, often in the form of döner kebab eaten at fast-food restaurants. Veal, which was usually shunned, became a familiar kind of meat. However, even today, the main use of meat at cooking is putting kiyma (ground meat) in small amounts to vegetable dishes, thus attaining names such as kiymali fasulye (bean with kiyma).
Margarine is widely used for cooking along with butter, kuyruk yagi (tail fat of sheep used mainly in kebabs and meat dishes), sesame oil, walnut oil and olive oil. Plum, apricot, grape, fig are commonly used fruits (either fresh or dried) in the Turkish cuisine. Indeed, in the Ottoman palace cuisine, the combination of fruit with meat is quite frequent. Either rice pilav or Bulgur pilavi (pounded wheat pilav) and the dishes made with dry beans (nohut, mercimek, kuru fasulye, börülce combined with onion, minced meat and tomatoe paste) have always been the most commonplace preference of Turkish people because of being economical and nutritious.
Turkish cuisine has a range of pastries either salty or sweet. Börek is the label name for salty pastries made with yufka (yubka: very thin layer of dough spread with the help of oklava (oklahu: wooden rolling pin brought to Anatolia from Central Asian Turkic tribes)). Su böregi made with boiled phyllo layers, cheese and parsley is the most eaten one. Çig börek (also known as Tatar böregi) is a fried one which is staffed with minced meat put raw in it. Kol böregi is another well-known type of börek which takes its name from its arm-like shape.
Breakfast in Turkish culture is a rich one as a range of products are consumed. Cheese, butter, olives, eggs, tomatoe, green pepper, reçel (the difference from marmelade is that fruits in reçel are preserved as they are, they are not mashed), honey constitute the sine qua non elements of an ordinary Turkish Breakfast. Sucuk (Turkish sausage), pastirma, börek, even soups can be taken as a morning meal in Turkey. A common Turkish speciality for breakfast is menemen.
Yoghurt is an important element in the Turkish cuisine. It accompanies almost all meat (kebabs, köfte, eggplant dishes), vegetable dishes (especially fried eggplant, courgette etc.), mezes and a speciality called Manti (dough balls have minced meat inside. After getting boiled, they are served with yoghurt. A range of spices: oregano, dried mint, "sumak" and red pepper powder are added. The combination of dough balls (with minced meat inside) with yogurt differentiates it from tortellini or Chinese pasties found in wanton soup). In villages, yoghurt can be eaten with rice or bread. One of the most common Turkish drinks ayran is made from yogurt.
Soups
A Turkish meal usually starts with a thin soup (çorba) with a low consistency. Soups are usually named after the main ingredient they are prepared with. The most common types of soup are made of lentil (often mashed) called mercimek çorbasi and tarhana çorbasi. Delicacy soups are the ones that are usually not the part of daily diet, like shkembe iskembe çorbasi and paça çorbasi, although the latter also used to be consumed as a nutritious winter meal. Before the popularisation of the typical Turkish breakfast, soup was the default morning meal for most households. The most common soups in Turkish cuisine are as follows; yayla, bugday asi or yogurt soup which can be served hot or cold), Ezo Gelin, Dügün (wedding) soups.
Vegetable Dishes
A vegetable dish is the usual main course in a Turkish meal. There is a very large variety of vegetables used such as "ispanak" spinach, "pirasa" leek, "karnibahar" cauliflower or "enginar" artichoke, "lâhana" cabbage, kereviz celery, yerelmasi Jerusalem artichoke. A typical vegetable dish is prepared with a base of chopped onions and garlic sautéed in olive oil, later with tomatoes or tomato paste. The vegetables or legumes and boiling water will then be added. Vegetable dishes usually tend to be served with a large liquid part (with the cooking water), thus often named in colloquial Turkish as sulu yemek ("watery dish"). Sometimes meat can be added to a vegetable dish but vegetable dishes cooked with olive oil zeytinyaglilar are almost always conceived to be strictly vegetarian.
Dolma is a type of stuffed vegetable dish. It is done both as sulu yemek and zeytinyagli. Many vegetables are stuffed, most typically green peppers (biber dolmasi), tomatoes, squash (kabak dolmasi), grape leaves (yaprak dolmasi). If grape leaves are used, they are first pickled in brine. However dolmas are not limited with these common types, many other vegetables and fruits were used in history or are being used locally. For example, artichoke (enginar) dolma is an Agean region specialty. Fillings used in dolmas may consist of minced meat, parts of the vegetable carved out for preparation, or rice with spices.
Eggplant has a special place in the Turkish cuisine. It is combined with minced meat in Imam bayildi(meaning imam has fainted or liked) and karniyarik. As a speciality of eastern Turkey, there is patlican kebab. In a number of meze(s), side-dishes or main dishes, eggplant appears to be the major element; saksuka, patlican salatasi, patlican dolma, begendi (eggplant mash/puree) and patlican musakka.
Egg is used in some vegetable dishes. Mücver is fried or cooked in oven with minced squash or potatoes, egg, cheese and dill. Menemen is egg cooked with tomatoes and green pepper, and may be eaten in breakfasts. Çilbir is another traditional Turkish food made by eggs and yogurt. Tursu is Turkish pickles in brine, usually with addition of garlic. It is enjoyed a lot as an appetizer. It is done with a large variety of vegetables.
Meats
Sis kebabs ("sis" is read as shish and means "skewer" in Turkish) (chicken or lamb shish) are usually marinated and grilled over an open fire. Although every kind of helal meat is consumed, lamb from milk-fed lambs is especially favoured.
Iskender kebab is a type of döner kebab which was invented in Bursa. Iskender kebab is named after the name of its inventor "iskender". Döner is derived from the verb "dönmek" (turn) in Turkish. As meat is cooked by turning it ahead of fire, it is called döner (simple present tense of the verb turn). Döner meat can be eaten in a sandwich (pita or bread) but also on pilav.
Lahmacun is a sort of thin flatbread covered with a thin layer of spiced ground meat with onion or garlic (similar to pizza but doesn't contain tomato puree and cheese as a base). The word "Lahmacun" is received from Arabic in which it means bread with meat. Pide which can be made with minced meat, kashar cheese, pieces of meat, sucuk, pastirma or/and eggs put on flatbread/dough is one of the most common traditional Turkish speciality.
However, Turkish cuisine have a huge variety of kebabs and meat dishes such as; Adana-Urfa-Beyti kebabs, yogurtlu kebab (with yogurt), fistikli kebab (with pistachio), patlicanli kebab (Antep's eggplant kebap), spring kebab, oruk kebab, Ali Nazik, Hünkar Begendi (meaning that the sovereign/sultan liked it), türlü (mixture of a range of vegetables and meat), külbasti, elbasan tava, tandir (meat cooked very slowly for hours) or çoban kavurma ("kavurma" means roasting/parching n Turkish).
Also large variety of pide which is made with meat, kiyma (minced meat), kavurma (meat braised in its own fat), kasar (cheese) exist as well.
Köfte (meatball) is another meat dish in Turkey. The word köfte is sometimes accompanied with the name of place which refers to the technique for cooking it or the ingredients or spices specifically used in that region, for example; Inegöl köftesi, Sultanahmet köftesi, Izmir Köfte, Akçaabat köfte, Bursa köfte etc. Minced meat, parsley, bread-egg (not necessarily, usually homemade köfte includes yellow part of the egg and some crumbled bread), a range of spices; cumin, oregon, mint powder, red or black pepper powder, onion or garlic are the main ingredients of köfte.
Additionally, sucuk is a form of sausage (made with beef meat and a range of spices) commonly eaten with breakfast. Another famous beef delicacy is pastirma. Both pastirma and sucuk can be put in kuru fasulye (dry beans) to enrich the aroma. Instead of classical sausages, sucuk is the most used ingredient for snacks and fast-food style toasts and sandwiches in Turkey.
Kokorec (the intestins of sheep) with spices is a traditional fast food in Turkey. Mumbar is a kind of dolma, done with intestines, usually in eastern Turkey.
Fish
Turkey is surrounded by four seas which encompass a large variety of fish. Fish are cooked by barbecue, frying, bugulama or pilâki methods. Bugulama is fish with lemon and parsley, covered while cooking so that it will be cooked with steam. Pilâki is fish with various vegetables, including onion, cooked in oven. In the Black Sea region, fish are fried usually with thick corn flour. Fish are also eaten cold as smoked (isleme), dried (çiroz), canned, salted or pickles (lâkerda) types. In specialized restaurants, it is possible to find fancy fish varieties like balik dolma - stuffed fish. In Istanbul's Eminönü and other shore districts, barbecued fish served as sandwich with tomatoes, greenery and onion is a popular fastfood. In the inner parts of Turkey, freshwater fish are cooked, again with many types, usually under generic name alabalik, literally a trout.
Meze
Meze is a selection of food served as the appetizer course with or without drinks or sometimes as the main course. Frequently eaten Turkish mezes include; olives, mature kasar kashar cheese, white cheese, pickles tursu, cacik (tzatziki), fried köfte (meatballs), fasulye pilaki (bean cooked with garlic, tomatoe paste, carrot and olive oil), dolma (vine leaves, cabbage leaves, peppers, courgettes, pumpkin or eggplant stuffed with rice and/or meat. Dried fruits and a range of spices are usually added to the mixture. Arnavut cigeri (meaning Albanian liver), Çerkez tavugu (meaning Circassian chicken), all kinds of börek (very thin phyllo dough staffed with cheese, meat or vegetables), humus (a word coming from Arabic and prepared from sesame, chickpea, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice), haydari, saksuka, patlican salatasi (eggplant salad), acili ezme (hot spicy freshly mashed tomatoe with onion and green herbes), içli köfte (can be classified either a meze or a main dish. Especially in the eastern Turkey, when it is cooked through boiling, içli köfte is served as main dish), çig köfte (raw meatballs). Gözleme is a food typical in rural areas, made of lavash bread or phyllo dough folded around a variety of fillings -- spinach, cheese, meat, potatoes -- and cooked on a large griddle (traditionally saç). In the coastal towns of Turkey, seafood mezes accompany fish dishes; Kalamar, Ahtapot (octopus salad), deniz börülcesi or midye dolma (mussels stuffed with rice).
Dolma
Dolma which is the past participle of the verb dolmak in Turkish means to be stuffed or be filled up. Dolma has a special place in the Turkish cuisine. It can be eaten as a meze or a main dish. It can be cooked either as a vegetable dish or meat dish. If meat mixture is put in, it is usually served hot with yogurt and some spices such as oregano or red pepper powder with oil.
Zeytinyagli dolma is the "dolma" made with vine leaves cooked with olive oil and stuffed with a rice-spice mixture. Such a type does not contain meat, is served cold and sometimes referred to as Sarma which means 'wrapped' in Turkish. This word is also used for some types of desserts because of their "being wrapped" such as fistik sarma(wrapped pistachio). Dried fruit such as fig or cherry used to be added into the mixture to sweeten "zeytinyagli dolma" in the Ottoman cuisine. Vine leaves could be filled up not only with rice and spices but also with meat and rice. In this case, it is served hot with yogurt. Among others melon dolma was a palace speciality (raw melon stuffed meat and rice cooked in oven). In contemporary Turkey, a wide variety of dolma is prepared. Courgette, aubergine, tomato, pumpkin, pepper, cabbage (black or white cabbage), mussel dolma constitute the most common types. Instead of dried cherry, dried grape is usually added into the mixture for dolma cooked with olive oil. A different type of dolma is mumbar dolmasi for which the membrane of intestins of sheep is filled up with a spicy rice mixture.
Desserts
One of the best-known desserts in Turkish cuisine is baklava. Other baklava-like deserts include Söbiyet, Bülbül Yuvasi, Saray Sarmasi, Sütlü Nuriye etc. There are different types of Kadayif; tel (wire) or burma (wring) kadayif / with walnut or pistachio. Although carrying the label "kadayif" Ekmek Kadayifi differs from "kadayif". Künefe and Ekmek Kadayifi are other specialities rich in syrup and butter. Both are usually combined with "kaymak" when served. Kunefe contains a layer of cheese in between and served hot with pistachio or walnut.
Among milk based deserts, the most popular ones are muhallebi, sütlaç (rice pudding), keskül, kazandibi (meaning the bottom of "kazan" because of its burnt like surface) and tavuk gögsü (a sweet, gelatinous, milk pudding dessert quite similar to kazandibi to which very thinly peeled chicken breast is added to give a chewy texture).
Helva (halva): un helvasi (usually cooked after someone has died), irmik helvasi (cooked with semolina and nuts), yaz helvasi, tahin helvasi, Kos helva.
Revani (with semolina and starch), Sekerpare, Kalburabasma, Dilber dudagi, Vezir parmagi, Hanim gobegi, Kemal Pasa, Tulumba, Pismaniye, Zerde, Hösmerim, Lokma, Cezerye, cevizli (walnut) sucuk, pestil (fruit pestils), Güllaç (Ramadan dessert: very thin large dough layers with milk and rose water, served with pomegranate seeds and walnut), paluze are other varieties. Asure is like a sweet soup containing boiled beans, wheat and dried fruits. Cinnamon and rose water is added when being served. According to the legend it was first cooked in the Noah's Ark. All the Anatolian peoples have cooked and are still cooking asure.
Traditional Turkish desserts include also fruit desserts; Ayva tatlisi quince desert, incir tatlisi fig desert, kabak tatlisi pumpkin desert. Walnut, pistachio and "kaymak" can be added when serving. Home made cookies are commonly called as Kurabiye in Turkish. Most famous types are un kurabiyesi (flour kurabiye) and cevizli kurabiye (kurabiye with wallnut). Lokum Turkish Delight which was eaten for digestion after meals and called ""rahat hulkum"" in the Ottoman era is another well-known jelly like sweet/candy with many varieties. Kaymak (clotted cream) is often served with sweet desserts to cut through the sweetness. Tea or thick Turkish coffee (with or without sugar) is usually served after dinner or more rarely together with desserts.
Beverages
Ayran (salty yogurt drink) is the most favourite cold beverage which might accompany almost all dishes in Turkey. Salgam suyu (turnip juice) is another important non-alcoholic beverage which is usually combined with kebabs. Boza is a traditional winter drink (served cold with cinnamon and sometimes with leblebi inside).
Sahlep is another favourite in winters (served hot with cinnamon).
Although the majority of Turks profess the Islamic faith, alcoholic beverages are as widely available as in Europe. However, most of the Turks abstain from drinking alcohol during the holy month of Ramadan. There are a few local brands of lager such as Tekel Birasi, Marmara34 Efes and large variety of international beers that are produced in Turkey such as Skols, Beck's and Tuborg with a large number of imported beers. There are also a variety of local wine such as Kavaklidere and Angora which are getting more popular with the change of climatic conditions that affect the production of wine. Raki, a traditional alcoholic beverage flavoured with anise, is the usual tipple with meze, fish or kebabs.
Serbet is a traditional sweety soft drink made of fruits such as rose hip, cornelian cherry, rose or licorice and spices. Some contemporary adaptations could be found at. In the classical Turkish cuisine, alternatively Hosaf (komposto) accompanies meat dishes and pilav.
Turkish coffee is a worldly known coffee which can be served sweet or bitter. In Turkish, there is a saying that emphasizes the importance in Turkish culture of offering a cup of coffee to someone; "a cup of coffee has a 40-year consideration". It should also be noted that although Arabs call their coffee as Turkish coffee, it is different in aroma and taste from the classical Turkish coffee.
