Cuisine of Turkey
Encyclopedia
Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine
, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian
, Middle Eastern
and Balkan
cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbouring cuisines, including that of western Europe. The Ottomans fused various culinary traditions of their realm with influences from Middle Eastern cuisine
s, along with traditional Turkic
elements from Central Asia
(such as yogurt), creating a vast array of specialities- many with strong regional associations.
Turkish cuisine varies across the country. The cooking of Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, and rest of the Aegean region inherits many elements of Ottoman court cuisine
, with a lighter use of spices, a preference for rice over bulgur
, and a wider use of seafoods. The cuisine of the Black Sea Region
uses fish extensively, especially the Black Sea anchovy
(hamsi), has been influenced by Balkan
and Slavic cuisine, and includes maize
dishes. The cuisine of the southeast—Urfa, Gaziantep
and Adana
—is famous for its kebab
s, meze
s and dough-based desserts such as baklava
, kadayıf
and künefe (kanafeh
).
Especially in the western parts of Turkey, where olive trees grow abundantly, olive oil
is the major type of oil used for cooking. The cuisines of the Aegean, Marmara and Mediterranean
regions are rich in vegetables, herbs, and fish. Central Anatolia is famous specialties, such as keşkek (kashkak), mantı (especially from Kayseri
) and gözleme
.
A specialty's name sometimes includes that of a city or region, either in or outside of Turkey, and may refer to the specific technique or ingredients used in that area. For example, the difference between urfa kebab and adana kebab
is the thickness of the skewer and the amount of hot pepper that kebab contains. Urfa kebab is less spicy and thicker than adana kebab.
A typical Turkish breakfast
consists of cheese (beyaz peynir
, kaşar etc.), butter, olives, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, jam, honey, and kaymak
. Sucuk (spicy Turkish sausage), pastırma
, börek
, simit
, poğaça
and soups are eaten as a morning meal in Turkey. A common Turkish speciality for breakfast is called menemen
, which is prepared with tomatoes, green peppers, onion, olive oil and eggs. Invariably, Turkish tea
is served at breakfast. The Turkish word for breakfast, kahvaltı, means "before coffee" (kahve, 'coffee'; altı, 'under').
, döner
, kokoreç, börek and gözleme are often served as fast food in Turkey. Eating out has always been common in large commercial cities. Esnaf lokantası (meaning restaurants for shopkeepers and tradesmen) are widespread, serving traditional Turkish home cooking at affordable prices.
, onion
s, garlic
, lentil
s, bean
s, and tomato
es. Nuts, especially pistachio
s, chestnut
s, almond
s, hazelnut
s, and walnut
s, together with spices, have a special place in Turkish cuisine. Preferred spice
s and herb
s include parsley
, cumin
, black pepper
, paprika
, mint
, oregano
, pul biber (red pepper), and thyme
.
or margarine
, olive oil
, sunflower oil
, canola oil, and corn oil
are widely used for cooking. Kuyruk yağı (tail fat of sheep) is used mainly in kebabs and meat dishes. Sesame
, hazelnut
, peanut
and walnut
oils are used as well.
s, apricot
s, date
s, apple
s, grape
s, and fig
s are the most frequently used fruits (either fresh or dried) in Turkish cuisine. For example, komposto
(compote) or hoşaf (from Persian
khosh âb, literally meaning "nice water") are among the main side dishes to meat or pilav. Dolma
and pilaf usually contain currants or raisins. Etli yaprak sarma (vine leaves stuffed with meat and rice) used to be cooked with sour plums in Ottoman cuisine.
Eggplant has a special place in the Turkish cuisine. It is combined with -patlıcan reçeli") .
) as etli pilav (pilaf
with meat), has become part of the daily diet since the introduction of industrial production. Veal
, formerly shunned, is now widely consumed. The main use of meat in cooking remains the combination of ground meat and vegetable
, with names such as kıymalı fasulye (bean with ground meat) or kıymalı ıspanak (spinach with ground meat, which is almost always served with yogurt). Alternatively, in coastal towns, cheap fish such as sardines (sardalya) or hamsi (anchovies) are widely available, as well as many others with seasonal availability. Poultry consumption, almost exclusively of chicken and eggs, is common. Milk-fed lambs
, once the most popular source of meat in Turkey, comprise a small part of contemporary consumption. Kuzu çevirme, cooking milk-fed lamb on a spit, once an important ceremony, is rarely seen. Because it is a predominantly Islamic country, pork plays no role in Turkish cuisine.
Yoghurt
is an important element in Turkish cuisine. In fact, the English word yoghurt or yogurt derives from the Turkish word yoğurt. Yoghurt can accompany almost all meat dishes (kebabs, köfte), vegetable dishes (especially fried eggplant, courgette, spinach with minced meat etc.), meze and a speciality called mantı (folded triangles of dough containing minced meat). In villages, yoghurt is regularly eaten with rice or bread. A thicker, higher-fat variety, süzme yoğurt or "strained yoghurt", is made by straining the yoghurt curds from the whey. One of the most common Turkish drinks, ayran
, is made from yoghurt. Also, yoghurt is often used in the preparation of cakes, some soups and pastries.
Turkey produces many varieties of cheese
, mostly from sheep
's milk. In general, these cheeses are not long matured, with a comparatively low fat content. The production of many kinds of cheese is local to particular regions.
(çorba). Soups are usually named after their main ingredient, the most common types being; mercimek (lentil
) çorbası, yoghurt, or wheat (often mashed) called tarhana
çorbası. Delicacy soups are the ones that are usually not the part of the daily diet, like (shkembe) İşkembe soup and paça
çorbası, 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 some people. The most common soups in Turkish cuisine are;
Turkish cuisine has a range of savoury and sweet pastries. Dough based specialities form an integral part of traditional Turkish cuisine.
The use of layered dough is rooted in the nomadic character of early Central Asian Turks. The combination of domed metal sač
and oklahu/oklava (the Turkish rod-style rolling pin) enabled the invention of the layered dough style used in börek
(especially in su böreği, or 'water pastry' , a salty baklava-like pastry with cheese filling), güllaç
and baklava
.
Börek
is the general name for salty pastries made with yufka
(a thicker version of phyllo dough), which consists of thin layers of dough. Su böreği, made with boiled yufka
/phyllo
layers, cheese and parsley, is the most frequently eaten. Çiğ börek (also known as Tatar böreği) is fried and stuffed with minced meat. Kol böreği is another well-known type of börek that takes its name from its shape, as do fincan (coffee cup), muska (talisman), Gül böreği (rose) or Sigara böreği (cigarette). Other traditional Turkish böreks include Talaş böreği (phyllo dough filled with vegetables and diced meat), Puf böreği. Laz
böreği is a sweet type of börek, widespread in the Black Sea region.
Poğaça
is the label name for dough based salty pastries. Likewise çörek is another label name used for both sweet and salty pastries.
Gözleme
is a food typical in rural areas, made of lavash
bread or phyllo dough folded around a variety of fillings such as spinach, cheese and parsley, minced meat or potatoes and cooked on a large griddle (traditionally sač
).
Katmer is another traditional rolled out dough. It can be salty or sweet according to the filling.
Lahmacun
(meaning dough with meat in Arabic) is a thin flatbread covered with a layer of spiced minced meat, tomato, pepper, onion or garlic.
Pide
, which can be made with minced meat (together with onion, chopped tomatoes, parsley and spices), kashar
cheese, spinach, white cheese, pieces of meat, braised meat (kavurma), sucuk, pastırma or/and eggs put on rolled-out dough, is one of the most common traditional stone-baked Turkish specialities.
Açma is a soft bread found in most parts of Turkey. It is similar to simit in shape, is covered in a glaze, and is usually eaten as a part of breakfast or as a snack.
It is a common belief that the taste of pilav comes from the butter and stock used for cooking it.
, leek
, cauliflower
, artichoke
, cabbage
, celery
, eggplant, green and red bell pepper
s, string bean and jerusalem artichoke
. A typical vegetable dish is prepared with a base of chopped onions, carrots sautéed first in olive oil and later with tomatoes or tomato paste
. The vegetables and hot water will then be added. Quite frequently a spoon of rice and lemon juice is also added. Vegetable dishes usually tend to be served with its own water (the cooking water) thus often called in colloquial Turkish sulu yemek literally "a dish with juice"). Minced meat can also be added to a vegetable dish but vegetable dishes that are cooked with olive oil (zeytinyağlılar) are often served cold and do not contain meat. Spinach, leek, string bean and artichoke with olive oil are among the most widespread dishes in Turkey.
Dolma
is the name used for stuffed vegetables. Like the vegetables cooked with olive oil as described above dolma with olive oil does not contain meat. Many vegetables are stuffed, most typically green peppers (biber dolması), eggplants, tomatoes, courgettes, or Zucchini
in the U.S. (kabak dolması), vine leaves (yaprak dolması). If vine leaves are used, they are first pickled in brine. However, dolma is not limited to these common types; many other vegetables and fruits are stuffed with a meat and/or rice mixture. For example, artichoke dolma (enginar dolması) is an Aegean region specialty. Fillings used in dolma may consist of parts of the vegetable carved out for preparation, rice with spices and/or minced meat.
Mercimek köfte, although being named köfte, does not contain any meat. Instead, red lentil is used as the major ingredient together with spring onion, tomato paste etc.
Imam bayildi
is a version of karnıyarık
with no minced meat inside. It can be served as a meze as well.
Fried eggplant and pepper is a common summer dish in Turkey. It is served with yoghurt or tomato sauce and garlic.
Mücver is prepared with grated squash/courgette or potatoes, egg, onion, dill and/or cheese and flour. It can be either fried or cooked in the oven.
Rice pilaf can be served either as a side dish or main dish but bulgur pilavı (pilav made of boiled and pounded wheat -bulgur) is also widely eaten. The dishes made with kuru fasulye (white beans), nohut (chickpea
s), mercimek (lentil
s), börülce (black-eyed pea
s), etc., combined with onion, vegetables, minced meat, tomato paste and rice, have always been common due to being economical and nutritious.
Turşu is pickle made with brine, usually with the addition of garlic. It is often enjoyed as an appetizer. It is made with a large variety of vegetables, from cucumber to courgette. In the towns on the Aegean coast, the water of turşu is consumed as a drink. It comes from the Persian "Torshi", which refers to pickled "Torsh" (sour) vegetables.
Meze
is a selection of food served as the appetizer course with or without drinks. Some of them can be served as a main course as well.
Aside from olive
, mature kaşar kashar cheese, white cheese, various mixed pickles turşu, frequently eaten Turkish mezes include:
Dolma
is a verbal noun
of the Turkish
verb dolmak 'to be stuffed(or filled)', and means simply 'stuffed thing'. Dolma has a special place in Turkish cuisine. It can be eaten either as a meze or a main dish. It can be cooked either as a vegetable dish or meat dish. If a meat mixture is put in, it is usually served hot with yoghurt and spices such as oregano and red pepper powder with oil.
Zeytinyagli dolma (dolma with olive oil) 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 also referred to as sarma
, which means "wrapping" in Turkish. The word "sarma" is also used for some types of desserts, such as fıstık sarma (wrapped pistachio). If dolma does not contain meat, it is sometimes described as yalancı dolma meaning "fake" dolma. Dried fruit
such as figs or cherries and cinnamon used to be added into the mixture to sweeten "zeytinyağlı dolma" in Ottoman cuisine. Vine leaves ("yaprak") could be filled not only with rice and spices but also with meat and rice, in which case it is served hot with yoghurt etli yaprak sarma.
Melon
dolma along with quince
or apple
dolma was one of the palace's specialities (raw melon stuffed with minced meat, onion, rice, almonds, peanuts, cooked in an oven). In contemporary Turkey, a wide variety of dolma is prepared. Although it is not possible to give an exhaustive list of dolma recipes, courgette ("kabak"), aubergine
("patlıcan"), tomato
("domates"), pumpkin
("balkabağı"), pepper
("biber"), cabbage
("lahana") (black or white cabbage), chard
("pazı") and mussel
("midye") dolma constitute the most common types. Instead of dried cherry in the palace cuisine, currants are usually added into the filling of dolma cooked in olive oil. A different type of dolma is mumbar
dolması, for which the membrane of intestines of sheep is filled up with a spicy rice-nut mixture.
Kebab refers to a great variety of meat-based dishes in Turkish cuisine. Kebab in Turkey encompasses not only grilled or skewered meats, but also stews and casseroles.
cooked in chard
leaves. In fish restaurants, it is possible to find other fancy fish varieties like balık dolma (stuffed fish), balık iskender (inspired by Iskender kebab), fishballs or fish en papillote. Fish soup
prepared with vegetables, onion and flour is common in coastal towns and cities. In Istanbul
's Eminönü
and other coastal districts, grilled fish served in bread with tomatoes, herbs and onion is a popular fast food. In the inner parts of Turkey, trout
alabalık is common as it is the main type of freshwater fish. Popular seafood mezes include stuffed mussels, fried mussel
and fried kalamar
with tarator
sauce.
Popular sea fishes in Turkey include: anchovy
hamsi, sardine
sardalya, bonito
palamut, gilt-head bream
çupra or çipura, red mullet
barbun(ya), sea bass levrek, whiting
mezgit (allied to the cod fish) or bakalyaro, swordfish
kılıç, turbot
kalkan, red pandora
mercan, tırança, istavrit and white grouper
lagos.
One of the world-renowned desserts of Turkish cuisine is baklava
. Baklava is made either with pistachio or walnut. Turkish cuisine has a range of baklava-like desserts which include şöbiyet, bülbül yuvası
, saray sarması, sütlü nuriye
, and sarı burma.
Kadaif ('Kadayıf') is a common Turkish dessert that employs shredded yufka. There are different types of kadaif: tel (wire) or Burma (wring) kadayıf, both of which can be prepared with either walnut or pistachio.
Although carrying the label "kadayıf", ekmek kadayıfı
is totally different from "tel kadayıf" (see http://photos1.blogger.com/img/109/6214/1024/2004_0101ekkad0014.jpg). Künefe and ekmek kadayıfı
are rich in syrup and butter, and are usually served with kaymak
(clotted/scrambled butter). Künefe contains wire kadayıf with a layer of melted cheese in between and it is served hot with pistachio or walnut.
Among milk-based desserts, the most popular ones are muhallebi, su muhallebisi, sütlaç (rice pudding), keşkül
, kazandibi (meaning the bottom of "kazan" because of its burnt surface), and tavuk göğsü
(a sweet, gelatinous, milk pudding dessert quite similar to kazandibi, to which very thinly peeled chicken breast is added to give a chewy texture). A speciality from the Mediterranean region is haytalı, which consists of pieces of starch pudding and ice cream (or crushed ice) put in rose water sweetened with syrup.
Helva (halva): un helvası (flour helva is usually cooked after someone has died), irmik helvası (cooked with semolina and pine nuts), yaz helvası (made from walnut or almond), tahin helvası (crushed sesame seeds), kos helva, pişmaniye
(floss halva).
Other popular desserts include; Revani (with semolina and starch), şekerpare, kalburabasma, dilber dudağı, vezir parmağı, hanım göbeği, kemalpaşa
, tulumba
, zerde
, höşmerim, paluze, irmik tatlısı/peltesi, lokma
.
Güllaç
is a "Ramadan" dessert which consists of very thin large dough layers put in the milk and rose water, served with pomegranate seeds and walnut. The story tells that in the cuisines of the Palace, those extra thin dough layers were prepared with "prayers" as it was believed that if one did not pray while opening phyllo dough, it would never be possible to obtain such thin layers.
Aşure
can be described as a sweet soup containing boiled beans, wheat and dried fruits. Sometimes cinnamon and rose water is added when being served. According to legend, it was first cooked on Noah's Ark
and contained seven different ingredients in one dish. All the Anatolian peoples have cooked and are still cooking aşure especially during the month of Muharrem.
Some traditional Turkish desserts are fruit-based: ayva tatlısı (quince), incir tatlısı (fig), kabak tatlısı (pumpkin), elma tatlısı(apple) and armut tatlısı(pear). Fruits are cooked in a pot or in the oven with sugar, carnation and cinnamon (without adding water). After being chilled, they are served with walnut or pistachio and kaymak
.
Homemade cookies are commonly called kurabiye in Turkish. The most common types are acıbadem kurabiyesi
(prepared only with egg, sugar and almond), un kurabiyesi (flour kurabiye) and cevizli kurabiye (kurabiye with walnut). Another dough based dessert is ay çöreği.
Tahin-pekmez is a traditional combination especially in rural areas. Tahin is sesame paste and pekmez is grape syrup. These are sold separately and mixed before consumption.
Lokum
(Turkish delight
), which was eaten for digestion after meals and called "rahat hulkum" in the Ottoman era, is another well-known sweet/candy with a range of varieties.
Cezerye
, cevizli (walnut) sucuk (named after its sucuk/sujuk like shape, also known as Churchkhela
in Circassian region) and pestil (fruit pestils) are among other common sweets.
Marzipan
badem ezmesi or fıstık ezmesi (made of ground pistachio) is another common confection in Turkey.
Another jelly like Turkish sweet is macun
. Mesir macunu of Manisa
/İzmir
(which was also called "nevruziye" as this macun was distributed on the first day of spring in the Ottoman Palace) contains 41 different spices. It is still believed that "mesir macunu" is good for health and has healing effects. As with lokum, nane macunu (prepared with mint) used to be eaten as a digestive after heavy meals. Herbs and flowers having curative effects were grown in the gardens of Topkapı under the control of the chief doctor "hekimbaşı" and pharmacists of the Palace who used those herbs for preparing special types of macun
and sherbet
.
There are also several types of ice creams based salep
powder or Cornstarch
with Rose water such as Dondurma
(Turkish gum ice cream), dried fruit ice cream, ice cream rose petals.
Dried fruit, used in dolma, pilav, meat dishes and other desserts is also eaten with almonds or walnuts as a dessert. Figs, grapes, apricots are the most widespread dried fruits.
Kaymak (clotted cream-butter) is often served with desserts to cut the sweetness.
Tea
or Turkish coffee
, with or without sugar, is usually served after dinner or more rarely together with desserts.
Although the majority of Turks profess the Islamic religion, alcoholic beverage
s are as widely available as in Europe
. However, some Turks abstain from drinking alcohol during the holy month of Ramadan
. There are a few local brands of lager
such as Bomonti, Marmara34 and Efes Pilsen
and a large variety of international beers that are produced in Turkey such as Skol, Beck's
, Miller
, Foster's
, Carlsberg and Tuborg
.
There are a variety of local wine
s produced by Turkish brands such as Kavaklıdere, Doluca, Corvus, Kayra, Pamukkale and Diren which are getting more popular with the change of climatic conditions that affect the production of wine. A range of grape varieties are grown in Turkey. For the production of red wine, the following types of grapes are mainly used; in Marmara Region, Pinot Noir
, Adakarası
, Papazkarası
, Semillion, Kuntra, Gamay
, Cinsault; in Aegean Region, Carignane
, Çalkarası
, Merlot
, Cabernet Sauvignon
, Alicante Bouschet
; in Black Sea Region and eastern part of the country, Öküzgözü
, Boğazkere
; in Central Anatolia, Kalecik Karası
, Papazkarası
, Dimrit; in Mediterranean Region, Sergi Karası, Dimrit. As for white wine, the grapes can be listed as follows; in Marmara Region, Chardonnay
, Riesling
, Semillion, Beylerce, Yapıncak; in Aegean Region, muscat
and semillion; in Black Sea Region, Narince; in Central Anatolia, Emir, Hasandede (for further info http://www.hayyam.com/uzumler/index.php). In addition to mass production, it is quite popular to produce wine in private farms and sell them in the locality. Visitors can find different "home made" wines in Central Anatolia (Kapadokya/Cappadocia
region - Nevşehir
), Aegean coast (Selçuk
and Bozcaada (an island in the Aegean Sea)).
At breakfast and all day long Turkish people drink black tea
. Tea is made with two teapots in Turkey. Strong bitter tea made in the upper pot is diluted by adding boiling water from the lower.
Ayran
(salty yoghurt drink) is the most common cold beverage, which may accompany almost all dishes in Turkey and Iran.
Kefir
is prepared with kefir grains and milk.
Şalgam suyu (mild or hot turnip juice) is another important non-alcoholic beverage which is usually combined with kebabs or served together with rakı
.
Boza
is a traditional winter drink, which is also known as millet wine (served cold with cinnamon and sometimes with leblebi
).
Sahlep is another favorite in winter (served hot with cinnamon). Sahlep is extracted from the roots of wild orchids and may be used in Turkish ice cream as well. This was a popular drink in western Europe before coffee was brought from Africa and came to be known.
Sherbet (Turkish şerbet, pronounced ʃeɾˈbet) is a traditional Turkish sweet soft drink made of rose hips, cornelian cherries, rose, or licorice and spices. Some contemporary adaptations can be found at http://www.lezzet.com.tr/dosyalar/01205/.
In classical Turkish cuisine, hoşaf (from the Persian
"Khosh-ab", meaning "fresh water") alternatively accompanies meat dishes and pilav.
Ottoman cuisine
Ottoman cuisine is the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire and its successors in Anatolia, the Balkans, and much of the Middle East.- Description :...
, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian
Central Asian cuisine
The Central Asian cuisines include:* Afghan cuisine* Iranian cuisine* Mongolian cuisine* Cuisine of Kashmir* Kazakh cuisine* Kashmiri cuisine* Kyrgyz cuisine* Pakistani cuisine * Tajik cuisine* Tibetan cuisine* Turkmen cuisine...
, Middle Eastern
Middle Eastern cuisine
Middle-Eastern cuisine, West Asian cuisine, or in some place in the United States, Persian-Mediterranean cuisine is the cuisine of the various countries and peoples of the Middle East . The cuisine of the region is diverse while having a degree of homogeneity...
and Balkan
Balkan cuisine
The Balkan cuisine is heterogeneous and is therefore known as the cuisine of states and regions, since every region has its own distinct culinary traditions...
cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbouring cuisines, including that of western Europe. The Ottomans fused various culinary traditions of their realm with influences from Middle Eastern cuisine
Middle Eastern cuisine
Middle-Eastern cuisine, West Asian cuisine, or in some place in the United States, Persian-Mediterranean cuisine is the cuisine of the various countries and peoples of the Middle East . The cuisine of the region is diverse while having a degree of homogeneity...
s, along with traditional Turkic
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
elements from Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
(such as yogurt), creating a vast array of specialities- many with strong regional associations.
Turkish cuisine varies across the country. The cooking of Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, and rest of the Aegean region inherits many elements of Ottoman court cuisine
Ottoman cuisine
Ottoman cuisine is the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire and its successors in Anatolia, the Balkans, and much of the Middle East.- Description :...
, with a lighter use of spices, a preference for rice over bulgur
Bulgur
Bulgur is a cereal food made from several different wheat species, most often from durum wheat. In the United States it is most often made from white wheat. Its use is most common in Middle Eastern cuisine, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Armenia and Bulgaria...
, and a wider use of seafoods. The cuisine of the Black Sea Region
Black Sea Region
The Black Sea Region is one of Turkey's seven census-defined geographical regions . It is bordered by the Marmara Region to the west, the Central Anatolia Region to the south, the Eastern Anatolia Region to the southeast, the Republic of Georgia to the northeast, and the Black Sea to the north.-...
uses fish extensively, especially the Black Sea anchovy
European anchovy
The European anchovy is a forage fish somewhat related to the herring. Anchovies are placed in the family Engraulidae....
(hamsi), has been influenced by Balkan
Balkan cuisine
The Balkan cuisine is heterogeneous and is therefore known as the cuisine of states and regions, since every region has its own distinct culinary traditions...
and Slavic cuisine, and includes maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
dishes. The cuisine of the southeast—Urfa, Gaziantep
Gaziantep
Gaziantep , Ottoman Turkish: Ayintab) previously and still informally called Antep; ʻayn tāb is a city in southeast Turkey and amongst the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. The city is located 185 kilometres northeast of Adana and 127 kilometres by road north of Aleppo, Syria...
and Adana
Adana
Adana is a city in southern Turkey and a major agricultural and commercial center. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, 30 kilometres inland from the Mediterranean, in south-central Anatolia...
—is famous for its kebab
Kebab
Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
s, meze
Meze
Meze or mezze is a selection of small dishes served in the Mediterranean and Middle East as dinner or lunch, with or without drinks. In Levantine cuisines and in the Caucasus region, meze is served at the beginning of all large-scale meals....
s and dough-based desserts such as baklava
Baklava
Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey. It is characteristic of the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and much of central and southwest Asia....
, kadayıf
Kanafeh
Kenafeh , also spelled knafeh, kunafeh, or kunafah, is a Middle Eastern sweet made of very fine vermicelli-like pastry. It is sometimes known as shredded phyllo.- Origin :...
and künefe (kanafeh
Kanafeh
Kenafeh , also spelled knafeh, kunafeh, or kunafah, is a Middle Eastern sweet made of very fine vermicelli-like pastry. It is sometimes known as shredded phyllo.- Origin :...
).
Especially in the western parts of Turkey, where olive trees grow abundantly, olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
is the major type of oil used for cooking. The cuisines of the Aegean, Marmara and Mediterranean
Mediterranean Region, Turkey
The Mediterranean Region is one of Turkey's seven census-defined geographical regions . It is bordered by the Aegean Region to the west, the Central Anatolia Region to the north, the Eastern Anatolia Region to the northeast, the Southeastern Anatolia Region to the east, Syria to the southeast, and...
regions are rich in vegetables, herbs, and fish. Central Anatolia is famous specialties, such as keşkek (kashkak), mantı (especially from Kayseri
Kayseri
Kayseri is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province. The city of Kayseri, as defined by the boundaries of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, is structurally composed of five metropolitan districts, the two core districts of Kocasinan and...
) and gözleme
Gözleme
Gözleme is a savoury traditional Turkish hand made and hand rolled pastry. Fresh pastry is rolled out, filled and sealed, then cooked over a griddle.The name derives from the Turkish word göz meaning eye. Traditionally, this is done on a sac...
.
A specialty's name sometimes includes that of a city or region, either in or outside of Turkey, and may refer to the specific technique or ingredients used in that area. For example, the difference between urfa kebab and adana kebab
Adana Kebab
Adana kebabı is a long, hand-minced meat kebab mounted on a wide iron skewer and grilled on an open mangal over braizing charcoals. It is named for Adana, the fifth largest city of Turkey, in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean region...
is the thickness of the skewer and the amount of hot pepper that kebab contains. Urfa kebab is less spicy and thicker than adana kebab.
Culinary customs
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night's sleep, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work...
consists of cheese (beyaz peynir
Beyaz peynir
Beyaz peynir is a salty, white cheese made from unpasteurized sheep milk. The cheese has a slightly grainy appearance and is similar to Greek feta cheese....
, kaşar etc.), butter, olives, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, jam, honey, and kaymak
Kaymak
Kaymak ; also kaymak, kajmak, kaimak or qeymağ, also geymar, gaimar, is a originally Serbian creamy dairy product, similar to clotted cream, made in Serbia, Turkey,...
. Sucuk (spicy Turkish sausage), pastırma
Pastirma
Pastirma or bastirma is a highly seasoned, air-dried cured beef in the cuisines of the former Ottoman countries.-Etymology:The name bastirma is from . bastırma is the gerund of the verb bastırmak , which means "to depress, restrain"...
, börek
Börek
Börek is a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka . It can be filled with cheese, often feta, sirene or kaşar; minced meat, or vegetables...
, simit
Simit
A simit , Aramaic qeluro/qelora, koulouri , đevrek , gjevrek , gevrek , covrig is a circular bread with sesame seeds, very common in Turkey, as well as in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and other parts of the Balkans and Middle...
, poğaça
Pogaca
Pogačice is a type of puff pastry. Pogača, Poğaça, Pogácsa or Pogacha is a type of pastry eaten in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary, Greece and Turkey with variations...
and soups are eaten as a morning meal in Turkey. A common Turkish speciality for breakfast is called menemen
Menemen (food)
Menemen is a Turkish dish which includes egg, onion, tomato and green peppers , and spices such as ground black pepper, ground red pepper, salt, oregano, and mint). Black or green olives can be included as ingredients...
, which is prepared with tomatoes, green peppers, onion, olive oil and eggs. Invariably, Turkish tea
Turkish tea
Turkish tea is a type of tea that is popular mainly in the Turkish-speaking countries. In Turkey, Turkish tea tends to be more popular than Turkish coffee among the younger generation.-Introduction:...
is served at breakfast. The Turkish word for breakfast, kahvaltı, means "before coffee" (kahve, 'coffee'; altı, 'under').
Homemade food
Homemade food is a must for Turkish people. Although the newly introduced way of life pushes the new generation to eat out, Turkish people generally prefer to eat at home. A typical meal starts with soup (in the winter), followed by a dish made with vegetables or legumes boiled in a pot (typically with meat or minced meat), then rice or bulgur (crushed wheat) pilaf in addition of a salad or cacık (made from diluted yogurt and minced cucumbers). Another typical meal is dried beans cooked with meat or pastırma mixed or eaten with rice pilaf and cacık.Restaurants
Although fast food is gaining popularity and many major foreign fast food chains have opened all over Turkey, Turkish people still rely primarily on the rich and extensive dishes of the Turkish cuisine. In addition, some traditional Turkish foods, especially köfteKofta
Kofta is a Middle Eastern and South Asian meatball or meatloaf.In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls of minced or ground meat—usually beef or lamb—mixed with spices and/or onions...
, döner
Doner kebab
Doner kebab is a dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro , shawarma, and al pastor . It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage...
, kokoreç, börek and gözleme are often served as fast food in Turkey. Eating out has always been common in large commercial cities. Esnaf lokantası (meaning restaurants for shopkeepers and tradesmen) are widespread, serving traditional Turkish home cooking at affordable prices.
Summer cuisine
In the hot Turkish summer, a meal usually consists of fried vegetables such as eggplant (aubergine), or potatoes served with yoghurt, tomato sauce, sheep's cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelons, melons, or summer helva (lighter and less sweet than regular helva).Key ingredients
Frequently used ingredients in Turkish specialities include: lamb, beef, chicken, fish, eggplants, green peppersBell pepper
Bell pepper, also known as sweet pepper or a pepper and capsicum , is a cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum . Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange and green. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less pungent pepper varieties as...
, onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
s, garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
, lentil
Lentil
The lentil is an edible pulse. It is a bushy annual plant of the legume family, grown for its lens-shaped seeds...
s, bean
Bean
Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....
s, and tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
es. Nuts, especially pistachio
Pistachio
The pistachio, Pistacia vera in the Anacardiaceae family, is a small tree originally from Persia , which now can also be found in regions of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Sicily and possibly Afghanistan , as well as in the United States,...
s, chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
s, almond
Almond
The almond , is a species of tree native to the Middle East and South Asia. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree...
s, hazelnut
Hazelnut
A hazelnut is the nut of the hazel and is also known as a cob nut or filbert nut according to species. A cob is roughly spherical to oval, about 15–25 mm long and 10–15 mm in diameter, with an outer fibrous husk surrounding a smooth shell. A filbert is more elongated, being about twice...
s, and walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
s, together with spices, have a special place in Turkish cuisine. Preferred spice
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
s and herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
s include parsley
Parsley
Parsley is a species of Petroselinum in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean region , naturalized elsewhere in Europe, and widely cultivated as an herb, a spice and a vegetable.- Description :Garden parsley is a bright green hairless biennial herbaceous plant in temperate...
, cumin
Cumin
Cumin is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native from the east Mediterranean to India. Its seeds are used in the cuisines of many different cultures, in both whole and ground form.-Etymology:...
, black pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
, paprika
Paprika
Paprika is a spice made from the grinding of dried fruits of Capsicum annuum . In many European languages, the word paprika refers to bell peppers themselves. The seasoning is used in many cuisines to add color and flavor to dishes. Paprika can range from mild to hot...
, mint
Mentha
Mentha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae . The species are not clearly distinct and estimates of the number of species varies from 13 to 18. Hybridization between some of the species occurs naturally...
, oregano
Oregano
Oregano – scientifically named Origanum vulgare by Carolus Linnaeus – is a common species of Origanum, a genus of the mint family . It is native to warm-temperate western and southwestern Eurasia and the Mediterranean region.Oregano is a perennial herb, growing from 20–80 cm tall,...
, pul biber (red pepper), and thyme
Thyme
Thyme is a culinary and medicinal herb of the genus Thymus.-History:Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage...
.
Oils and fats
ButterButter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
or margarine
Margarine
Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes, typically composed of vegetable oils. In many parts of the world, the market share of margarine and spreads has overtaken that of butter...
, olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
, sunflower oil
Sunflower oil
Sunflower oil is the non-volatile oil expressed from sunflower seeds. Sunflower oil is commonly used in food as a frying oil, and in cosmetic formulations as an emollient. Sunflower oil was first industrially produced in 1835 in the Russian Empire.- Composition :Sunflower oil is mainly a...
, canola oil, and corn oil
Corn oil
Corn oil is oil extracted from the germ of corn . Its main use is in cooking, where its high smoke point makes refined corn oil a valuable frying oil. It is also a key ingredient in some margarines. Corn oil is generally less expensive than most other types of vegetable oils. One bushel of corn...
are widely used for cooking. Kuyruk yağı (tail fat of sheep) is used mainly in kebabs and meat dishes. Sesame
Sesame
Sesame is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for its edible seeds, which grow in pods....
, hazelnut
Hazelnut
A hazelnut is the nut of the hazel and is also known as a cob nut or filbert nut according to species. A cob is roughly spherical to oval, about 15–25 mm long and 10–15 mm in diameter, with an outer fibrous husk surrounding a smooth shell. A filbert is more elongated, being about twice...
, peanut
Peanut
The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...
and walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
oils are used as well.
Use of fruit
In the Ottoman cuisine, fruit frequently accompanied meat as a side dish. PlumPlum
A plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera in the shoots having a terminal bud and solitary side buds , the flowers in groups of one to five together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one...
s, apricot
Apricot
The apricot, Prunus armeniaca, is a species of Prunus, classified with the plum in the subgenus Prunus. The native range is somewhat uncertain due to its extensive prehistoric cultivation.- Description :...
s, date
Date Palm
The date palm is a palm in the genus Phoenix, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, it probably originated from lands around the Persian Gulf. It is a medium-sized plant, 15–25 m tall, growing singly or forming a clump with...
s, apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
s, grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
s, and fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
s are the most frequently used fruits (either fresh or dried) in Turkish cuisine. For example, komposto
Compote
Compote is a dessert originating from 17th century France made of whole or pieces of fruit in sugar syrup. Whole fruits are immersed in water and with sugar and spices added to the dish, over gentle heat. The syrup may be seasoned with vanilla, lemon or orange peel, cinnamon sticks or powder,...
(compote) or hoşaf (from Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
khosh âb, literally meaning "nice water") are among the main side dishes to meat or pilav. Dolma
Dolma
Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions such as Russia, Middle East and the Caucasus and Central and South Asia. Perhaps the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma. Common vegetables to stuff include onion, zucchini, eggplant,...
and pilaf usually contain currants or raisins. Etli yaprak sarma (vine leaves stuffed with meat and rice) used to be cooked with sour plums in Ottoman cuisine.
Eggplant has a special place in the Turkish cuisine. It is combined with -patlıcan reçeli") .
Meats
In some regions, meat, which was mostly eaten only at wedding ceremonies or during the Kurban Bayramı (Eid ul-AdhaEid ul-Adha
Eid al-Adha or "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a sheep— to sacrifice...
) as etli pilav (pilaf
Pilaf
Pilaf is a dish in which rice is cooked in a seasoned broth . In some cases, the rice may also attain its brown color by being stirred with bits of cooked onion, as well as a large mix of spices...
with meat), has become part of the daily diet since the introduction of industrial production. Veal
Veal
Veal is the meat of young cattle , as opposed to meat from older cattle. Though veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds...
, formerly shunned, is now widely consumed. The main use of meat in cooking remains the combination of ground meat and vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
, with names such as kıymalı fasulye (bean with ground meat) or kıymalı ıspanak (spinach with ground meat, which is almost always served with yogurt). Alternatively, in coastal towns, cheap fish such as sardines (sardalya) or hamsi (anchovies) are widely available, as well as many others with seasonal availability. Poultry consumption, almost exclusively of chicken and eggs, is common. Milk-fed lambs
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
, once the most popular source of meat in Turkey, comprise a small part of contemporary consumption. Kuzu çevirme, cooking milk-fed lamb on a spit, once an important ceremony, is rarely seen. Because it is a predominantly Islamic country, pork plays no role in Turkish cuisine.
Dairy products
Yoghurt
Yoghurt, yogurt or yogourt is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yoghurt are known as "yoghurt cultures"...
is an important element in Turkish cuisine. In fact, the English word yoghurt or yogurt derives from the Turkish word yoğurt. Yoghurt can accompany almost all meat dishes (kebabs, köfte), vegetable dishes (especially fried eggplant, courgette, spinach with minced meat etc.), meze and a speciality called mantı (folded triangles of dough containing minced meat). In villages, yoghurt is regularly eaten with rice or bread. A thicker, higher-fat variety, süzme yoğurt or "strained yoghurt", is made by straining the yoghurt curds from the whey. One of the most common Turkish drinks, ayran
Ayran
Ayran or laban is a cold beverage of yogurt mixed with cold water and sometimes salt; it is popular in many Central Asian, Middle Eastern and South-eastern European countries....
, is made from yoghurt. Also, yoghurt is often used in the preparation of cakes, some soups and pastries.
Turkey produces many varieties of cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
, mostly from sheep
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
's milk. In general, these cheeses are not long matured, with a comparatively low fat content. The production of many kinds of cheese is local to particular regions.
- Beyaz peynirBeyaz peynirBeyaz peynir is a salty, white cheese made from unpasteurized sheep milk. The cheese has a slightly grainy appearance and is similar to Greek feta cheese....
is a salty cheese taking its name from its white color ("white cheese"). It is analogous to Greek fetaFetaFeta is a brined curd cheese traditionally made in Greece. Feta is an aged crumbly cheese, commonly produced in blocks, and has a slightly grainy texture. It is used as a table cheese, as well as in salads Feta is a brined curd cheese traditionally made in Greece. Feta is an aged crumbly cheese,...
but not as strong. This is produced in styles ranging from unmatured cheese curds to a quite strong mature version. It is eaten plain (e.g. as part of the traditional Turkish breakfast), used in salads, and incorporated into cooked foods such as menemenMenemenMenemen is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey as well as the district's central town. The district extends on a fertile plain formed by the alluvial soil carried by the Gediz River...
, börekBörekBörek is a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka . It can be filled with cheese, often feta, sirene or kaşar; minced meat, or vegetables...
and pidePitaPita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Greece, the Balkans the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough...
. - Çökelek is one of two types of unsalted white cheese, made by boiling the whey left over from making beyaz peynir. There are many regional varieties of çökelek. Some are eaten fresh while others are preserved, either by storage in goatskin bags or pottery jars, or by drying in the sun. Kurut and keş are regional names for dried bricks of yoghurt made from low-fat milk or from çökelek made from buttermilk.
- Lor is the other type of unsalted white cheese, similarly made from the whey left over from kaşar manufacture. Lor is used in traditional desserts made from unsalted cheese like höşmerim.
- Kaşar is Turkey's other ubiquitous cheese, a moderately fatty sheep's cheese similar to the Greek kasseriKasseriKasseri is a medium-hard pale yellow cheese made from unpasteurized sheep milk with very little, if any, goat's milk mixed in, in Greece and Turkey...
, sometimes marketed as "Turkish cheddar", being closer in consistency and taste to mild cheddar-style cheeseCheddar cheeseCheddar cheese is a relatively hard, yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese, produced in several countries around the world. It has its origins in the English village of Cheddar in Somerset....
than other Turkish cheeses. Less matured kaşar, called fresh kaşar, is widely consumed as well. - KaşkavalKaškavalKashkaval deriving from the Italian Caciocavallo is a specific type of yellow sheep milk cheese. However, in Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Romania, the term is often used to refer to all yellow cheeses...
is a wheel-shaped yellow sheep's cheese, similar to fresh kaşar. The name is probably of Italian origin. - TulumTulum (cheese)Tulum cheese is a traditional Turkish goat's milk cheese ripened in a goatskin casing. Due to its unique flavor, it is preferred as meze to rakı in Turkey.-Conventional:...
is a sheep's cheese preserved in an animal skin bag .gif", event)' onMouseout='HidePop("36783")' href="/topics/Tulum_(bagpipe)">traditional bagpipeTulum (bagpipe)The tulum is a musical instrument, a form of bagpipe from Turkey. It is droneless with two parallel chanters, usually played by the Laz, Hamsheni people, and Pontic Greeks...
). There are regional varieties of tulum peynir in such areas as İzmir, Ödemiş and Erzincan. - Otlu peynir ("herbed cheese") is produced in many areas, chiefly in East Anatolia. Traditionally sheep's or goat's milk is used, but more recently cow's milk otlu peynir has been produced. The type of herb used varies by region: in Van wild garlicWild garlicA number of different plant species of the genus Allium are known as Wild Garlic:*Allium ursinum *Allium vineale *Allium drummondii, Drummond's onion...
is traditional; Bitlis otlu peynir contains a damp-loving herb known as sof otu. In other areas horse mint (Mentha longifolia) and Pimpinella rhodentha are used. - Hellim is a salty, firm-textured cheese, generally with some mint added, made in CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. In Turkey, it is common that hellim is fried in a pan with some olive oil. - Gravyer (analogous to Swiss gruyereGruyère (cheese)Gruyère is a hard yellow cheese, named after the town of Gruyères in Switzerland, and originated in the cantons of Fribourg, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura, and Berne...
) is produced in Turkey as well. Among others, KarsKarsKars is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. The population of the city is 73,826 as of 2010.-Etymology:As Chorzene, the town appears in Roman historiography as part of ancient Armenia...
is famous for its graviera. - Mihaliç peyniriMihaliç PeyniriMihaliç Peyniri is an aged sheep's milk cheese from Turkey.Similar to feta or Beyaz peynir, Mihaliç Peyniri is stored in brine. The curds are placed in hot water and stirred, then left in the water to harden and acquire a firm, slightly elastic texture and finally are salted and dried.It is made in...
or Kelle peyniri is a hard sheep's cheese that can be grated, like Parmesan cheese. Sometimes goat or cow milk is used. It is a specialty from Karacabey (a town of Bursa province which was called as Mihaliç during Byzantine and Ottoman period) . - Örgü peyniri, "braided cheese", is a specialty from DiyarbakırDiyarbakırDiyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
. - Çerkez peyniri, "Circassian cheese".
Soups
A Turkish meal usually starts with a thin soupSoup
Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
(çorba). Soups are usually named after their main ingredient, the most common types being; mercimek (lentil
Lentil
The lentil is an edible pulse. It is a bushy annual plant of the legume family, grown for its lens-shaped seeds...
) çorbası, yoghurt, or wheat (often mashed) called tarhana
Tarhana
Tarhana , trahanas or khondros , tarkhīneh, tarkhāneh, tarkhwāneh , trahana , трахана/тархана , kishk , or kushuk are names for a dried food based on a fermented mixture of grain and yoghurt or fermented milk, usually made into a thick...
çorbası. Delicacy soups are the ones that are usually not the part of the daily diet, like (shkembe) İşkembe soup and paça
Paca
The Lowland Paca , also known as the Spotted Paca, is a large rodent found in tropical and sub-tropical America, from East-Central Mexico to Northern Argentina...
çorbası, 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 some people. The most common soups in Turkish cuisine are;
- Buğday aşı/Yoğurt Çorbası/Ayran Çorbası (which can be served hot or cold)
- Lahana Soup (With cabbage)
- Bademli TavukChicken soupChicken soup is a soup made by bringing to a boil and then simmering chicken parts and/or bones in water, with various vegetables and flavorings. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear broth, often served with small pieces of chicken or vegetables, or with noodles or dumplings, or grains such...
(Chicken soup with almond) - Düğün (Wedding soup)
- Ekşi Aşı
- Ezogelin
- BalıkFish soupFisherman's Soup or halászlé ; , ribena chorba; , ribina čorba) is a hot, spicy paprika-based river fish soup, originating as a dish of Hungarian cuisine, a bright red hot soup prepared with generous amounts of hot paprika and carp or mixed river fish, characteristic for the cuisines of the...
- İşkembeİşkembeİşkembe çorbası is a tripe soup in the Turkish and some Balkan cuisines. It is often seasoned with vinegar or lemon juice. In the South Slavic languages, this soup is called Shkembe chorba .-Etymology:...
- MercimekLentil soupLentil soup, which is usually served hot, may be vegetarian, but can also be made with meat stock or pieces of meat. Red or green lentils may be used. Other ingredients may include vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, celery, parsley, and onion. Common added flavorings include garlic, cumin,...
- Mahluta
- PaçaPacaThe Lowland Paca , also known as the Spotted Paca, is a large rodent found in tropical and sub-tropical America, from East-Central Mexico to Northern Argentina...
- Pazı
- Şehriye
- Sumak Aşı
- TarhanaTarhanaTarhana , trahanas or khondros , tarkhīneh, tarkhāneh, tarkhwāneh , trahana , трахана/тархана , kishk , or kushuk are names for a dried food based on a fermented mixture of grain and yoghurt or fermented milk, usually made into a thick...
- DomatesTomato soupTomato soup is a soup made from tomatoes. It may be served hot or cold, and can be made in many styles. It may be smooth in texture, but there are recipes which include chunks of tomato, cream and/or chicken stock. Popular toppings for tomato soup include sour cream, and croutons. Tomato soup is...
- Tutmaç (Lentil dish with noodles)
- YaylaYaylaYayla is Crimean Tatar and Turkish for alpine meadow or mountain plateau. Cognate words with identical meaning exist in other Turkic languages...
- Yüksük
Bread
- BazlamaBazlamaBazlama can be defined as a single layered, flat, circular and leavened bread with a creamish yellow colour. It bears a close resemblance in taste to english muffins. It has an average thickness of 2 cm and diameters ranging from 10 to 25 cm....
- Mısır Ekmeği
- LavaşLavashLavash is a soft, thin flatbread popular in several countries of the northern parts of the Middle-East and the southern parts of the Caucasus.Traditionally the dough is rolled out flat and slapped against the hot walls of a clay oven....
- PidePitaPita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Greece, the Balkans the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough...
(a broad, round and flat bread made of wheat) - SimitSimitA simit , Aramaic qeluro/qelora, koulouri , đevrek , gjevrek , gevrek , covrig is a circular bread with sesame seeds, very common in Turkey, as well as in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and other parts of the Balkans and Middle...
(also known as "gevrek", another type of ring-shaped bread covered with sesame seeds. Simit is commonly eaten in Turkey, plain or with cheese, butter or marmalade). - Tandır bread (baked on the inner walls of a round oven called tandırTandoorA tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Azerbaijan, India, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central Asia, as well as Burma and Bangladesh.The heat for a tandoor was...
)
Pastries
The use of layered dough is rooted in the nomadic character of early Central Asian Turks. The combination of domed metal sač
SAC
-People:* Stuart Adam Campbell, a famous gamer who got 30 days playtime within two months of MW2's release in 2009-Computers:* Symposium on Applied Computing, an annual conference sponsored by the ACM Special Interest Group on Applied Computing...
and oklahu/oklava (the Turkish rod-style rolling pin) enabled the invention of the layered dough style used in börek
Börek
Börek is a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka . It can be filled with cheese, often feta, sirene or kaşar; minced meat, or vegetables...
(especially in su böreği, or 'water pastry' , a salty baklava-like pastry with cheese filling), güllaç
Güllaç
Güllaç is a Turkish dessert made with milk, pomegranate and a special kind of pastry. It is consumed especially during Ramadan.Güllaç is mentioned as being the first version of baklava. The similarities among the two desserts are many, such as the use of thin layers of dough and nuts in between....
and baklava
Baklava
Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey. It is characteristic of the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and much of central and southwest Asia....
.
Börek
Börek
Börek is a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka . It can be filled with cheese, often feta, sirene or kaşar; minced meat, or vegetables...
is the general name for salty pastries made with yufka
Yufka
Yufka is a Turkish bread. It is a thin, round and unleavened flat bread similar to lavash, about 18 inches in diameter usually made from wheat flour, water and table salt. After kneading, the dough is allowed to rest for 30 min. Dough pieces are rounded and rolled into a circular sheet...
(a thicker version of phyllo dough), which consists of thin layers of dough. Su böreği, made with boiled yufka
Yufka
Yufka is a Turkish bread. It is a thin, round and unleavened flat bread similar to lavash, about 18 inches in diameter usually made from wheat flour, water and table salt. After kneading, the dough is allowed to rest for 30 min. Dough pieces are rounded and rolled into a circular sheet...
/phyllo
Phyllo
Phyllo, filo, or fillo dough is paper-thin sheets of unleavened flour dough used for making pastries in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisine.-History:An early, thick form of phyllo appears to be of Central Asian Turkic origin...
layers, cheese and parsley, is the most frequently eaten. Çiğ börek (also known as Tatar böreği) is fried and stuffed with minced meat. Kol böreği is another well-known type of börek that takes its name from its shape, as do fincan (coffee cup), muska (talisman), Gül böreği (rose) or Sigara böreği (cigarette). Other traditional Turkish böreks include Talaş böreği (phyllo dough filled with vegetables and diced meat), Puf böreği. Laz
Laz
Laz may refer to the Laz people, who live by the Black Sea, or to their language. As a given name, Laz may be a diminutive for Lazar, Lazarus, Lazaro, or Lazaros...
böreği is a sweet type of börek, widespread in the Black Sea region.
Poğaça
Pogaca
Pogačice is a type of puff pastry. Pogača, Poğaça, Pogácsa or Pogacha is a type of pastry eaten in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary, Greece and Turkey with variations...
is the label name for dough based salty pastries. Likewise çörek is another label name used for both sweet and salty pastries.
Gözleme
Gözleme
Gözleme is a savoury traditional Turkish hand made and hand rolled pastry. Fresh pastry is rolled out, filled and sealed, then cooked over a griddle.The name derives from the Turkish word göz meaning eye. Traditionally, this is done on a sac...
is a food typical in rural areas, made of lavash
Lavash
Lavash is a soft, thin flatbread popular in several countries of the northern parts of the Middle-East and the southern parts of the Caucasus.Traditionally the dough is rolled out flat and slapped against the hot walls of a clay oven....
bread or phyllo dough folded around a variety of fillings such as spinach, cheese and parsley, minced meat or potatoes and cooked on a large griddle (traditionally sač
SAC
-People:* Stuart Adam Campbell, a famous gamer who got 30 days playtime within two months of MW2's release in 2009-Computers:* Symposium on Applied Computing, an annual conference sponsored by the ACM Special Interest Group on Applied Computing...
).
Katmer is another traditional rolled out dough. It can be salty or sweet according to the filling.
Lahmacun
Lahmacun
Lahmacun or lahmajoun , from , , "meat with dough", is an item of prepared food originating in the early Syrian cuisine of the Levant, consisting of a round, thin piece of dough topped with minced meat...
(meaning dough with meat in Arabic) is a thin flatbread covered with a layer of spiced minced meat, tomato, pepper, onion or garlic.
Pide
Pita
Pita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Greece, the Balkans the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough...
, which can be made with minced meat (together with onion, chopped tomatoes, parsley and spices), kashar
Kasseri
Kasseri is a medium-hard pale yellow cheese made from unpasteurized sheep milk with very little, if any, goat's milk mixed in, in Greece and Turkey...
cheese, spinach, white cheese, pieces of meat, braised meat (kavurma), sucuk, pastırma or/and eggs put on rolled-out dough, is one of the most common traditional stone-baked Turkish specialities.
Açma is a soft bread found in most parts of Turkey. It is similar to simit in shape, is covered in a glaze, and is usually eaten as a part of breakfast or as a snack.
Pilaf and pasta
| Turkish | English | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Sade pilav | ordinary rice, which can accompany almost all dishes. | |
| pilaf Pilaf Pilaf is a dish in which rice is cooked in a seasoned broth . In some cases, the rice may also attain its brown color by being stirred with bits of cooked onion, as well as a large mix of spices... |
||
| Domatesli pilav | tomato pilaf | |
| Etli pilav | rice containing meat pieces. | |
| Nohutlu pilav | rice cooked with chickpeas | |
| İç pilav | rice with liver slices, currants, peanuts, chestnut, cinnamon and a variety of herbs | |
| Patlıcanlı pilav | rice with eggplant. | |
| Özbek pilavı | Uzbek pilavı | rice with lamb, onion, tomato, carrot. |
| Acem pilavı | Persian pilavı | rice with lamb, cooked in meat broth with pistachios, cinnamon etc. |
| Bulgur Bulgur Bulgur is a cereal food made from several different wheat species, most often from durum wheat. In the United States it is most often made from white wheat. Its use is most common in Middle Eastern cuisine, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Armenia and Bulgaria... pilavı |
a cereal food generally made of durum Durum Durum wheat or macaroni wheat is the only tetraploid species of wheat of commercial importance that is widely cultivated today... wheat. Most of the time, tomato, green pepper and minced meat are mixed with bulgur. The Turkish name (bulgur pilavı) indicates that this is a kind of rice but it is, in fact, wheat. |
|
| Perde pilavı | rice with chicken, onion and peanuts enveloped in a thin layer of dough, topped with almonds. | |
| Hamsili pilav | spiced rice covered with anchovies, cooked in oven. A speciality from the Black Sea Region. | |
| Frik pilavı | rice made of burnt wheat. A speciality from Antioch/Antakya Antakya Antakya is the seat of the Hatay Province in southern Turkey, near the border with Syria. The mayor is Lütfü Savaş.Known as Antioch in ancient times, the city has historical significance for Christianity, as it was the place where the followers of Jesus Christ were called Christians for the first... . |
|
| Mantı | Turkish pasta that consists of folded triangles of dough filled with minced meat, often with minced onions and parsley. It is typically served hot topped with garlic yoghurt and melted butter or warmed olive oil, and a range of spices such as oregano, dried mint Mentha Mentha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae . The species are not clearly distinct and estimates of the number of species varies from 13 to 18. Hybridization between some of the species occurs naturally... , ground sumac Sumac Sumac is any one of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus and related genera, in the family Anacardiaceae. Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, especially in Africa and North America.... , and red pepper Capsicum Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in... powder. The combination of meat-filled dough with yoghurt differentiates it from other dumplings such as tortellini, ravioli, and Chinese wonton. Mantı is usually eaten as a main dish. Minced chicken and quail meats are also used to prepare mantı in some regions of Turkey. |
|
| Erişte Kesme Kesme or kespe , , ); refers to a traditional Central Asian noodle dish made by the Kazakhs or the Kyrgyz. The word itself is a nominalisation of the verb to cut or to slice, referring to the slicing of the dough involved in preparing the noodles. The term may refer to the noodles themselves,... |
home made pasta is called erişte in Turkey. It can be combined with vegetables but it can also be used in soups and rice. | |
| Keşkek | a meat and wheat (or barley) stew. | |
| Kuskus | the Turkish version of couscous, which can be served with any meat dish or stew. | |
Vegetable dishes
A vegetable dish can be a main course in a Turkish meal. A large variety of vegetables are used, such as spinachSpinach
Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...
, leek
Leek
The leek, Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum , also sometimes known as Allium porrum, is a vegetable which belongs, along with the onion and garlic, to family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Allioideae...
, cauliflower
Cauliflower
Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species Brassica oleracea, in the family Brassicaceae. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed...
, artichoke
Artichoke
-Plants:* Globe artichoke, a partially edible perennial thistle originating in southern Europe around the Mediterranean* Jerusalem artichoke, a species of sunflower with an edible tuber...
, cabbage
Cabbage
Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...
, celery
Celery
Apium graveolens is a plant species in the family Apiaceae commonly known as celery or celeriac , depending on whether the petioles or roots are eaten: celery refers to the former and celeriac to the latter. Apium graveolens grows to 1 m tall...
, eggplant, green and red bell pepper
Bell pepper
Bell pepper, also known as sweet pepper or a pepper and capsicum , is a cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum . Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange and green. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less pungent pepper varieties as...
s, string bean and jerusalem artichoke
Jerusalem artichoke
The Jerusalem artichoke , also called the sunroot, sunchoke, earth apple or topinambour, is a species of sunflower native to eastern North America, and found from Eastern Canada and Maine west to North Dakota, and south to northern Florida and Texas...
. A typical vegetable dish is prepared with a base of chopped onions, carrots sautéed first in olive oil and later with tomatoes or tomato paste
Tomato paste
Tomato paste is a thick paste that is made by cooking tomatoes for several hours to reduce moisture, straining them to remove the seeds and skin, and cooking them again to reduce them to a thick, rich concentrate...
. The vegetables and hot water will then be added. Quite frequently a spoon of rice and lemon juice is also added. Vegetable dishes usually tend to be served with its own water (the cooking water) thus often called in colloquial Turkish sulu yemek literally "a dish with juice"). Minced meat can also be added to a vegetable dish but vegetable dishes that are cooked with olive oil (zeytinyağlılar) are often served cold and do not contain meat. Spinach, leek, string bean and artichoke with olive oil are among the most widespread dishes in Turkey.
Dolma
Dolma
Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions such as Russia, Middle East and the Caucasus and Central and South Asia. Perhaps the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma. Common vegetables to stuff include onion, zucchini, eggplant,...
is the name used for stuffed vegetables. Like the vegetables cooked with olive oil as described above dolma with olive oil does not contain meat. Many vegetables are stuffed, most typically green peppers (biber dolması), eggplants, tomatoes, courgettes, or Zucchini
Zucchini
The zucchini is a summer squash which often grows to nearly a meter in length, but which is usually harvested at half that size or less. It is a hybrid of the cucumber. Along with certain other squashes, it belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo. Zucchini can be dark or light green...
in the U.S. (kabak dolması), vine leaves (yaprak dolması). If vine leaves are used, they are first pickled in brine. However, dolma is not limited to these common types; many other vegetables and fruits are stuffed with a meat and/or rice mixture. For example, artichoke dolma (enginar dolması) is an Aegean region specialty. Fillings used in dolma may consist of parts of the vegetable carved out for preparation, rice with spices and/or minced meat.
Mercimek köfte, although being named köfte, does not contain any meat. Instead, red lentil is used as the major ingredient together with spring onion, tomato paste etc.
Imam bayildi
Imam bayildi
Imam bayildi one of the most notable Turkish zeytinyağlı dishes, is braised eggplant stuffed with onion, garlic and tomatoes...
is a version of karnıyarık
Karniyarik
Karnıyarık is a Turkish dish consisting of eggplant stuffed with a mix of sautéed chopped onions, garlic, black pepper, tomatoes, parsley and ground meat. A related dish is the İmam Bayıldı which does not include meat, and is served cold....
with no minced meat inside. It can be served as a meze as well.
Fried eggplant and pepper is a common summer dish in Turkey. It is served with yoghurt or tomato sauce and garlic.
Mücver is prepared with grated squash/courgette or potatoes, egg, onion, dill and/or cheese and flour. It can be either fried or cooked in the oven.
Rice pilaf can be served either as a side dish or main dish but bulgur pilavı (pilav made of boiled and pounded wheat -bulgur) is also widely eaten. The dishes made with kuru fasulye (white beans), nohut (chickpea
Chickpea
The chickpea is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae...
s), mercimek (lentil
Lentil
The lentil is an edible pulse. It is a bushy annual plant of the legume family, grown for its lens-shaped seeds...
s), börülce (black-eyed pea
Black-eyed pea
The black-eyed pea, also called black-eyed bean and chawalie or lobia in various languages in India and Pakistan, is a subspecies of the cowpea, grown around the world for its medium-sized, edible bean. The bean mutates easily, giving rise to a number of varieties. The common commercial one is...
s), etc., combined with onion, vegetables, minced meat, tomato paste and rice, have always been common due to being economical and nutritious.
Turşu is pickle made with brine, usually with the addition of garlic. It is often enjoyed as an appetizer. It is made with a large variety of vegetables, from cucumber to courgette. In the towns on the Aegean coast, the water of turşu is consumed as a drink. It comes from the Persian "Torshi", which refers to pickled "Torsh" (sour) vegetables.
Egg dishes
- MenemenMenemen (food)Menemen is a Turkish dish which includes egg, onion, tomato and green peppers , and spices such as ground black pepper, ground red pepper, salt, oregano, and mint). Black or green olives can be included as ingredients...
consists of scrambled eggs cooked with tomato, green pepper, and onion. - ÇılbırÇılbırÇılbır is a Turkish dish of poached eggs with yoghurt . It is also common to have the dish topped with Aleppo pepper infused, melted butter.-External links:...
is another traditional Turkish food made with poached eggs, yoghurt and oil. - Ispanaklı yumurta consists of eggs with spinach and onion.
- Kaygana can be described as the omelet of Ottoman cuisine. However, it is almost forgotten in the big cities of Turkey. Kaygana, omelet prepared with flour, used to be served with cheese, honey or eggplant.
Meze and salads
Meze
Meze or mezze is a selection of small dishes served in the Mediterranean and Middle East as dinner or lunch, with or without drinks. In Levantine cuisines and in the Caucasus region, meze is served at the beginning of all large-scale meals....
is a selection of food served as the appetizer course with or without drinks. Some of them can be served as a main course as well.
Aside from olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
, mature kaşar kashar cheese, white cheese, various mixed pickles turşu, frequently eaten Turkish mezes include:
- Acılı ezme – hot spicy freshly mashed tomato with onion and green herbs
- AcukaMuhammaraMuhammara or mhammara is a hot pepper dip originally from Aleppo, Syria, and now found in many places in Anatolia and the Levant.The principal ingredients are usually fresh or dried peppers, ground walnuts, breadcrumbs, and olive oil. It may also contain garlic, salt, lemon juice, pomegranate...
(also known as muhammara) – a spread having both CircassianAdyghe peopleThe Adyghe or Adygs , also often known as Circassians or Cherkess, are in origin a North Caucasian ethnic groupwho were displaced in the course of the Russian conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century, especially after the Russian–Circassian War of 1862.Adyghe people mostly speak Adyghe and most...
and SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n origins, prepared with from Aleppo pepperAleppo pepperThe Aleppo pepper in Turkish) is a variety of Capsicum annuum used as a spice, particularly in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. Also known as the Halaby pepper, it starts as pods which ripen to a burgundy color and is then semi-dried, de-seeded, then crushed or coarsely ground...
paste, ground walnutWalnutJuglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
s, tomato paste, bread crumbs, garlic, and spices - Ahtapot (octopusOctopusThe octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
) – served as a salad or grilled - Arnavut ciğeri (literally "Albanian liver") – fried liver cubes served with onion, parsley and hot pepper
- Roka (arugulaArugulaEruca sativa , is an edible annual plant, commonly known as rocket, roquette, rucola or arugula, not to be confused with Wild rocket. It is a species of Eruca native to the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Portugal east to Lebanon and Turkey...
) salad - Patlıcan salatasıBaba ghanoushBaba ghanoush, baba ganush, baba ghannouj or baba ghannoug is a Levantine dish of aubergine mashed and mixed with virgin olive oil and various seasonings. A popular preparation method is for the eggplant to be baked or broiled over an open flame before peeling, so that the pulp is soft and has a...
– eggplant salad - Bakla ezmesi – hummus prepared from broad bean
- Barbunya pilakiPilakiPilaki is a style of Turkish meze and may refer to several dishes that are cooked in a sauce made out of onion, garlic, carrot, potato, tomato or tomato paste, sugar, and olive oil. Beans prepared in this style are served cold, garnished with parsley and slices of lemon...
– borlotti beans cooked with garlic, tomato paste, carrot and olive oil - Borani
- Börek – very thin dough layers staffed with cheese, meat or vegetables
- CacıkCacikCacık is a Turkish dish of seasoned, diluted yoghurt, eaten throughout the former Ottoman world. In Greece a similar, much thicker yoghurt dish is called tzatziki...
– cucumber with yoghurt, dried mint and olive oil - Cevizli biber – a meze prepared with walnut, red pepper, pepper paste, onion and cumin
- Çerkez tavuğu (literally "Circassian chicken")
- Çiğ köfte – raw mea patties, similar to steak tartareSteak tartareSteak tartare is a meat dish made from finely chopped or minced raw beef. Tartare can also be made by thinly slicing a high grade of meat such as strip steak, marinating it in wine or other spirits, spicing it to taste, and then chilling it...
, prepared with ground beef (sometimes lamb) and fine-ground bulgurBulgurBulgur is a cereal food made from several different wheat species, most often from durum wheat. In the United States it is most often made from white wheat. Its use is most common in Middle Eastern cuisine, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Armenia and Bulgaria...
; a vegetarian version using tomato paste is known as etsiz çiğ köfte (literally "meatless raw meatballs") - Çoban salatası – a mixed salad of tomato, cucumber, onion, green peppers, and parsley
- Deniz börülcesi (Salicornia europaea, also called common glasswortGlasswortSalicornia is a genus of succulent, halophyte plants that grow in salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves. Salicornia species are native to North America, Europe, South Africa, and South Asia...
or marsh samphire) - DolmaDolmaDolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions such as Russia, Middle East and the Caucasus and Central and South Asia. Perhaps the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma. Common vegetables to stuff include onion, zucchini, eggplant,...
– vine leaves, cabbage leaves, chard leaves, peppers, tomato, squash, pumpkin, eggplant or mussels stuffed with rice and/or meat - Fasulye pilakiPilakiPilaki is a style of Turkish meze and may refer to several dishes that are cooked in a sauce made out of onion, garlic, carrot, potato, tomato or tomato paste, sugar, and olive oil. Beans prepared in this style are served cold, garnished with parsley and slices of lemon...
– white beans cooked with garlic, tomato paste, carrot and olive oil - Fava – broad/horse bean puree
- Gavurdağı salad
- Hardalotu – mustard plant salad
- Haydari
- HumusHummusHummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber; the tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the...
(a word coming from Arabic) – a spread prepared from sesame, chickpea, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice - İçli köfteKibbehKibbeh or kibbe is an Arab dish made of bulgur or rice and chopped meat. The best-known variety is a torpedo-shaped fried croquette stuffed with minced beef or lamb. Other types of kibbeh may be shaped into balls or patties, and baked or cooked in broth.Kibbeh is a popular dish in Levantine...
(also known as oruk) – served either as a meze or a main dish; especially in the east of Turkey, when it is cooked through boiling in a pot, içli köfte is served as a main dish - Kabak çiçeği dolması – stuffed zucchiniZucchiniThe zucchini is a summer squash which often grows to nearly a meter in length, but which is usually harvested at half that size or less. It is a hybrid of the cucumber. Along with certain other squashes, it belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo. Zucchini can be dark or light green...
blossoms, a kind of dolmaDolmaDolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions such as Russia, Middle East and the Caucasus and Central and South Asia. Perhaps the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma. Common vegetables to stuff include onion, zucchini, eggplant,... - Kalamar (calamari) – fried or grilled, served with taratorTaratorTarator or Taratur , is a traditional Balkan dish. It is a cold soup , popular in the summertime in Albania, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, southeastern Serbia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Armenia and in Cyprus...
sauce - Karides (shrimpShrimpShrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
) – served as a salad, grilled, or stewed with vegetables in a güveç (a casserole) - KısırKisirKısır is a traditional Turkish side dish made from fine bulgur, parsley, and tomato paste. The main ingredient, bulgur, is a cereal food generally made from parboiled durum wheat. For kısır, a finely grounded bulgur, unlike the coarse bulgur used for pilav, or sometimes couscous is used...
(also known as 'sarma içi') – a very popular meze or side dish prepared with fine-ground bulgur, tomato paste, parsley, onion, garlic, sour pomegranate juice and a lot of spices - Kızartma, various fried vegetables (eggplants, peppers, courgettes) served with yoghurt or tomato-and-garlic sauce
- Köfte – meatballs
- Midye (musselMusselThe common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
s) – fried and served with tarator sauce or as midye dolma: mussels stuffed with rice filling) - MuhammaraMuhammaraMuhammara or mhammara is a hot pepper dip originally from Aleppo, Syria, and now found in many places in Anatolia and the Levant.The principal ingredients are usually fresh or dried peppers, ground walnuts, breadcrumbs, and olive oil. It may also contain garlic, salt, lemon juice, pomegranate...
: see Acuka - Oruk: see İçli köfte
- PiyazPiyazPiyaz is a kind of Turkish salad or meze that is made from any kind of dry beans with hard-boiled egg and vegetables. Common additional ingredients include onion, parsley and sumac. In Antalya province of Turkey it is prepared differently from other regions with other ingredients like sesame oil....
– white bean or potato salad with onion and vinegar - Şakşuka or in another version köpoğlu – fried and chopped eggplants and peppers served with garlic yogurt or tomato sauce
- Semizotu (summer purslane) salad – served with yogurt
- Tarama – a spread made with fish roeRoeRoe or hard roe is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses of fish and certain marine animals, such as shrimp, scallop and sea urchins...
- Turp otu salad
Dolma and sarma
Dolma
Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions such as Russia, Middle East and the Caucasus and Central and South Asia. Perhaps the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma. Common vegetables to stuff include onion, zucchini, eggplant,...
is a verbal noun
Verbal noun
In linguistics, the verbal noun turns a verb into a noun and corresponds to the infinitive in English language usage. In English the infinitive form of the verb is formed when preceded by to, e.g...
of the Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
verb dolmak 'to be stuffed(or filled)', and means simply 'stuffed thing'. Dolma has a special place in Turkish cuisine. It can be eaten either as a meze or a main dish. It can be cooked either as a vegetable dish or meat dish. If a meat mixture is put in, it is usually served hot with yoghurt and spices such as oregano and red pepper powder with oil.
Zeytinyagli dolma (dolma with olive oil) 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 also referred to as sarma
Sarma (food)
Sarma is a dish of grape, cabbage or chard leaves rolled around a filling usually based on minced meat. It is found in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire from the Middle East to the Balkans and Central Europe.-Etymology and names:...
, which means "wrapping" in Turkish. The word "sarma" is also used for some types of desserts, such as fıstık sarma (wrapped pistachio). If dolma does not contain meat, it is sometimes described as yalancı dolma meaning "fake" dolma. Dried fruit
Dried fruit
Dried fruit is fruit where the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, through sun drying, or through the use of specialized dryers or dehydrators. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating back to the fourth millennium BC in Mesopotamia, and is prized...
such as figs or cherries and cinnamon used to be added into the mixture to sweeten "zeytinyağlı dolma" in Ottoman cuisine. Vine leaves ("yaprak") could be filled not only with rice and spices but also with meat and rice, in which case it is served hot with yoghurt etli yaprak sarma.
Melon
Melon
thumb|200px|Various types of melonsThis list of melons includes members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae with edible, fleshy fruit e.g. gourds or cucurbits. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit...
dolma along with quince
Quince
The quince , or Cydonia oblonga, is the sole member of the genus Cydonia and native to warm-temperate southwest Asia in the Caucasus region...
or apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
dolma was one of the palace's specialities (raw melon stuffed with minced meat, onion, rice, almonds, peanuts, cooked in an oven). In contemporary Turkey, a wide variety of dolma is prepared. Although it is not possible to give an exhaustive list of dolma recipes, courgette ("kabak"), aubergine
Aubergine
The eggplant, aubergine, melongene, brinjal or guinea squash is a plant of the family Solanaceae and genus Solanum. It bears a fruit of the same name, commonly used in cooking...
("patlıcan"), tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
("domates"), pumpkin
Pumpkin
A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...
("balkabağı"), pepper
Capsicum
Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...
("biber"), cabbage
Cabbage
Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...
("lahana") (black or white cabbage), chard
Chard
Chard , is a leafy green vegetable often used in Mediterranean cooking. While the leaves are always green, chard stalks vary in color. Chard has been bred to have highly nutrious leaves at the expense of the root...
("pazı") and mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
("midye") dolma constitute the most common types. Instead of dried cherry in the palace cuisine, currants are usually added into the filling of dolma cooked in olive oil. A different type of dolma is mumbar
Mumbar
Mumbar is a village in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located at 32°59'10N 73°49'10E with an altitude of 229 metres ....
dolması, for which the membrane of intestines of sheep is filled up with a spicy rice-nut mixture.
Meat dishes
- Kuzu Güveç (lamb cooked in casserole)
- Kuzu Kapama (spring lamb stewed)
- Haşlama (boiled lamb with vegetables and lemon juice)
- Kavurma ("kavurma", which means roasting/parching in Turkish, is generally used for roasted lamb. Çoban kavurma is a variety of it, prepared with diced lamb with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, peppers and herbs. Kavurma is one of the favorite dishes of Ramadan.)
- Alinazik kebabAlinazik kebabAlinazik kebab, or simply Alinazik, is a home-style Turkish kebab variety which is a specialty of the Gaziantep province of Turkey. It is made from char-grill smoked and spiced eggplant puree topped with tender, seasoned and marinated cubes of pan sauteed baby lamb. This popular Anatolian kebab is...
, a home-style Turkish kebabKebabKebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
variety which is a specialty of the GaziantepGaziantepGaziantep , Ottoman Turkish: Ayintab) previously and still informally called Antep; ʻayn tāb is a city in southeast Turkey and amongst the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. The city is located 185 kilometres northeast of Adana and 127 kilometres by road north of Aleppo, Syria...
province of TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. - Hünkar Beğendi (meaning that the sovereign/sultan liked it, sultan's delight, the dish consists of the puree of grilled eggplant with cashar cheese topped with cubed lamb meat)
- Türlü (a stew of vegetables and meat cooked in güveç-casserole)
- Külbastı
- Elbasan tava
- Prizren tava
- Tandır (without adding any water, the meat is cooked very slowly with a special technique)
- İncik (lamb on the boneMeat on the boneMeat on the bone, also called bone-in meat is meat that is sold with some or all of the bones included in the cut or portion, i.e. meat that has not been filleted. The phrase "on the bone" can also be applied to specific types of meat, most commonly ham on the bone, and to fish...
cooked in the oven) - Boraniye (broad bean/spinach/squash boraniye, vegetables cooked together with meat, yoghurt and chickpea)
- MahmudiyeMahmudiyeMahmudiye is a town and district of Eskişehir Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. According to 2010 census, population of the district is 8,770 of which 4,707 live in the town of Mahmudiye. The district covers an area of , and the town lies at an average elevation of .-External...
(a palace speciality consisting of chicken meat mixed with honey, apricots, almonds, currants and black pepper) - KarnıyarıkKarniyarikKarnıyarık is a Turkish dish consisting of eggplant stuffed with a mix of sautéed chopped onions, garlic, black pepper, tomatoes, parsley and ground meat. A related dish is the İmam Bayıldı which does not include meat, and is served cold....
(split-belly eggplant) (eggplants are cut off and fried. Then they are filled with minced meat, onion, garlic and tomato paste and cooked in the oven) - Köfte (meatball) is another meat dish in Turkey. The word köfte is sometimes preceded by the name of a town, which refers to the technique for cooking it or the ingredients or spices specifically used in that region, for example; İnegölInegölİnegöl is a city in the Bursa Province of Turkey. It has a population of 287,000 . İnegöl is one of the centers of the Turkish furniture industry, and is also known for its Meatball İnegöl Köftesi, which finds its roots from pljeskavice brought to the region by Bosnian immigrants during the...
köftesi, Sultanahmet köftesi, İzmirIzmirIzmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
köfte, AkçaabatAkçaabatAkçaabat is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is located on the east of the city of Trabzon. It covers an area of 385 km² and the elevation is 10 m. The town has an estimated population of 48,315...
köfte, Bursa köfte, FilibePlovdivPlovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
köfte, Tire köfte, Islama köfte (mainly in SakaryaSakarya ProvinceSakarya Province is a province in Turkey, located on the coast of Black Sea. The river Sakarya creates a webbing of estuaries in the province....
province) etc. Its main ingredients are minced meat, parsley, bread-egg (not necessarily, usually homemade köfte contains egg yolk and some crumbled bread) and a range of spices: cumin, oregano, mint powder, red or black pepper powder with onion or garlic. Kadınbudu köfte is another traditional speciality; minced meat is mixed with cooked rice and fried. Içli köfte can be described as a shell of "bulgur" filled with onion, minced meat and nuts. Çiğ köfte is a meze from south-eastern Turkey meaning raw meatballs, prepared with "bulgur" and raw minced meat. Terbiyeli Sulu Köfte is another meatball speciality cooked with flour, tomato paste and water in which lemon and egg sauce is added. - Sujuk (sucuk) is a form of raw sausage (made with beef meat and a range of spices, especially garlic, slightly similar to Spanish chorizo) commonly eaten with breakfast. Instead of classical sausages (sosis), sujuk is the most used ingredient for snacks and fast-food style toasts and sandwiches in Turkey.
- PastırmaPastirmaPastirma or bastirma is a highly seasoned, air-dried cured beef in the cuisines of the former Ottoman countries.-Etymology:The name bastirma is from . bastırma is the gerund of the verb bastırmak , which means "to depress, restrain"...
is another famous beef delicacy (see pastramiPastramiPastrami , is a popular delicatessen meat usually made from beef and, traditionally in Romania, also from pork and mutton. In Israel, "Pastrama" is the term used for sliced chicken and turkey. Like corned beef, pastrami was originally created as a way to preserve meat before modern refrigeration...
). Both pastırma and sujuk can be put in kuru fasulye (dry beans) to enrich the aroma. Both can be served as a meze as well. Sucuk or pastırma with scrambled eggsScrambled eggsScrambled eggs is a dish made from beaten whites and yolks of eggs . Beaten eggs are put into a hot pot or pan and stirred frequently, forming curds as they coagulate.-Sample preparation:...
, served in a small pan called sahan, is eaten at breakfast in Turkey. - Kokoreç (the intestines of sheep) with spices is a traditional low-price fast food in Turkey.
- LiverLiver (food)The liver of mammals, fowl, and fish are commonly eaten as food by humans. Domestic pig, ox, lamb, calf, chicken, and goose livers are widely available from butchers and supermarkets....
is fried in Turkish cuisine. "Arnavut ciğeri" (meaning Albanian liver), served with onion and sumacSumacSumac is any one of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus and related genera, in the family Anacardiaceae. Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, especially in Africa and North America....
, is usually eaten as a meze, in combination with other mezes such as fava. "EdirneEdirneEdirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
ciğeri" is another famous liver dish from EdirneEdirneEdirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
. Liver is first frozen so that it can be cut into very thin layers. After being cut off, liver layers are fried. - Kelle (Roasted Sheep's Head) - From the PersianPersianPersian means of, from, or related to Persia , or the Persian-speaking world. See:* Persian people, the majority ethnic group of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan* Persian language, an Iranian language of the Indo-European family...
word for "head": "Kaleh". - Kuzu Etli Enginar (artichokes with lamb)
- Etli Taze Fasulye (green beans stew with meat)
- Pastırmalı Kuru Fasulye (white kidney bean with pastirma)
- Etli Bamya (okra with meat or chicken)
- İşkembeli Nohut (chickpea with tripe)
- Piliç Dolma (stuffed chicken with spice filling)
Kebabs
- Adana kebap or kıyma kebabı – kebab with hand-minced (zırh) meat mixed with chili on a flat wide metal skewer (shish); associated with AdanaAdanaAdana is a city in southern Turkey and a major agricultural and commercial center. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, 30 kilometres inland from the Mediterranean, in south-central Anatolia...
region although very popular all over Turkey. - Ali Paşa kebabı, "Ali Pasha kebab" – cubed lamb with tomato, onion and parsley wrapped in phillo.
- Alinazik kebabAlinazik kebabAlinazik kebab, or simply Alinazik, is a home-style Turkish kebab variety which is a specialty of the Gaziantep province of Turkey. It is made from char-grill smoked and spiced eggplant puree topped with tender, seasoned and marinated cubes of pan sauteed baby lamb. This popular Anatolian kebab is...
– Ground meat kebab sautéed in a saucepan, with garlic, yogurt and eggplants added. - Bahçıvan kebabı, 'gardener's kebab' – Boneless lamb shoulder mixed with chopped onions and tomato paste.
- Beykoz kebabı – Tomato and onion flavoured lamb, wrapped in aubergine slices and garnished with lamb brains.
- Beyti kebabBeyti kebabBeyti kebab is a Turkish dish consisting of ground beef or lamb, grilled on a skewer and served wrapped in lavash and topped with tomato sauce and yoghurt.Another common name for Beyti kebab is Lokma.- See also :*List of kebabs...
– Ground lamb or beef, seasoned and grilled on a skewer, often served wrapped in lavashLavashLavash is a soft, thin flatbread popular in several countries of the northern parts of the Middle-East and the southern parts of the Caucasus.Traditionally the dough is rolled out flat and slapped against the hot walls of a clay oven....
and topped with tomato sauceTomato sauceA tomato sauce is any of a very large number of sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish...
and yoghurtYoghurtYoghurt, yogurt or yogourt is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yoghurt are known as "yoghurt cultures"...
, traced back to the famous kebab house Beyti in İstanbulIstanbulIstanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
and particularly popular in Turkey's larger cities. - Bostan kebabı – Lamb and aubergine casserole.
- Buğu kebabı, "steamed kebap" – cooked in low heat until the meat releases its moisture and reabsorbs it.
- Cağ kebabCag kebabCağ kebabı is a rotating kebab variety, originating in Turkey's Erzurum Province. The cities of Tortum and Oltu in the said province and Yusufeli in the neighboring Artvin province are in a heated debate concerning the origin of the dish...
, 'spoke kebab' – Cubes of lamb roasted first on a cağ (a horizontal rotating spitRotisserieRotisserie is a style of roasting where meat is skewered on a spit - a long solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked over a fire in a fireplace or over a campfire, or roasted in an oven. This method is generally used for cooking large joints of meat or entire animals, such as pigs,...
) and then on a skewer, a specialty of ErzurumErzurumErzurum is a city in Turkey. It is the largest city, the capital of Erzurum Province. The city is situated 1757 meters above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 361,235 in the 2000 census. .Erzurum, known as "The Rock" in NATO code, served as NATO's southeastern-most air force post during the...
region with recently rising popularity. - Ciğerli kağıt kebabı, 'liver paper kebab' – Lamb liver kebab mixed with meat and marinated with thymeThymeThyme is a culinary and medicinal herb of the genus Thymus.-History:Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage...
, parsleyParsleyParsley is a species of Petroselinum in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean region , naturalized elsewhere in Europe, and widely cultivated as an herb, a spice and a vegetable.- Description :Garden parsley is a bright green hairless biennial herbaceous plant in temperate...
and dillDillDill is a perennial herb. It is the sole species of the genus Anethum, though classified by some botanists in a related genus as Peucedanum graveolens C.B.Clarke.-Growth:...
. - Çardak kebabı, 'arbor kebab' – Stuffed lamb meat in a crepeCrêpeA crêpe or crepe , is a type of very thin pancake, usually made from wheat flour or buckwheat flour . The word is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled". While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is widespread in France...
. - Çökertme kebabı – Sirloin veal kebap stuffed with yogurt and potatoes.
- Çömlek kebabı, 'earthenware bowl kebab' – Meat and vegetable casserole (called a güveç in Turkish) with eggplant, carrots, shallots, beans, tomatoes and green pepper.
- Çöp şiş, "small skewer kebab" – a specialty of SelçukSelçukSelçuk is the central town of Selçuk district, İzmir Province in Turkey, 2 km northeast of Ephesus.Its original Greek name, Agios Theológos referred to John the Theologian. Under the Ottoman Empire, it was known as Ayasoluk...
and GermencikGermencikGermencik is a town and a district of Aydın Province in the Aegean region of Turkey.- Geography :Germencik is located in the middle of the fertile Büyük Menderes plain, inland from the Aegean coastal town of Kuşadası, on the Aydın-İzmir highway from the city of Aydın...
near EphesusEphesusEphesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
, pounded boneless meat with tomatoes and garlic marinated with black pepper, thymeThymeThyme is a culinary and medicinal herb of the genus Thymus.-History:Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage...
and oil on wooden skewers. - Döner kebabDöner kebabDoner kebab is a dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro , shawarma, and al pastor . It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage...
- Hünkâri kebabı, 'Sultan's kebab' – Sliced lamb meat mixed with patlıcan beğendi (aubergine purée), basil, thymeThymeThyme is a culinary and medicinal herb of the genus Thymus.-History:Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage...
and bay leafBay leafBay leaf refers to the aromatic leaf of the bay laurel . Fresh or dried bay leaves are used in cooking for their distinctive flavor and fragrance. The leaves are often used to flavor soups, stews, braises and pâtés in Mediterranean cuisine...
. - İskender kebapIskender kebapİskender kebab is one of the most famous meat foods of northwestern Turkey and takes its name from its inventor, İskender Efendi , who lived in Bursa in the late 19th century...
– döner kebap served with yoghurtYoghurtYoghurt, yogurt or yogourt is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yoghurt are known as "yoghurt cultures"...
, tomato sauce and butterButterButter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
, originated in Bursa. The kebab was invented by İskender Efendi in 1867. He was inspired from Cağ kebab and turned it from horizontal to vertical. - İslim kebabı, 'steamed kebab' – Another version of the aubergine kebab without its skin, marinated in sunflower oil.
- Kağıt kebabı – Lamb cooked in a paper wrapping.
- Kuyu kebabı, 'pit kebab' – Prepared from the goat it is special for AydınAydinAydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
region, similar to tandır kebabı. - Kuzu incik kebabı, 'lamb shank kebab' – Lamb shanks mixed with peeled eggplants and chopped tomatoes, cream, salt and pepper.
- Kuzu şiş – Shish prepared with marinated milk-fed lamb meat.
- Köfte kebap or Shish köfte – minced lamb meatballs with herbs, often including parsleyParsleyParsley is a species of Petroselinum in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean region , naturalized elsewhere in Europe, and widely cultivated as an herb, a spice and a vegetable.- Description :Garden parsley is a bright green hairless biennial herbaceous plant in temperate...
and mintMenthaMentha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae . The species are not clearly distinct and estimates of the number of species varies from 13 to 18. Hybridization between some of the species occurs naturally...
, on a stick, grilled. - Kılıç şiş – Brochette of swordfish
- Manisa kebabı – This ManisaManisaManisa is a large city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province.Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port city and the regional metropolitan center of İzmir and by its fertile hinterland rich in...
region version of the kebab is smaller and flat size shish meat on the sliced pidePitaPita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Greece, the Balkans the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough...
bread, flavored with butter, and stuffed with tomato, garlic and green pepper. - Orman kebabı, 'forest kebab' – Lamb meat on the bone and cut in large pieces mixed with carrots, potatoes and peas.
- Patates kebabı, 'potato kebab' – Beef or chicken mixed with potatoes, onions, tomato sauce and bay leaves.
- Patlıcan kebabı, 'aubergine kebab' – Special kebap meat marinated in spices and served with eggplant (aubergine), hot pide bread and a yoghurt sauce.
- Ramazan kebabı, 'RamadanRamadanRamadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
kebab' – Meat mixed with yogurt, tomato and garlic stuffed with fresh mint or garnish on Pide bread. - Şiş kebabı – Prepared with fish, lamb or chicken meat on thin metal or reed rods, grilled.
- Sivas kebabı – Associated with the Sivas region, similar to Tokat kebab but especially lamb ribs are preferred and it also differs from Tokat kebabı on the point that there are no potatoes inside.
- Susuz kebap, 'waterless kebab' – Cooked after draining excess fluid from the meat rubbed with salt and cinnamon in saucepan.
- Şiş kebab
- Şiş tavuk or Tavuk şiş or – Yogurt-marinated chicken grilled on a stick
- Talaş kebabı, 'sawdust kebab' – Diced lamb, mixed with grated onions, brown meat mixed with flour dough.
- Tandır kebabı, 'tandoor kebab' – Lamb pieces (sometimes a whole lamb) baked in an oven called a tandırTandoorA tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Azerbaijan, India, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central Asia, as well as Burma and Bangladesh.The heat for a tandoor was...
, which requires a special way of cooking for hours. Served with bread and raw onions. - Tas kebabı, 'bowl kebab' – Stewed kebab in a bowl, beginning with the cooking of the vegetables in butter employing a method called yaga vurmak, ("butter infusion"), before the meat itself is cooked in the same grease.
- Testi kebabı, 'earthenware-jug kebab' – Ingredients are similar to çömlek kebabı, prepared in a testi instead of a güveç, generally found in Central Anatolia and the Mid-Western Black Sea region.
- Tokat kebabı – Associated with the TokatTokatTokat is the capital city of Tokat Province of Turkey, at the mid Black Sea region of Anatolia. According to the 2009 census, the city of Tokat has a population of 129,879.-History:Tokat was established in the Hittite era....
region, it is made with veal marinated in olive oil, aubergine, tomatoes, potatoes, onion, garlic and special pitaPitaPita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Greece, the Balkans the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough...
bread. - Urfa kebabı – from Urfa, similar to Adana kebab, but not spicy
Fish
Turkey is surrounded by seas which contain a large variety of fish. Fish are grilled, fried or cooked slowly by the buğulama (poaching) method. Buğulama is fish with lemon and parsley, covered while cooking so that it will be cooked with steam. The term pilâki is also used for fish cooked with various vegetables, including onion in the oven. In the Black Sea region, fish are usually fried with thick corn flour. Fish are also eaten cold; as smoked (isleme) or dried (çiroz), canned, salted or pickled (lâkerda). Fish is also cooked in salt or in dough in Turkey. Pazıda Levrek is a seafood speciality which consists of sea bassEuropean seabass
The European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax, also known as Morone labrax, is a primarily ocean-going fish that sometimes enters brackish and fresh waters. It is also known as the sea dace...
cooked in chard
Chard
Chard , is a leafy green vegetable often used in Mediterranean cooking. While the leaves are always green, chard stalks vary in color. Chard has been bred to have highly nutrious leaves at the expense of the root...
leaves. In fish restaurants, it is possible to find other fancy fish varieties like balık dolma (stuffed fish), balık iskender (inspired by Iskender kebab), fishballs or fish en papillote. Fish soup
Fish soup
Fisherman's Soup or halászlé ; , ribena chorba; , ribina čorba) is a hot, spicy paprika-based river fish soup, originating as a dish of Hungarian cuisine, a bright red hot soup prepared with generous amounts of hot paprika and carp or mixed river fish, characteristic for the cuisines of the...
prepared with vegetables, onion and flour is common in coastal towns and cities. In Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
's Eminönü
Eminönü
Eminönü is a former district of Istanbul in Turkey, now a neighbourhood of Fatih district. This is the heart of the walled city of Constantine, the focus of a history of incredible richness. Eminönü covers the point on which the Byzantine capital was built. The Galata Bridge crosses the Golden Horn...
and other coastal districts, grilled fish served in bread with tomatoes, herbs and onion is a popular fast food. In the inner parts of Turkey, trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
alabalık is common as it is the main type of freshwater fish. Popular seafood mezes include stuffed mussels, fried mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
and fried kalamar
Squid
Squid are cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles...
with tarator
Tarator
Tarator or Taratur , is a traditional Balkan dish. It is a cold soup , popular in the summertime in Albania, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, southeastern Serbia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Armenia and in Cyprus...
sauce.
Popular sea fishes in Turkey include: anchovy
Anchovy
Anchovies are a family of small, common salt-water forage fish. There are 144 species in 17 genera, found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Anchovies are usually classified as an oily fish.-Description:...
hamsi, sardine
Sardine
Sardines, or pilchards, are several types of small, oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. Sardines are named after the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, around which they were once abundant....
sardalya, bonito
Bonito
Bonito is a name given to various species of medium-sized, predatory fish in the Scombridae family. First, bonito most commonly refers to species in the genus Sarda, including the Atlantic bonito and the Pacific bonito ; second, in Japanese cuisine, bonito refers to the skipjack tuna , which, in...
palamut, gilt-head bream
Gilt-head bream
The gilt-head bream is a fish of the bream family Sparidae found in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern coastal regions of the North Atlantic Ocean...
çupra or çipura, red mullet
Red mullet
The red mullets or surmullets are two species of goatfish, Mullus barbatus and Mullus surmuletus, found in the Mediterranean Sea, east North Atlantic Ocean, and the Black Sea. Both "red mullet" and "surmullet" can also refer to the Mullidae in general.Though they can easily be distinguished—M...
barbun(ya), sea bass levrek, whiting
Merlangius merlangus
Merlangius merlangus, commonly known as whiting is an important food fish in the eastern North Atlantic, northern Mediterranean, western Baltic, and Black Sea...
mezgit (allied to the cod fish) or bakalyaro, swordfish
Swordfish
Swordfish , also known as broadbill in some countries, are large, highly migratory, predatory fish characterized by a long, flat bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfish are elongated, round-bodied, and lose all teeth and scales by adulthood...
kılıç, turbot
Turbot
The turbot is a species of flatfish in the family Scophthalmidae. It is native to marine or brackish waters of the North Atlantic, Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.-Etymology:...
kalkan, red pandora
Pagellus bellottii
Pagellus bellottii, the Red pandora, is a species of fish found off the coast of Africa and the Canary Islands, from the western Mediterranean southwards to Angola. A demersal feeder, they can generally be found at depths of 10 m to 50 m. Individuals can reach 42 cm, but average 25 cm...
mercan, tırança, istavrit and white grouper
Epinephelus
Epinephelus is a genus of groupers. They are large sea fish. Members of this genus may also be called a Mero.-Species:FishBase lists 99 species:* Areolate grouper, Epinephelus areolatus ....
lagos.
Desserts
Baklava
Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey. It is characteristic of the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and much of central and southwest Asia....
. Baklava is made either with pistachio or walnut. Turkish cuisine has a range of baklava-like desserts which include şöbiyet, bülbül yuvası
Bülbül yuvası
Bülbül yuvası , is a Turkish phyllo dough dessert. It takes its name from its hollow and circular shape. Having been baked, warm syrup is sprinkled, and the hollow center is filled with pistachios before being served.-External links:*...
, saray sarması, sütlü nuriye
Sütlü Nuriye
Sütlü Nuriye is a Turkish dessert. The name means "Nuriye with milk", Nuriye being a Turkish female name. Some suggest that this is the name of the cook who invented the dessert in the 1980s. It is of baklava type, but the syrup contains milk, which gives a whitish baklava look to the dessert...
, and sarı burma.
Kadaif ('Kadayıf') is a common Turkish dessert that employs shredded yufka. There are different types of kadaif: tel (wire) or Burma (wring) kadayıf, both of which can be prepared with either walnut or pistachio.
Although carrying the label "kadayıf", ekmek kadayıfı
Ekmek kadayifi
Ekmek kadayıfı, ekmek kataif, ekmek kataifi is a Turkish bread pudding dessert, also in Greece called εκμέκ κανταΐφι or simply εκμέκ ekmek...
is totally different from "tel kadayıf" (see http://photos1.blogger.com/img/109/6214/1024/2004_0101ekkad0014.jpg). Künefe and ekmek kadayıfı
Ekmek kadayifi
Ekmek kadayıfı, ekmek kataif, ekmek kataifi is a Turkish bread pudding dessert, also in Greece called εκμέκ κανταΐφι or simply εκμέκ ekmek...
are rich in syrup and butter, and are usually served with kaymak
Kaymak
Kaymak ; also kaymak, kajmak, kaimak or qeymağ, also geymar, gaimar, is a originally Serbian creamy dairy product, similar to clotted cream, made in Serbia, Turkey,...
(clotted/scrambled butter). Künefe contains wire kadayıf with a layer of melted cheese in between and it is served hot with pistachio or walnut.
Among milk-based desserts, the most popular ones are muhallebi, su muhallebisi, sütlaç (rice pudding), keşkül
Keskül
Keşkül , is an almond based milk pudding usually served in a bowl and eaten with a spoon. Often garnished with coconut shaving or pistachio nuts and is off-white in colour....
, kazandibi (meaning the bottom of "kazan" because of its burnt surface), and tavuk göğsü
Tavuk gögsü
Tavuk göğsü is a Turkish dessert pudding made with chicken and milk. It became one of the most famous delicacies served to the sultans in the Ottoman Topkapı Palace...
(a sweet, gelatinous, milk pudding dessert quite similar to kazandibi, to which very thinly peeled chicken breast is added to give a chewy texture). A speciality from the Mediterranean region is haytalı, which consists of pieces of starch pudding and ice cream (or crushed ice) put in rose water sweetened with syrup.
Helva (halva): un helvası (flour helva is usually cooked after someone has died), irmik helvası (cooked with semolina and pine nuts), yaz helvası (made from walnut or almond), tahin helvası (crushed sesame seeds), kos helva, pişmaniye
Pismaniye
Pişmaniye or pishmaniye is a Turkish sweet in fine strands made by blending flour roasted in butter into pulled sugar. It is sometimes garnished with ground pistachio nuts...
(floss halva).
Other popular desserts include; Revani (with semolina and starch), şekerpare, kalburabasma, dilber dudağı, vezir parmağı, hanım göbeği, kemalpaşa
Kemalpasa
Kemalpaşa is a large town and the center of the district of the same name in İzmir Province, Turkey. Its district area extends immediately to the east of İzmir's eastern-most metropolitan district, Bornova, and Kemalpaşa town being at a distance of only from the historical and traditional center...
, tulumba
Tulumba
Tulumba , meaning pump) is a dessert in the Turkish, the Greek and the Bulgarian cuisine consisting of fried batter soaked in syrup.It is made from unleavened dough lump given a small ovoid shape with ridges along it using an 'icing' bag with a special nozzle. It is first deep-fried to golden...
, zerde
Zerde
Zerde is a Turkish dessert, a sort of sweet pudding from rice that is colored yellow with saffron. It is a festive dish popular at wedding, birth celebrations and during the first ten days of the sacred month of Muharram....
, höşmerim, paluze, irmik tatlısı/peltesi, lokma
Lokma
*Tuzlu lokma Lángos, Boortsog - They may be thought of as cookies or biscuits, and since they are fried, they are sometimes compared to doughnuts.*Tatlı lokma Loukoumades - are a kind of fried-dough pastry made of deep fried dough soaked in sugar syrup or honey and cinnamon, and sometimes sprinkled...
.
Güllaç
Güllaç
Güllaç is a Turkish dessert made with milk, pomegranate and a special kind of pastry. It is consumed especially during Ramadan.Güllaç is mentioned as being the first version of baklava. The similarities among the two desserts are many, such as the use of thin layers of dough and nuts in between....
is a "Ramadan" dessert which consists of very thin large dough layers put in the milk and rose water, served with pomegranate seeds and walnut. The story tells that in the cuisines of the Palace, those extra thin dough layers were prepared with "prayers" as it was believed that if one did not pray while opening phyllo dough, it would never be possible to obtain such thin layers.
Aşure
Ashure
Ashure or Noah's Pudding is a Turkish dessert that is made of a mixture consisting of grains, fruits and nuts. It is served during the first month of the Islamic calender, Muharrem, on the Tenth of Muharrem, or the Day of Ashure. "Ashura" means "tenth" in Arabic...
can be described as a sweet soup containing boiled beans, wheat and dried fruits. Sometimes cinnamon and rose water is added when being served. According to legend, it was first cooked on Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
and contained seven different ingredients in one dish. All the Anatolian peoples have cooked and are still cooking aşure especially during the month of Muharrem.
Some traditional Turkish desserts are fruit-based: ayva tatlısı (quince), incir tatlısı (fig), kabak tatlısı (pumpkin), elma tatlısı(apple) and armut tatlısı(pear). Fruits are cooked in a pot or in the oven with sugar, carnation and cinnamon (without adding water). After being chilled, they are served with walnut or pistachio and kaymak
Kaymak
Kaymak ; also kaymak, kajmak, kaimak or qeymağ, also geymar, gaimar, is a originally Serbian creamy dairy product, similar to clotted cream, made in Serbia, Turkey,...
.
Homemade cookies are commonly called kurabiye in Turkish. The most common types are acıbadem kurabiyesi
Acibadem kurabiyesi
Acıbadem kurabiyesi is a traditional Turkish biscuit made of almonds, sugar and egg whites. The traditional recipes include a small amount of bitter almonds, which gives this cookie its name. Because bitter almonds are not readily available, almond extract is typically used as a substitute...
(prepared only with egg, sugar and almond), un kurabiyesi (flour kurabiye) and cevizli kurabiye (kurabiye with walnut). Another dough based dessert is ay çöreği.
Tahin-pekmez is a traditional combination especially in rural areas. Tahin is sesame paste and pekmez is grape syrup. These are sold separately and mixed before consumption.
Lokum
Lokum
Lokum or Nokul is a type of puff pastry. Lokum is a type of pastry eaten in Turkey and Bulgaria with variations. Lokum is sometimes served hot as an appetizer instead of bread.It consists of a rolled sheet of yeast dough onto which a feta,walnut or poppy seed is sprinkled over a thin coat of butter...
(Turkish delight
Turkish Delight
Turkish delight or lokum is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios and hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; the cheapest are mostly gel, generally flavored with rosewater, mastic, or lemon...
), which was eaten for digestion after meals and called "rahat hulkum" in the Ottoman era, is another well-known sweet/candy with a range of varieties.
Cezerye
Cezerye
Cezerye is a semi-gelatinous Turkish confectionery made from carrot, packed with nuts or pistachios and sprinkled with shredded coconut. Cut into roughly 1" x 1.5" rectangular chips and served on special occasions, it is somewhat akin to Turkish Delights and the Chinese walnut candy known as hetao...
, cevizli (walnut) sucuk (named after its sucuk/sujuk like shape, also known as Churchkhela
Churchkhela
Churchkhela , soutzoukos , soutzouki or rojik , are traditional sausage-shaped candies originating from the Caucasus. It is popular in Georgia, Russia, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey...
in Circassian region) and pestil (fruit pestils) are among other common sweets.
Marzipan
Marzipan
Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal. Persipan is a similar, yet less expensive product, in which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels...
badem ezmesi or fıstık ezmesi (made of ground pistachio) is another common confection in Turkey.
Another jelly like Turkish sweet is macun
Macun
Mesir paste tradition is a very old tradition in the history of Manisa, an Anatolian city in the Aegean region, dating back to almost 500 years...
. Mesir macunu of Manisa
Manisa
Manisa is a large city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province.Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port city and the regional metropolitan center of İzmir and by its fertile hinterland rich in...
/İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
(which was also called "nevruziye" as this macun was distributed on the first day of spring in the Ottoman Palace) contains 41 different spices. It is still believed that "mesir macunu" is good for health and has healing effects. As with lokum, nane macunu (prepared with mint) used to be eaten as a digestive after heavy meals. Herbs and flowers having curative effects were grown in the gardens of Topkapı under the control of the chief doctor "hekimbaşı" and pharmacists of the Palace who used those herbs for preparing special types of macun
Macun
Mesir paste tradition is a very old tradition in the history of Manisa, an Anatolian city in the Aegean region, dating back to almost 500 years...
and sherbet
Sharbat
Sharbat or Sherbet is a popular Middle Eastern and South Asian drink that is prepared from fruits or flower petals. It is sweet and served chilled...
.
There are also several types of ice creams based salep
Salep
Salep is a flour made from grinding the dried tubers of the orchid genus Orchis . These tubers contain a nutritious starch-like polysaccharide called glucomannan. Salep flour is consumed today in beverages and desserts, primarily in Turkey and in places that were formerly part of the Ottoman...
powder or Cornstarch
Cornstarch
Corn starch, cornstarch, cornflour or maize starch is the starch of the corn grain obtained from the endosperm of the corn kernel.-History:...
with Rose water such as Dondurma
Dondurma
Dondurma is the name given to ice cream in Turkey. Dondurma typically includes the ingredients milk, sugar, salep, and mastic. It is believed to originate from the Turkish region of Kahramanmaraş and hence also known as Maraş Ice Cream.- Description :Two qualities distinguish Turkish ice cream:...
(Turkish gum ice cream), dried fruit ice cream, ice cream rose petals.
Dried fruit, used in dolma, pilav, meat dishes and other desserts is also eaten with almonds or walnuts as a dessert. Figs, grapes, apricots are the most widespread dried fruits.
Kaymak (clotted cream-butter) is often served with desserts to cut the sweetness.
Tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
or Turkish coffee
Turkish coffee
Turkish coffee is a method of preparing coffee where finely powdered roast coffee beans are boiled in a pot , with sugar according to taste, before being served into a cup where the dregs settle...
, with or without sugar, is usually served after dinner or more rarely together with desserts.
Alcoholic beverages
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
s are as widely available as in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. However, some Turks abstain from drinking alcohol during the holy month of Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
. There are a few local brands of lager
Lager
Lager is a type of beer made from malted barley that is brewed and stored at low temperatures. There are many types of lager; pale lager is the most widely-consumed and commercially available style of beer in the world; Pilsner, Bock, Dortmunder Export and Märzen are all styles of lager...
such as Bomonti, Marmara34 and Efes Pilsen
Efes Beverage Group
Efes Beer Group was founded in Turkey in 1969, and today consists of sixteen breweries in Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Georgia and Serbia, with headquarters in Istanbul. Named after the ancient Greek city of Ephesus located near the İzmir brewery, the company is a subsidiary of Anadolu...
and a large variety of international beers that are produced in Turkey such as Skol, Beck's
Beck's
Brauerei Beck & Co is a German brewery in the north German city of Bremen. Owned by local families until February 2002, it was then sold to Interbrew for 1.8 billion euros. The brewery was formed under the name Kaiserbrauerei Beck & May o.H.G. in 1873 by Lüder Rutenberg, Heinrich Beck and Thomas...
, Miller
Miller Brewing Company
The Miller Brewing Company is an American beer brewing company owned by the United Kingdom-based SABMiller. Its regional headquarters are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the company has brewing facilities in Albany, Georgia; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Eden, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas;...
, Foster's
Foster's Lager
Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed Australian brand of 5.0% abv pale lager, It is a product of Foster's Group brewed under licence in several countries, including the U.S. and Russia...
, Carlsberg and Tuborg
Tuborg Brewery
Tuborg is a Danish brewing company founded in 1873 by Carl Frederik Tietgen. Since 1970 it has been part of Carlsberg. The brewery was founded in Hellerup, a northern suburb of Copenhagen.-History:...
.
There are a variety of local wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
s produced by Turkish brands such as Kavaklıdere, Doluca, Corvus, Kayra, Pamukkale and Diren which are getting more popular with the change of climatic conditions that affect the production of wine. A range of grape varieties are grown in Turkey. For the production of red wine, the following types of grapes are mainly used; in Marmara Region, Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir
Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...
, Adakarası
Adakarası
Adakarası , is a Turkey origin of red grape variety. Its famous production place is Avşa Island but the grape variety of Adakara produces in all Marmara Region . The wine has an alcohol ratio approximately 12%, and an acidity range of 6 to 7 grams/liter and this wine are also known as Avşa Wine...
, Papazkarası
Papazkarası
Papazkarası, also Papaskara , is a Turkish grape variety and a Turkish wine grown in the Marmara and Central Anatolia regions of Turkey. This variety is used to make a red wine blend with Cinsaut. The wine has an alcohol ratio between 11 - 13%, and an acidity range of 5 to 7...
, Semillion, Kuntra, Gamay
Gamay
Gamay is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as long ago as the 15th century...
, Cinsault; in Aegean Region, Carignane
Carignane
Carignan is a red wine grape that may have originated in Cariñena, Aragon and was later transplanted to Sardinia, elsewhere in Italy, France, Algeria, and much of the New World. Along with Aramon, it was once considered one of the main grapes responsible for France's wine lake. In California, the...
, Çalkarası
Çalkarasi
Çal Karası is a variety of red wine grape from the Çal district of the Denizli Province of western Turkey. It also gives its name to a wine produced from the grape, which is sweet with berry fruit flavours.-History:...
, Merlot
Merlot
Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
, Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
, Alicante Bouschet
Alicante Bouschet
Alicante Bouschet or Alicante Henri Bouschet is a wine grape variety that has been widely cultivated since 1866. It is a cross of Petit Bouschet and Grenache. Alicante is a teinturier, a grape with red flesh. It is one of the few teinturier grapes that belong to the Vitis vinifera species...
; in Black Sea Region and eastern part of the country, Öküzgözü
Öküzgözü
Öküzgözü is a Turkish grape variety and Turkish wine produced from this grape. The grape is one of the two native grape varieties of Elazığ province , located on the Anatolian plateau at the north of the Taurus Mountains...
, Boğazkere
Boğazkere
Boğazkere is a Turkish grape variety and a Turkish wine originated from Elazığ Province near the Tigris river in Southeastern region of Turkey. Its very dark red rich grape and its very well structured with dried fruit flavors and fig taste...
; in Central Anatolia, Kalecik Karası
Kalecik Karasi
Kalecik Karası is a Turkish grape variety and a Turkish wine produced from this grape. This grape and wine are called by the name of area, the Kalecik district of Ankara Province, Turkey....
, Papazkarası
Papazkarası
Papazkarası, also Papaskara , is a Turkish grape variety and a Turkish wine grown in the Marmara and Central Anatolia regions of Turkey. This variety is used to make a red wine blend with Cinsaut. The wine has an alcohol ratio between 11 - 13%, and an acidity range of 5 to 7...
, Dimrit; in Mediterranean Region, Sergi Karası, Dimrit. As for white wine, the grapes can be listed as follows; in Marmara Region, Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
, Riesling
Riesling
Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...
, Semillion, Beylerce, Yapıncak; in Aegean Region, muscat
Muscat (grape and wine)
The Muscat variety of grapes of the species Vitis vinifera is widely grown for wine, raisins and table grapes. Their color ranges from white to near black. Muscat almost always has a pronounced sweet floral aroma. Muscat grapes are grown around the world...
and semillion; in Black Sea Region, Narince; in Central Anatolia, Emir, Hasandede (for further info http://www.hayyam.com/uzumler/index.php). In addition to mass production, it is quite popular to produce wine in private farms and sell them in the locality. Visitors can find different "home made" wines in Central Anatolia (Kapadokya/Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
region - Nevşehir
Nevsehir
Nevşehir, formerly Muşkara, , is a city and the capital district of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. According to the 2010 census, population of the district is 117,890 of which 85,634 631 live in the city of Nevşehir...
), Aegean coast (Selçuk
Selçuk
Selçuk is the central town of Selçuk district, İzmir Province in Turkey, 2 km northeast of Ephesus.Its original Greek name, Agios Theológos referred to John the Theologian. Under the Ottoman Empire, it was known as Ayasoluk...
and Bozcaada (an island in the Aegean Sea)).
Non-alcoholic beverages
Black tea
Black tea is a variety of tea that is more oxidized than the oolong, green, and white varieties.All four varieties are made from leaves of the shrub Camellia sinensis. Black tea is generally stronger in flavor and contains more caffeine than the less oxidized teas. Two principal varieties of the...
. Tea is made with two teapots in Turkey. Strong bitter tea made in the upper pot is diluted by adding boiling water from the lower.
Ayran
Ayran
Ayran or laban is a cold beverage of yogurt mixed with cold water and sometimes salt; it is popular in many Central Asian, Middle Eastern and South-eastern European countries....
(salty yoghurt drink) is the most common cold beverage, which may accompany almost all dishes in Turkey and Iran.
Kefir
Kefir
Kefir is a fermented milk drink that originated with shepherds of the North Caucasus region, who discovered that fresh milk carried in leather pouches would occasionally ferment into an effervescent beverage...
is prepared with kefir grains and milk.
Şalgam suyu (mild or hot turnip juice) is another important non-alcoholic beverage which is usually combined with kebabs or served together with rakı
Raki
-Alcoholic beverages:*Rakı, an anise-flavored spirit popular in Turkey*Any anise-flavored drink.-Fictional characters:*Raki, a character in the manga/anime series Claymore*Raki, a character in the game Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica...
.
Boza
Boza
Boza, also bosa , is a popular fermented beverage in Kazakhstan, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, parts of Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and also Poland and Lithuania...
is a traditional winter drink, which is also known as millet wine (served cold with cinnamon and sometimes with leblebi
Leblebi
Leblebi is a kind of snack made from roasted chickpeas, very common and popular in Turkey. It is sometimes roasted with salt, hot spices or dried cloves. There is also a candy coated variety...
).
Sahlep is another favorite in winter (served hot with cinnamon). Sahlep is extracted from the roots of wild orchids and may be used in Turkish ice cream as well. This was a popular drink in western Europe before coffee was brought from Africa and came to be known.
Sherbet (Turkish şerbet, pronounced ʃeɾˈbet) is a traditional Turkish sweet soft drink made of rose hips, cornelian cherries, rose, or licorice and spices. Some contemporary adaptations can be found at http://www.lezzet.com.tr/dosyalar/01205/.
In classical Turkish cuisine, hoşaf (from the Persian
Persian
Persian means of, from, or related to Persia , or the Persian-speaking world. See:* Persian people, the majority ethnic group of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan* Persian language, an Iranian language of the Indo-European family...
"Khosh-ab", meaning "fresh water") alternatively accompanies meat dishes and pilav.
See also
- BaklavaBaklavaBaklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey. It is characteristic of the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and much of central and southwest Asia....
- GözlemeGözlemeGözleme is a savoury traditional Turkish hand made and hand rolled pastry. Fresh pastry is rolled out, filled and sealed, then cooked over a griddle.The name derives from the Turkish word göz meaning eye. Traditionally, this is done on a sac...
- Kadaif
- Kumpir
- Mangal
- Mantı
- PilakiPilakiPilaki is a style of Turkish meze and may refer to several dishes that are cooked in a sauce made out of onion, garlic, carrot, potato, tomato or tomato paste, sugar, and olive oil. Beans prepared in this style are served cold, garnished with parsley and slices of lemon...
- PiyazPiyazPiyaz is a kind of Turkish salad or meze that is made from any kind of dry beans with hard-boiled egg and vegetables. Common additional ingredients include onion, parsley and sumac. In Antalya province of Turkey it is prepared differently from other regions with other ingredients like sesame oil....
- Turkish coffeeTurkish coffeeTurkish coffee is a method of preparing coffee where finely powdered roast coffee beans are boiled in a pot , with sugar according to taste, before being served into a cup where the dregs settle...
- Turkish rakıRaki (alcoholic beverage)Raki is a Turkish unsweetened, anise-flavored hard alcoholic drink that is popular in Turkey, Greece, Serbia, and other Balkan countries as an apéritif. It is often served with seafood or meze...
- Turkish teaTurkish teaTurkish tea is a type of tea that is popular mainly in the Turkish-speaking countries. In Turkey, Turkish tea tends to be more popular than Turkish coffee among the younger generation.-Introduction:...
- Piruhi
Related cuisines
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External links
- Turkish Cultural Foundation - Turkish Cuisine Portal
- CornucopiaCornucopia (magazine)Cornucopia is a magazine about Turkish culture, art and history, published jointly in the United Kingdom and Turkey.-Content:Cornucopia was founded by John Scott and Berrin Torolsan in 1992. It is an English Language magazine that concerns Turkish culture...
recipe index - Cookery Listing