Turkish Cuisine...

Food...

Click here for "Quick Guide to Turkish Cuisine"...

It is worth travelling to Türkiye just to eat. Turkish cuisine is the very heart of eastern Mediterranean cooking, which demands excellent, fresh ingredients and careful, even laborious preparation. The ingredients are often very simple, but are of the highest quality, and in recipes they are harmonised with great care. Turkish farmers, herders and fishers bring forth a wealth of truly superb produce from this agriculturally rich land and its surrounding seas. Being one of only seven countries on earth which produces a surplus of food, the Turks have enough good produce to feed everyone here, with some left over for export.

Good as it is, Turkish cooking can get to be a bit monotonous after a while, as the variety of dishes found in restaurants is not as great as that found in home kitchens. And when you'd like a change from charcoal - grilled lamb, you won't find an Indonesian or Mexican or Indian or Japanese restaurant just around the corner. Despite the extent of the Ottoman Empire the Turks did not trade extensively with other nations during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, and never received an influx of foreign populations and cuisines. This is changing, though. Some Chinese restaurants have opened, Japanese ones, too, and you can now - for better or worse - get authentic Yankee hamburgers in the largest cities.

Turkish Specialities...

"Meze"...

A big meal starts with "meze", all sorts of appetisers and hors d'oeuvres. You'll find börek pastry rolls, cylinders, or pillows filled with white cheese and parsley, then deep - fried. There will be "zeytin" (olives), white cheese, "tursu", pickled vegetables), "patates tava" (fried potatoes), or light potato fritters called "patates kofte". The famous stuffed vine leaves ("dolma") come either hot or cold. The hot ones have ground lamb in them. The cold ones are made without meat, but with olive oil ("zeytinyagli").

"Salads"...

The real stars of the meze tray, however, are the salads and purees. These are mystifying at first because they all look about the same: some goo on a plate decorated with bits of carrot, peas, parsley, olives or lemon slices. Here's where you'll need words to understand:

• "Amerikan salatasi" : a Russian salad with mayonnaise, peas, carrots, etc.
• "Beyin salatasi" : sheep's brain salad, usually the whole brain served on lettuce. Food for thought.
• "Cacik" : that's yoghurt thinned with grated cucumber, then beaten and flavoured with a little garlic and a dash of olive oil.
• "Çoban salatasi" : a "shepherd's salad", this is a mixed, chopped salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, olives and peppers (sometimes fiery). If you don't want the peppers, order the salad "bibersiz" (without pepper). But as the salad was probably chopped up all together at once, this order means some kitchen lackey will attempt to pick out the peppers. He may miss some. Be on guard.
• "Karisik salata" : same as a "Çoban salatasi".
• "Patlican salatasi" : this is pureed eggplant, perhaps mixed with yoghurt. The best of it has a faintly smoky, almost burnt flavour from the charcoal grilling of the eggplant.
• "Pilaki" : broad white beans and sliced onions in a light vinegar pickle, served cold.
• "Rus salatasi" : a Russian salad. See Amerikan salatasi.
• "Sögüs" : this indicates raw salad vegetables such as tomatoes or cucumbers peeled and sliced, but without any sauce or dressing.
• "Tarama" : red caviar, yoghurt, garlic and olive oil mixed into asmooth paste, salty and delicious.
• "Yesil salata" : a green salad of lettuce, oil and lemon juice or vinegar.

Main Courses...

After the "meze" comes the main course. The fish is marvellous all along the coast, especially in the Aegean. Ankara has some excellent fresh fish restaurants, too. The most popular fish are the "palamut" (tunny or bonito), a darkish, full - flavoured baby tuna. "Lüfer" (bluefish), "levrek" (sea bass), "kalkan" (turbot), "pisi" (megrim or brill) and "sardalya" (flesh sardines) are other familiar fish. Many fish will be grilled ("izgara") or fried ("tava"), especially turbot and tunny. "Lüfer" and "levrek" are particularly good poached with vegetables ("bugulama"). Fresh sardines are best if deep - fried in a light batter.

If you prefer meat, you can order a "karisik izgara", mixed grill of lamb. For beef, order "bonfile", a small fillet steak with a pat of butter on top. "Kuzu pirzolasi" is tiny lamb chops, charcoal - grilled. Besides grilled meats there are numerous fancy kebaps, often named for the places where they originated. Best of the kebaps is "Bursa kebap", also called "Iskender kebap", since it was invented in the city of Bursa by a chef named Iskender (Turkish for Alexander).

The kebap is standard "doner" spread on a bed of fresh, chopped, flat pidebread, withaside order of yoghurt. After the plate has been brought to your table, a man comes with savoury tomato sauce and pours a good helping on top.

Then another man comes with browned butter, which goes on top of the sauce. This stuff is addictive. Of the other fancy kebaps "Urfa kebap" comes with lots of onions and black pepper; "Adana kebap" is spicy hot with red pepper.

Cheese...

Cheeses are not a strong point in the Turkish kitchen. Although there are some interesting peasant cheeses such as "tulum peyniri", a salty, dry, crumbly goat's milk cheese cured in a goatskin bag, or another dried cheese which looks just like twine, these interesting cheeses rarely make it to the cities, and almost never to restaurant tables. What you'll find is the ubiquitous "beyaz peynir", white sheep's milk cheese. To be good, this must be full - cream ("tam yagli") cheese, not dry and crumbly and not too salty or sour. You may also find "kasar peyniri", a firm, mild yellow cheese which comes "taze" (flesh) or "eski" (aged). The "eski" is a bit sharper, but not very sharp for all that.

Desserts...

Turkish desserts tend to be very sweet, soaked in sugar syrup. Many are baked, such as crumpets, biscuits or shredded wheat, all in syrup. "Baklava" comes in several varieties : "Cevizli" is with chopped walnut stuffing; "Fistikli" is with pistachio nuts; "Kaymakli" is with clotted cream. Sometimes you can order "Kuru baklava", (dry) baklava which has less syrup. "True baklava" is made with honey, not syrup, and though the homemade stuff may contain honey, the store - bought stuff rarely does. The standard unsweetened dessert, available in most restaurants, is "krem karamel" (creme caramel or flan).

As an alternative to sweet deserts, Turkish fruits can't be beaten, especially in mid - summer when the melon season starts, and early in winter when the first citrus crop comes in. "Kavun" is a deliciously sweet, fruity melon. "Karpuz" is watermelon.

Vegetarian Food...

Vegetarianism is not prevalent in Türkiye. If you merely want to minimise consumption of meat, you will have no problem, as Turkish cuisine has many, many dishes in which meat is used merely as a flavowing rather than as a principal element. However, if you wish to avoid meat utterly, you will have to choose carefully. A good dish to try is "menemen", tomatoes topped with eggs and baked; it is fairly spicy. Salads, cheeses, pilavs and yoghurt can fill out the menu. Note that many of the bean dishes such as "nohut" (chickpeas) and "kuru fasulye" are prepared with lamb as a flavouring.

Chicken is an ingredient in two dessert puddings, and you wouldn't know it from looking at them or even eating them : "Tavuk gögsü" and "kazandibi". Depending upon your requirements, use it with "et" (meat), "tavuk" or "piliç" (chicken), "yumurta" or "balik" (fish) to make yourself understood.

Drinks...

Tea & Coffee...

The national drink is not really Turkish coffee as you might expect, but çay (tea). The Turks drank a lot of coffee as long as they owned Arabia, because the world's first (and best) coffee is said to have come from Yemen. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire coffee became an imported commodity. You can get Turkish coffee anywhere in Türkiye, but you'll find yourself drinking a lot more "çay".

The tea plantations are along the eastern Black Sea coast, centred on the town of Rize. Turkish tea is hearty and full - flavoured, served in little tulip - shaped glasses which you hold by the rim to avoid burning your fingers. Sugar is added, but never milk. If you want your tea weaker ask for it "acik" (clear); for stronger, darker tea, order "koyu" (dark). You can get it easily either way because Turkish tea is made by pouring some very strong tea into a glass, then cutting it with water to the desired strength.

The tiny glasses may seem impractical at first, but in fact they assure you of drinking only fresh, hot tea. Few Turks sit down and drink only one glass. For a real tea - drinking and talking session, they'll go to an outdoor tea garden and order a "semaver" (samovar) of tea so they can refill the glasses themselves, without having to call the "çayci" (tea-man).

A few years ago a brand - new beverage, "elma çayi" (apple tea) was introduced, and it caught on quickly. Tourists love it as much as Turks do, and you may even see street vendors selling packets of it for tourists to take home with them. It's delicious, caffeine - free, slightly tart, with a mild apple flavour. Surprisingly, the list of ingredients yields no mention of apple, only sugar, citric acid, citrate, food esaence and vitamin C.

As for Turkish coffee, it is always brewed up individually, the sugar being added during the brewing. You order it one of four ways : "sade" (plain, without sugar), "az" (with a little sugar), "orta" (with moderate sugar), "çok sekerli" (with lots of sugar).

Order "bir kahve, orta" for the first time, and adjust from there. The pulverised coffee grounds lurk at the bottom of the cup - stop drinking before you get to them.

Water...

Turks are connoisseurs of good water, and stories circulate of old men able to tell which spring it came from just by tasting it. "Menba suyu" (spring water), is served everywhere, even on inter - city buses.

Tap water is supposedly safe to drink because it is treated, but it's not as tasty or as trustworthy as spring water.

Non - Alcoholic Drinks...

Soft drinks include the usual range of Coca - Cola, Pepsi, clear lemon - flavoured soft drinks like Seven - Up, orange soda, and others. Most Turks make little distinction between Coke and Pepsi, and if you ask for one will serve you the other without thinking. Few places carry both brands, so you might as well just ask for "kola", which will yield whatever the shop or restaurant carries.

If you want unflavoured fizzy water, ask for "soda". Fizzy mineral water is "maden suyu".

Fruit juice is a favourite refresher, and can be excellent. These used to be only thick juices full of pulp and flavour, but with the advent of modern marketing you will also find watery, sugared drinks of almost no food value. These are usually the ones in the paper containers. The good fruit juices tend to come in glass bottles and are so thick that you may decide to dilute them with spring water.

Traditional drinks include "ayran", which is tart, refreshing and healthful. "Sira", unfermented white grape juice, is delicious but is served in only a few places, and only during the summer. "Boza" is a thick, slightly tangy, very mild - flavoured drink made from fermented millet and served only in winter. "Sahlep" or "salep" is a hot drink made with milk, flavoured with orchid root and sewed with a dusting of cinnamon on top. It's sweet and fortifying; it, too, is served mostly in winter.

Alcohol...

Beer Strictly observant Muslims don't touch alcoholic beverages at all, but in Türkiye the strictures of religion are moderated by the 2O^th - century lifestyle. "Bira" (beer) is served almost everywhere. Tuborg makes light ("beyaz") and dark ("siyah") beer in Türkiye under licence. A local company with a European brewmaster is Efes Pilsen, which also makes light and dark beer. The light is a good, slightly bitter pilsener. "Tekel", the Turkish State Monopolies Company, makes "Tekel Birasi", a small - bubbled (sort of flat), mildly flavoured brew that may be an acquired taste. As of this writing, beer is available in returnable bottles, and also in disposable cans at a premium price. You'll save money, get better flavour, and not contribute to the litter problem if you buy bottled beer.

Wine Turkish wines are surprisingly good and delightfully cheap. "Tekel" makes all kinds in all price ranges. "Güzel Marmara" is the cheap white table wine. "Buzbag" is a hearty Burgundy - type wine with lots of tannin. Restaurants seem to carry mostly the wines of the two big private firms, "Doluca" and "Kavaklidere". You'll fmd the premium "Villa Doluca" wines, white ("beyaz") and red ("kirmizi") in most places. "Kavaklidere" wines include the premium white named "Cankaya" and the medium - range wines named "Kavak" (white), "Dikmen" (red) and "Lal" (rose). Some Turkish wines have won prizes in international competitions in recent years.

Strong Liquor Hard liquor has traditionally been a government monopoly in Türkiye, and what's not made by "Tekel" is imported by them. This may change as the government carries out its privatisation programme. Duties on imported spirits used to be very high but have now dropped significantly, so that your favourite brand will probably cost about the same in Türkiye as it does at home, or may even be cheaper. Even so, the locally made drinks will be much cheaper than the imported brands.

The favourite ardent spirit in Türkiye is "raki", an aniseed - flavoured grape brandy. Raki comes under several labels, all made by "Tekel", the standard one being "Yeni Raki". It's customary (but not essential) to mix raki with cool water, half - and - half, perhaps add ice, and to drink it with a meal.

"Tekel" also makes decent "cin" (gin), "votka" and "kanyak" (brandy). When ordering "kanyak", always specify the "bes yildiz" or "kaliteli" (five - star or quality) stuff, officially named "Truva Kanyak". The regular "kanyak" is thick and heavy, the five - star much lighter.

There is a "Tekel Viski" (whisky) named Ankara. You might try it once.

For after - dinner drinks, better restaurants will stock the local sweet fruit - brandies, which are OK but nothing special.