Kebabs are a staple food in many Western countries, but they are only the beginning of Turkey’s culinary treasures.
The European destination, which encompasses more than 300,000 square miles, is renowned for its delicious and varied cuisine.
Fertile plains and plateaus created by dormant volcanoes, snowy mountains, and rushing rivers provide a sumptuous feast.
Examples include:
- The olive oil-based cuisine of the Mediterranean coast.
- The rich pastries of central Anatolia.
- The delicate spicy flavors of the east and southeast.
Turkish cuisine is less about spices and more about fresh ingredients that have been rolled, kneaded, molded, and prepared with love and care.
The Turks are so passionate about their cuisine that they’ve inspired at least one song about it: Anatolian rock musician Baris Manco’s “Domates, biber, patlican” (which means “Tomatoes, pepper, eggplant”).
Beyond the traditional kebab, these are the best foods that Turkey has to offer:
Inegol kofte
In Turkish cuisine, meatballs are used for much more than just a snack. Each type offers a distinct portion of historical context. Mustafa Efendi is credited with creating the world-famous Inegol kofte. In the nineteenth century, he left Bulgaria for Inegol, in northwest Turkey. Ground beef or lamb, onions, and breadcrumbs go into his kofte mix, which sets it apart from traditional Turkish kofte.
Hamsili pilav
Hamsi, often known as European anchovies, is widely used in Black Sea cuisine throughout Turkey. Hamsili Pilav is a dish made with rice and lean fish famous in the city of Rize. This dish’s fresh parsley and dill complement the stock created from Turkish allspice, fried onions, peanuts, butter, and raisins. Afterward, anchovies are placed on the rice and baked together.
Kisir
This refreshing salad, called kisir, features refined bulgur wheat, garlic, tomatoes, parsley, and mint. Though there are several variations around Turkey, the one most associated with Antakya features nar eksisi (sour pomegranate molasses) and pul biber (hot red chili flakes). People in the south like it hot.
Ezogelin corba
Legend has it that an unhappy wife named Ezo came up with this dish to win over her mother-in-law by way of her stomach. She made a flavorful red lentil soup with domato salca (tomato paste — sweet or hot), fresh tomatoes, and grated onions, topped with chopped mint and pepper flakes.
Even though there is no evidence that eating ezogelin (which roughly translates to bride Ezo) from a tiny village near Gaziantep will bring the bride good luck, it is commonly eaten by the bride’s family.
Iskender kebab
Bursa, a city in northwest Turkey, is known for its silk, the Uludag ski resort, and Iskender kebab. A man by the same name prepared this dish in 1867 for those who worked in the Kayhan Bazaar in the same city. Served with a dollop of sour yoghurt, grilled tomatoes, and green peppers, doner meat is sliced thinly and lovingly placed atop slices of plump pide bread slathered in homemade tomato sauce and christened with a sprinkle of sizzling melted butter.
Mercimek kofte
Mercimek kofte, or belluh as it’s known in Diyarbakir, is a vegetarian favorite. They’re packaged in convenient single-serving sizes and made with finely chopped onion, salt, red lentils, fine bulgur, tomato, scallions, aci biber salca (hot red pepper paste), and crushed cilantro. Place one of these flavor bombs on a leaf of lettuce, splash some lemon juice over it, roll it up, and enjoy.
Perde pilav
Perde pilav, also known as curtain rice, is a meal that originated in the village of Siirt and consists of rice cooked in a rich buttery crust. Perde pilav is a wedding-favorite dish with chicken, almonds, currants, butter, pine nuts, oregano, salt, and pepper. Rice represents fertility, and currants indicate future children. At the same time, the dish’s shape symbolizes the construction of a new household.
Piyaz
One of the most well-known meals from Antalya, Turkey, is the piyaz salad, and the beans are the dish’s hidden secret ingredient. These aren’t any ordinary butter beans; instead, they’re a miniature kind called candir, after the region in the interior of the country where they thrive.
Candir is blended with tahini, diluted with water, flat-leaf parsley, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and olive oil to create a mild and savory spread. A hard-boiled egg is added at the last minute, diced coarsely, and folded in the most conventional preparation.
Yaprak dolma
To make the Ispartan version of yaprak dolma, you’ll need garlic, tomatoes, a bunch of parsley, olive oil, an onion, black pepper, tomato paste, salt, and water. Using a spoon, the ingredients are spread out on a vine leaf, folded, and rolled into cylindrical shapes. Although you may purchase leaves from just about any street vendor, the freshest and most fragrant bunches are always gathered from a neighbor’s tree at the stroke of midnight.
The Rum people, Greek immigrants to Turkey, are honored with a dash of cinnamon in some recipes for yaprak dolma, another staple of Turkish Aegean cuisine.
Cag kebab
When it comes to meat, residents of Erzurum are serious eaters. To the extent that they’re willing to wait over 12 hours for a bite of sizzling, flavorful lamb cag kebab. The beef is first marinated for at least half a day in a mixture of onions, salt, and black pepper.
After that, it is threaded onto a long skewer and roasted in a horizontal position above a wood fire. Cag kebab is served folded in flat lavas bread together with white onion, pieces of tomato, and long, thin green peppers nicknamed sivri.
Manti
Kayseri is known for producing the best manti in Turkey. Manti are little squares of dough filled with a variety of ingredients. Although cheese is typically used in other regions, central Anatolia uses minced meat to stuff these little packages. After being topped with pul biber and yoghurt, the manti are thrown into a pot of boiling water. According to urban legend, a skilled Turkish housewife can slice them so thin that 40 can fit on a single spoon.
Saksuka
Vegetable dishes, or zeytinyagli yemegi, that are prepared in olive oil are typical in Turkish cuisine. Green beans, artichokes, and eggplants are just a few vegetable-based ingredients. The sasuka dish is one of the best ways to enjoy eggplant. Green meat with purple skin is cooked with zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, and chili peppers. The heat level depends on the region of Turkey where the dish was prepared.
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