Turkish
food combines culinary traditions from
the people’s nomadic past in Central
Asia with influences of the Middle
Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine.
Guests are usually able to go into a
kitchen and choose from the pots if they
cannot understand the names of the
dishes.
Things to know: Turkey is a secular
state and alcohol is widely enjoyed,
although during Ramadan it is considered
polite for visitors to avoid drinking
alcohol in public.
National specialities:
• Meze (starters brought to your table
on trays or chosen from glass-fronted
refrigerators).
• Shish kebab (pieces of meat threaded
on a skewer and grilled).
• Doner
kebab (pieces of lamb packed tightly
round a revolving spit).
• Dolma (vine leaves or vegetables
stuffed with pine nuts and currants).
• Turkish Delight (originally made
from dates, honey, roses and jasmine
bound by Arabic gum and designed to
sweeten the breath after coffee).
Pide
is a staple Turkish food and you'll find
it all over the country. In touristy
areas it's advertised as Turkish Pizza
but that doesn't really do it justice.
Pide is a long thin banana shaped bread,
rolled with some skill from a small ball
of dough. The bread is then covered with
the topping of your choice and slammed
into a large, solid fuel burning oven
for about 10 minutes. The resulting pide
is sliced up and served piping hot. The
most common toppings are listed below. A
normal sized pide should cost about Ł2.
Kasarli(kasharla)
- a simple, yellow cheese topping,
vegetarians can usually get tomatoes and
green peppers added to this if they ask
nicely.
Kiymali(kimarla)
- lightly spiced mince lamb and tomato
topping
Sucuklu(sujuklu}
- slices of spicy Turkish sausage
Yumurtlu
- egg, usually with a little cheese to
keep it company
Karasik(karashuk}
- all of the above in unpredictable
proportions and scattered at random over
the surface of the bready treat.
Kusbasili(kushbashala}
- literally, birds heads, in reality
small chunks of lamb in a spicy tomato
type context
National drinks:
• Raki (anisette), known as
’lion’s milk’, which clouds when
water is added. Drinking raki is a
ritual and is traditionally accompanied
by a variety of meze.
• Ayran (a refreshing yoghurt drink).
• Tea.
• Strong black Turkish coffee.
• Turkish beer, red and white wines.
Legal drinking age: 18.
Turkish coffee tradition & coffee
houses
Coffee has always played an essential
part in Turkish lifestyle and culture
ever since the Ottoman Empire. Although
apparently you may find coffee
everywhere in the world, its taste in
Turkey is authentic.
Serving coffee has been a tradition here
for ages, acquiring social, political
and cultural values for the consumers,
becoming a ritual that people cannot
forget or give up, but only improve.
The history of Turkish coffee originates
in the 16th century when coffee has been
brought to Istanbul by the Syrian
traders and it was only consumed by a
small number of people, namely
intellectuals. The fascinating drink
gradually conquered the hearts of the
Ottoman rulers during the next centuries
and became part of all the major
ceremonies. Coffee rituals involved the
preparing and the drinking of the
magical beverage and future wives were
judged by their future husbands
depending on their skills to prepare
coffee.
Many political and social discussions
used to take place around a cup of
coffee. People socialized with each
other over coffee, biscuits and sweets
and a number of coffee houses were
founded to satisfy men’s needs for
political conversation, social
interaction and backgammon games.
Even today, coffee houses are places to
meet and talk being very popular with
Turks and their foreign guests.
According to their opinion, the best
Turkish coffee may be found in Istanbul
café-restaurants.
There are thousands of coffee houses in
Turkey, usually divided into old and new
style. The old ones stick to all the
traditional rules of serving coffee
while the new ones are modern places to
go out with friends.
Let’s make a short insight into the
secrets of Turkish coffee, so much
praised by coffee addicts. It derives
from the Arabica beans and cardamom
spice is added to the beans during
grounding. As to the sweetness, Turkish
coffee has several levels of sweetness
ranging from very sweet to bitter black.
The majority of Turks drink coffee with
no sugar that is why spoons are usually
not needed when coffee is served.
According to the rule, the foam is
compulsory on the face of the beverage
and the coffee is served from a special
pot called “cezve”. Though served
with less ceremony today, Turkish coffee
is still top of the list when it comes
to Turkish cultural attractions, due to
its rich tradition, good favors and
recognition.
Turkish coffee has always been an
important cultural means to unite
people. That is why the Turks usually
say: “a cup of coffee with someone may
guarantee years of friendship”.
Do not hesitate to discover the power of
Turkish coffee right here, in Turkey,
the land of beauty and flavors.
Tipping: A service charge is included
in hotel and restaurant bills. It is
customary to leave a small tip (10 to
12%) for barbers, hairdressers and
waiters
