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• Turkish Delight (originally made from dates, honey,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
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