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How to Cook dishes from Turkey
Turkey is in a unique
geographical position, straddling both
Europe and
Asia, and thus the national cuisine combines both
European and Asian influences. In fact, Turkish cuisine owes much of its heritage
to the cuisine of the vast Ottoman Empire, which encompassed not only
what is today modern
Turkey,
but also territorities in the Middle East,
North Africa and southern Europe.
As a result of this Ottoman heritage, Turkish cuisine combines influences from
Arab and Middle Eastern cuisine, as well as
Armenian cuisine,
Greek cuisine,
and Persian cuisine, with
traditional Turkic elements from Central Asia such as yogurt.
In would incorrect however to assume that Turkish cuisine
was homogenous throughout the entire country. This is very
far from the case - there are specific dishes and flavors
unique to each region of
Turkey:
- Olive trees are grown in
the densely populated region of Marmara (the area around
the Bosphorus, Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara), as well as near to
the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, and these regions are known
for their Mediterranean style cuisines.
- Northern Turkey, near
the Black Sea coast, is known for
anchovies and corn.
- Central Anatolia is famous for its pastry dishes: gözleme, keskek and manti.
- Southeastern Turkey
is well-known for mezes, kebabs and desserts such as
baklava, kadayif and künefe.
Some popular Turkish dishes include:
- Adana kebap - A long grilled kebab made from ground lamb, originally from the city of Adana,
where it is known as "kiyma kebabi".
- Arnavut cigeri - Fried liver.
- Ayran - A popular chilled yoghurt drink.
- Börek - Dough stuffed with cheese, meat or vegetables.
- Bursa kebab - Originally invented by Iskender Iskenderoglu, and known as
"Iskender kebap" (which is a trademark), this
dish is a variant of döner kebap. Grilled lamb slices
are based with tomato sauce and layed over pide (pita)
bread, and covered with melted butter and yogurt.
- Cacik - The Turkish version of tzatziki
(a dip found in Greek cuisine)
- Yoghurt with cucumber, mint and olive oil, served cold and eaten as a side dish.
- Dolma - Stuffed vegetables. There are two main variants: a meat ("kiyma") mixture
containing ground meat, onions, rice and spices, which is served warm,
and vegetables mixtures, which are served at room temperature.
- Domates - Tomato soup.
- Döner kebap - Literally translated from
Turkish,
döner kebap means "turning roast". It is meat (lamb or mutton, beef, or chicken) cooked
on a rotating spit. The meat is usually served in a pide (Turkish pita bread).
Versions with salad and sauce added were
invented by the Turkish community resident in
Germany, in a (extremely successful)
attempt to broaden the dish's appeal
- döner kebap has become a popular fast food throughout the world.
- Gözleme - A savory pastry made by thinly rolling dough and repeatedly folding.
It is then filled and browned in a pan. There are many different variations, each
with their own names, including
Etli (meat filling),
Ispanakli (spinach),
Karisik (mixed filling),
Katmer (plain),
Kiymali (ground lamb),
Mantarli (mushrooms),
Patatesli (mashed potatoes) and
Peynirli (filled with feta cheese).
- Hummus - A dip made from ground chickpeas with sesame tahini (ground sesame seeds), lemon juice
and garlic.
- Imam bayildi - Eggplant (aubergine) stuffed with onions, tomatoes and garlic, then simmered in olive oil, served cold.
- Iskembe çorbasi - Tripe (edible offal from the stomaches of cattle) soup. Often
served season with lemon juice or vinegar.
- Karniyarik - Very similar to Imam bayildi, but also containing ground meat, and served hot.
- Keskek - A stew made from meat with wheat or barley.
- Köfte - Meatballs made from ground meat with bread and egg.
There are many variants such as "kadinbudu köfte" which contains
rice, and "Çig köfte" which contains raw ground meat.
- Kuskus - The Turkish version of couscous.
- Lahmacun - Sometimes known as "Turkish pizza",
lahmacun is a round flat piece of dough, topped with ground beef or lamb,
and served rolled up with vegetables (most commonly onions, peppers or tomatoes) or
pickles.
- Mahmudiye - Chicken with almonds, apricots, black pepper, currants and honey.
- Manti - A Turkish pasta made from dough balls filled with ground meat.
It is served with yogurt, flavored with herbs and spices, and warmed in olive oil
or butter.
- Menemen - Eggs with green peppers, onions and tomatoes.
- Patlican begendi - A hot eggplant (aubergine) dish, also containing meat, cheese, milk and flour.
- Patlican salatasi - Literally translated from
Turkish, the name means "eggplant salad".
There are quite a few variations of this dish, the eggplant (aubergine) may be baked or broiled (grilled) over
a open flame before peeling so it has a smokey flavor, and then mixed with yoghurt, olive oil and garlic, or with olive oil, lemon
juice and garlic, and served at room temperature.
- Shish kebab - Grilled chicken or lamb, marinated and cooked on a skewer over an open fire. Lamb
from milk-fed lambs is particularly favored.
- Sujuk - A sausage made from ground beef with spices, and allowed to dry for
several weeks. It must be cooked before eating, and is a popular at breakfast and in
fast foods.
- Tarhana - A dried food based on a fermented mixture of cracked wheat, yogurt
and vegetables - its dryness and acidity means that it preserves well for a long time.
Tarhana is eaten in the form of a soup.
Some Turkish desserts and sweets include:
- Baklava - A sweet pastry dessert made with phyllo dough, filled with chopped walnuts
or pistachios, and sweetened with syrup or honey.
- Helva - A sweet made from tahin (sesame seed paste), flour or semolina.
- Kadaif - A dessert made from shredded dough or phyllo pastry. There are quite a few variants of
this dish, including "künefe" which contains melted cheese and is served hot with pistachios
and walnuts.
- Lokum - Turkish delight.
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