The Turkish Cuisine

You mention Turkish food to anyone and their first thought goes to the kebab. And why shouldn’t it? They’re tasty, filling and great after a drunken night out. But the cuisine goes so much further than that, into a world filled with sweet pastries and salty cheeses, scrumptious pastas and their own version of a pizza.

So for today, I thought I’d share some of my favourite foods with you, so that if you’re ever out at a restaurant and see one of them, you might actually consider trying them.

First off though, I want to say that you really need to not judge a book by its cover. When we arrived in Antalya, it was 9pm and we were starving, having not eaten anything since breakfast. We went for a walk to see what we could find, and happened upon a restaurant called “The Kebab House”. I know, original name right? Anyway, we sat down and the waiter asked if he could recommend something for us. After a quick look at the menu, we went with his suggestion. It turned out to be a mixed grill. Now, we had had a mixed grill before and it was amazing. So we expected one in this rather fancy, elegant restaurant to be of a similar quality.

As it turns out, it was not. The bread was flat and flavourless, the salad limp and overpowered by coriander, and every second piece of meat was just fat. In a word, I was disappointed. By this stage I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, so I couldn’t be bothered protesting, but we paid for the lacking meal and left. After eating stale Simit and burnt cobs of corn, this fancy restaurant had given us the worst meal in Turkey. Just goes to show that a place doesn’t need to be elegant to provide a nice meal.

Moving on, I want to start off with my favourite Turkish food. Manti. My love. It doesn’t sound very appealing going off the name alone, and perhaps some wouldn’t find it tasty, but I adore it. It’s basically the Turks’ answer to ravioli. Small triangles of pasta encasing minced lamb, boiled and served with yogurt and butter with red pepper powder. I order it every chance I get.

Kofte are meatballs that can be served with yogurt, plain or in sandwiches. Another take on them is cig kofte. These are made with raw mince and kneaded with so many spices that they are said to be ‘cooked’. These are then combined with a variety of herbs. Best served with a wedge of lemon and milk (they’re quite spicy!)

Kuzu Tandir. The lamb is slow-cooked whole, then pulled apart and served with yogurt, and rice or potatoes. We had ours with bulgur, and the meat was amazingly tender.

Baklava! Layers of flaky pastry that is so sweet and nutty it will satisfy any cravings. It is traditionally made with walnuts but can also have pistachios or hazelnuts. The pastry is held together with honey.

Pide – the answer to pizza. It’s a flatbread covered with different toppings, namely minced meat or cheese.

Then of course there’s the classic Turkish Delight, also known as lokum. Dolma – stuffed vegetables, usually referring to vine leaves. Simit is a ring of bread covered in sesame seeds, sometimes served with nutella which just makes it even better. There are many different types of Borek – salty pastries consisting of thin layers of dough, with different fillings depending on the type. The shape also differs.

These are just a few of the different foods that we have tried while being in Turkey. If you get a chance, make sure you try them too.