Turkish Cuisine | istanbul.com

Traditional Turkish Cuisine

Geography not only affects the climate, culture, and literature of a country; it also affects its traditional cuisine. Traditional Turkish cuisine, also known as the heir of Ottoman Empire cuisine, carries traces of Balkan and Middle Eastern cooking. It also has subbranches, including flavors indigenous to different regions such as Black Sea cuisine, South-eastern cuisine, and Central Anatolian cuisine. Traditional Turkish cuisine has a wide range of tastes: soups, meat dishes, vegetable dishes, olive-oil dishes, pastries, desserts with sorbet, and desserts with milk.

The Ottoman Cuisine

Are you a foodie or looking for new culinary options that offer fresh, exciting food experiences? If so, Istanbul may be your perfect destination. Istanbul is a city of contrasts: It’s a melting pot of the East and West, plus a unique cultural mixture of two continents. For a city that has been around for more than 2,000 years, it’s no surprise that Istanbul has an abundance of traditional Turkish and Ottoman restaurants. You can try out Turkish cuisine in any Turkish restaurant or Ottoman restaurant. In comparison to Western cuisines, Turkish cuisine is quite different with the rich flavors that its dishes contain, but once you get accustomed to it, you’ll definitely enjoy it.

Seafood

Turkey is a country surrounded by seas on three sides. Therefore, it is very rich in fish and seafood. It is possible to get lost among the fish and seafood on the menus of Istanbul restaurants. Because a saying in Turkey is reflected in the culinary culture of the whole country: “I would eat my own father if he came out of the sea.”

Starters

A wide variety of hot and cold starters, also known as appetizers, are typically served to customers before the main course of a meal. As the first course of a more formal supper, they might be served soup and hors d'oeuvres.

Mezes

To comprehend Turkish food culture, try delicious mezes coloring up the tables. Mezes are a staple of Turkish cuisine coming from all different cultures and their cuisines in the country. Try delicious Turkish mezes choose your favorites after reading this article.

Desserts

Everybody loves desserts. Turkish desserts are amazingly varied and delicious. In this article we have gathered some of the well-known desserts of Turkish cuisine. You may be surprised the ingredients of some desserts. Try all of them and chose your favorite!

Turkish Drinks

While carbonated drinks are often served before or alongside meals in world cuisines, natural Turkish drinks are also offered in Ottoman and Turkish cuisine. It is enriched with delicious sherbets made from various fruits and plants in Turkish cuisine, both in smell and taste and after-dinner drinks such as Turkish coffee.

Mediterranean Cuisine

Turkish cuisine is one of the few fusion cuisines in the world, and food and drinks are both healthy and delicious. In various regions of Turkey, you can have the opportunity to eat different dishes flavored with diverse plant and animal products. For instance, fruits and vegetables grown in the Aegean Region differ from each other in taste, texture, and appearance from fruits and vegetables grown in the Central Anatolia Region. In the Mediterranean region of the country, mostly vegetable dishes are cooked, and they are pretty healthy. Therefore, Aegean and Mediterranean cuisine has an important place in the diverse food culture of Turkey.

Kebab and Meat Dishes

Turkish cuisine is of interest in the world, made from a wide variety of food ingredients thanks to Turkey’s fertile soil and unique climate. Turkish cuisine was influenced by the cuisines of Asian and Balkan societies, and exquisite flavors appeared due to the synthesis of culture that took place in Anatolia. Since many regions of the country are also dominated by different climatic features, they all have their own food cultures.

Turkish Breakfast and Tea

Istanbul, a vast sea in history and culture, is Turkey's most crowded and touristic city. With more than 15 million, this city is Turkey's metropolis. Istanbul, which has the culture and traditions of all regions with its local people from all over the country, is one of the most developed places in the country in terms of cuisine. It attracts the attention of residents and tourists with both local dishes and world cuisine dishes from various cultures of the world. With this article, you will surely be excited about having a full Turkish breakfast when you come here.

Turkish Coffee

Turkish coffee has become incredibly famous around the world for its strong taste and cultural aspects. If you have not tasted Turkish coffee before, you need to hear its story first! Turkish coffee is actually a technique to prepare coffee. This technique originated in Middle Eastern countries like Turkey and Iran. To prepare Turkish coffee, you will need to combine the ground coffee beans with some water and sugar. Turkish coffee is traditionally prepared in a pot that is called “cezve”. Turkish coffee is prepared without filtering, so, it has a high amount of caffeine.