Turkish Food Intro – Experience Antalya

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Intro to Turkish Cuisine

If you’re not familiar with Turkish food, this should be a great primer for you!

Döner – “döner” means “turn” or “rotate.” Chicken or beef stacked on a vertical spit and roasted then sliced off. Can be served as a dürüm (wrap), sandwich, or just by itself.

Kol böreği – A flaky pastry shaped like an “arm” (kol) that is filled with ground meat, cheese, or potatoes. Generally a breakfast food.

Sigara böreği – a cigar shaped pastry filled with a soft cheese. Generally served as an appetizer or side.

Tavuk kanat (chicken wings) – similar in shape to buffalo wings in America, but grilled over a fire and seasoned with spices, not sauce.

Köfte – an Antalya specialty. This translates as meatballs, but it’s really just seasoned meat patties grilled to perfection.

Tandır – slow cooked lamb made in a special underground oven.

Mercimek Çorbası – lentil soup. Make no mistake, this isn’t just a cheap, efficient meal, it’s a staple of Turkish cuisine, and it’s delicious!

İçli Köfte – literally, stuffed meatball. Ground meat mixed with spices and, often, nuts, with a bulgur coating, deep fried.

Ev Yemekleri – “Home Cooking” There are lots of little shops around town that serve ev yemek. You generally go to a counter and choose what you want. Lots of veggies, stews, grilled meats, etc.

Pide – kind of a mix between pizza and flat bread. Usually served with just cheese, with Turkish style sausage (like pepperoni, but beef), diced meat, or cubed beef.

Piyaz – the signature dish of Antlalya. A bean, egg, sesame paste, and olive oil salad. Most Westerners are scared of it, but trust us…it’s good.

Adana Kebap – the eponymous dish of of the Southern Turkish city of Adana. Minced lamb meat with a mild kick of spice. (Urfa Kebap is the same thing, without the spiciness.)

Cağ Kebap – thinly sliced cuts of lamb meat that has been seasoned and slow roasted over a fire on a spick (for those who don’t like lamb, it tastes like beef!).

Etli Ekmek – basically really long flat bread. Usually cooked in a wood burning oven.

Çiğ Köfte – ground bulgur, tomato paste, and parsley, all mashed together into a yummy “meatball.” These used to be made with raw meat (thus the Turkish name, “raw meatball,” but fear not…not anymore). Legend has it that these were invented by Abraham with whatever ingredients he could find at hand.

Mantı – Turkish ravioli. Small pieces of pasta dough filled with ground meat, usually topped with a garlic yogurt sauce.

Tost – this is not toast as Americans know it, but more of a grilled cheese sandwich cooked on a panini type grill. It’s generally filled with cheese and/or sausage.

Su Böreği – “Water Börek,” so named because the dough is briefly boiled before ingredients (cheese, potato, ground beef, or spinach) are spread between them and then baked.

Sarma – stuffed grape leaves. Usually filled with rice and can come with or without ground meat. The Greek dish “dolma” is actually a Turkish word that means “stuffed.”

Meze – loosely translates as “appetizer,” but it’s really an assortment of dishes that come in small portions. They can be served as appetizers, they can comprise an entire meal, or they can be an accompaniment to drinks. Mezes consist of all different kinds of food.

Kumru – often described as a sausage sandwich. A kumru comes in many varieties, but generally has long slices of beef sausage and cheese. A specialty of the Western Turkish city of Izmir.

Simit – often translated as “bagel,” but a simit won’t taste like a bagel as most Westerners know it. It’s much thinner, and the sesame seeds give it a distinctive flavor.

Baklava – surely baklava needs no introduction, but no list of Turkish food is complete without this native Turkish treat. Dozens of expertly thinned sheets of dough are filled with finely crushed nuts (usually pistachio or walnut) and drizzled with sweet syrup.

Pişi – fried dough, like a doughnut, usually served with breakfast. Great to dip in honey, fruit preserves, or Nutella.

Çiğ Börek – a deep fried turnover with minced meat and onion.

Kahvaltı – “breakfast.” But in Turkey, “kahvaltı” doesn’t just mean the first meal you eat, it’s what you eat. The offerings vary from place to place (and from region to region), but you can expect to have a generous helping of fruits, cheese, olives, peppers, cucumbers, sweet sauces, savory sauces, preserves, honey, multiple kinds of bread, and endless tea.

Lahmacun – thin pizza like dough topped with minced lamb meat and spices. A great choice if you need a cheap, hearty meal.

Tavuk Çöp Şiş – careful with the translation on this one…it’s not trash shish! It’s just normal, tasty chicken skewers.

Gobit – pretty much just a sandwich. Can be filled with numerous meats or veggies.

Gözleme – often called a Turkish pancake, but it’s much more like quesadillas. Most often filled with ground meat, spinach, potatoes, or cheese, but it can also be a sweet treat and filled with something like chocolate.

İskender – meat, usually döner or köfte (as shown here) smothered in a red tomato sauce and yogurt sauce.

Gazoz – okay, not a food, but an important part of the Turkish dining experience. Gazoz is a flavored carbonated drink. To most Americans it will look and taste somewhat like Sprite. Each region typically has its own brand of gazoz, and they each have their own unique flavor.

Tantuni – thinly sliced pieces of lamb or beef, cooked on a sac (Turkish frying pan) and served as a dürüm or as a sandwich. Generally spicy.

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