Turkish cuisine varies widely across regions but is largely based on Ottoman influences and features dairy products like yogurt, soups, breads like pide and simit, pastries like börek, rice and pasta dishes, vegetarian dishes including dolma stuffed vegetables, egg dishes like menemen, an array of meze and salads, and meat dishes especially kebabs. Key ingredients include olive oil, bulgur, nuts, and spices. Dishes are often named after regions like Urfa or Adana kebabs.
2. INTRODUCTION
• ABOUT TURKISH CUISINE
• Dairy Products
• Soups
• Bread
• Pastries
• Rice and Pasta
• Vegetarian Dishes(Vegetable and Egg)
• Meze and Salads
• Meat Dishes(Kebabs)
• Fish
• Deserts
• Beverages
• CONCLUSION
3. About Turkish Cuisine
Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of
Ottoman cuisine,which can be described as a
fusion and refinement of Central Asian,Middle
Eastern and Balkan cuisines.Turkish cuisine has
in turn influenced those and other neighbouring
cuisines,including those of western Europe.
4. About Turkish Cuisine
Turkish cuisine varies across the country. The cooking of
Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, and rest of the Aegean region
inherits many elements of Ottoman court cuisine, with a
lighter use of spices, a preference for rice over bulgur, and
a wider use of seafoods. The cuisine of the Black Sea
Region uses fish extensively, especially the Black Sea
anchovy (hamsi), has been influenced by Balkan and
Slavic cuisine, and includes maize dishes. The cuisine of
the southeast—Urfa, Gaziantep and Adana—is famous for
its kebabs, mezes and dough-based desserts such as
baklava, kadayıf and künefe (kanafeh).
5. About Turkish Cuisine
Especially in the western parts of Turkey,
where olive trees grow abundantly, olive oil is
the major type of oil used for cooking.The
cuisines of the Aegean, Marmara and
Mediterranean regions are rich in vegetables,
herbs, and fish. Central Anatolia has many
famous specialties, such as keşkek (kashkak),
mantı (especially from Kayseri) and gözleme.
6. About Turkish Cuisine
A specialty's name sometimes includes that of
a city or region, either in or outside of Turkey,
and may refer to the specific technique or
ingredients used in that area. For example, the
difference between urfa kebab and adana kebab
is the thickness of the skewer and the amount of
hot pepper that kebab contains. Urfa kebab is
less spicy and thicker than adana kebab.
9. Dairy Products
• Yogurt is an important element in Turkish
cuisine.In fact, the English word yogurt or yogurt
derives from the Turkish word yoğurt. Yogurt can
accompany almost all meat dishes (kebabs,
köfte), vegetable dishes (especially fried eggplant,
courgette, spinach with minced meat etc.), meze
and a specialty called mantı (folded triangles of
dough containing minced meat). One of the most
common Turkish drinks, ayran, is made from
yogurt. Also, yogurt is often used in the
preparation of cakes, some soups and pastries.
10. Dairy Products
• Beyaz peynir is a salty cheese taking its name
from its white color ("white cheese"). It is
eaten plain (e.g. as part of the traditional
Turkish breakfast), used in salads, and
incorporated into cooked foods such as
menemen, börek and pide.
11. Dairy Products
• Çökelek is one of two types of unsalted white
cheese, made by boiling the whey left over from
making beyaz peynir.
• Lor is the other type of unsalted white cheese, it
is used in traditional desserts made from
unsalted cheese like höşmerim.
• Tulum is a sheep's cheese preserved in an animal
skin bag.
• Otlu peynir ("herbed cheese") is produced in
many areas, chiefly in East Anatolia.
13. Soups
A Turkish meal usually starts with a thin soup
(çorba). Soups are usually named after their main
ingredient, the most common types being;
mercimek (lentil) çorbası, yogurt, or wheat (often
mashed) called tarhana çorbası. Delicacy soups are
the ones that are usually not the part of the daily
diet, like işkembe soup.İşkembe soup and paça
çorbası, although the latter also used to be
consumed as a nutritious winter meal. Before the
popularisation of the typical Turkish breakfast, soup
was the default morning meal for some people.
14. Soups
The most common soups in Turkish cuisine are:
• Buğday aşı/Yoğurt Çorbası/Ayran Çorbası (which can be served
hot or cold)
• Lahana (cabbage soup)
• Tavuk (chicken soup, if added almond becomes "Bademli Tavuk")
• Düğün (Wedding soup)
• Ezogelin
• İşkembe(Paunch)
• Mercimek (lentil soup)
• Şehriye
• Tarhana
• Domates
• Yayla
16. Bread
•
•
•
•
Bazlama
Mısır Ekmeği(Corn Bread)
Lavaş
Pide (a broad, round and flat bread made of wheat
flour)
• Simit (also known as "gevrek", another type of ringshaped bread covered with sesame seeds. Simit is
commonly eaten in Turkey, plain or with cheese, butter
or marmalade).
• Yufka a round and flat bread, made of wheat flour,
thinner than pide.
18. Pastries
• Börek is the general name for salty pastries made with
yufka (a thicker version of phyllo dough), which
consists of thin layers of dough. Su böreği, made with
boiled yufka/phyllo layers, cheese and parsley, is the
most frequently eaten. Çiğ börek (also known as Tatar
böreği) is fried and stuffed with minced meat. Kol
böreği is another well-known type of börek that takes
its name from its shape, as do fincan (coffee cup),
muska (talisman), Gül böreği (rose) or Sigara böreği
(cigarette). Other traditional Turkish böreks include
Talaş böreği (phyllo dough filled with vegetables and
diced meat), Puf böreği. Laz böreği is a sweet type of
börek, widespread in the Black Sea region.
19. Pastries
• Poğaça is the label name for dough based salty
pastries. Likewise çörek is another label name
used for both sweet and salty pastries.
• Gözleme is a food typical in rural areas, made of
lavash bread or phyllo dough folded around a
variety of fillings such as spinach, cheese and
parsley, minced meat or potatoes and cooked on
a large griddle (traditionally sač).
• Katmer is another traditional rolled out dough. It
can be salty or sweet according to the filling.
20. Pastries
• Lahmacun (meaning dough with meat in Arabic) is a
thin flatbread covered with a layer of spiced minced
meat, tomato, pepper, onion or garlic.
• Pide, which can be made with minced meat (together
with onion, chopped tomatoes, parsley and spices),
kashar cheese, spinach, white cheese, pieces of meat,
braised meat (kavurma), sucuk, pastırma or/and eggs
put on rolled-out dough, is one of the most common
traditional stone-baked Turkish specialities.
• Açma is a soft bread found in most parts of Turkey. It is
similar to simit in shape, is covered in a glaze, and is
usually eaten as a part of breakfast or as a snack.
22. Rice and Pasta
• Sade pilav is ordinary rice, which can accompany
almost all dishes.
• Domatesli pilav/tomato pilaf
• Etli pilav:rice containing meat pieces
• Nohutlu pilav:rice cooked with chickpeas
• İç pilav:rice with liver slices, currants, peanuts,
chestnut, cinnamon and a variety of herbs
• Patlıcanlı pilav:rice with eggplant
• Hamsili pilav:spiced rice covered with anchovies,
cooked in oven. A speciality from the Black Sea Region.
23. Rice and Pasta
• Özbek pilavı:rice with lamb,onion,tomato,carrot
• Acem pilavı:rice with lamb,cooked in meat broth
with pistachios,cinnamon.
• Bulgur pilavı:a cereal food generally made of
durum wheat.
• Perde pilavı:rice with chicken, onion and peanuts
enveloped in a thin layer of dough, topped with
almonds
• Frik pilavı:rice made of burnt wheat. A speciality
from Antioch/Antakya.
24. Rice and Pasta
• Mantı:Turkish pasta that consists of folded
triangles of dough filled with minced meat, often
with minced onions and parsley. It is typically
served hot topped with garlic yogurt and melted
butter or warmed olive oil, and a range of spices
such as oregano, dried mint, ground sumac, and
red pepper powder. The combination of meatfilled dough with yogurt differentiates it from
other dumplings such as tortellini, ravioli, and
Chinese wonton. Mantı is usually eaten as a main
dish. Minced chicken and quail meats are also
used to prepare mantı in some regions of Turkey.
25. Rice and Pasta
• Erişte:home made pasta is called erişte in
Turkey. It can be combined with vegetables
but it can also be used in soups and rice.
• Keşkek:a meat and wheat (or barley) stew
• Kuskus:the Turkish version of couscous, which
can be served with any meat dish or stew
27. Vegetable Dishes
• Dolma is the name used for stuffed
vegetables. Like the vegetables cooked with
olive oil as described above dolma with olive
oil does not contain meat. Many vegetables
are stuffed, most typically green peppers
(biber dolması), eggplants, tomatoes,
courgettes, or Zucchini in the U.S. (kabak
dolması), vine leaves (yaprak dolması).
28. Vegetable Dishes
• Mercimek köfte, although being named köfte,
does not contain any meat. Instead, red lentil is
used as the major ingredient together with spring
onion, tomato paste etc.
• Imam bayildi is a version of karnıyarık with no
minced meat inside. It can be served as a meze as
well.
• Mücver is prepared with grated squash/courgette
or potatoes, egg, onion, dill and/or cheese and
flour. It can be either fried or cooked in the oven.
29. Vegetable Dishes
• Turşu is pickle made with brine, usually with
the addition of garlic. It is often enjoyed as an
appetizer. It is made with a large variety of
vegetables, from cucumber to courgette. In
the towns on the Aegean coast, the water of
turşu is consumed as a drink. It comes from
the Persian "Torshi", which refers to pickled
"Torsh" (sour) vegetables.
31. Egg Dishes
• Menemen consists of scrambled eggs cooked
with tomato, green pepper, and onion.
• Çılbır is another traditional Turkish food made
with poached eggs, yogurt and oil.
• Kaygana can be described as something of a cross
between the pancake and the omelet in Ottoman
cuisine. It used to be served with cheese, honey,
crushed nuts, or eggplant. However, it is almost
forgotten in the big cities of Turkey.
33. Meze and Salads
• Acılı ezme – hot spicy freshly mashed tomato
with onion and green herbs
• Acuka (also known as muhammara) – a spread
having both Circassian and Syrian origins,
prepared with from Aleppo pepper paste, ground
walnuts, tomato paste, bread crumbs, garlic, and
spices
• Patlıcan salatası – eggplant salad
• Barbunya pilaki – borlotti beans cooked with
garlic, tomato paste, carrot and olive oil
34. Meze and Salads
• Cacık – cucumber with yogurt, dried mint and
olive oil
• Çiğ köfte – raw mea patties, similar to steak
tartare, prepared with ground beef (sometimes
lamb) and fine-ground bulgur; a vegetarian
version using tomato paste is known as etsiz çiğ
köfte (literally "meatless raw meatballs")
• Çoban salatası – a mixed salad of tomato,
cucumber, onion, green peppers, and parsley
35. Meze and Salads
• Deniz börülcesi (Salicornia europaea, also called
common glasswort or marsh samphire)
• Fava – broad/horse bean puree
• Gavurdağı salad
• Haydari
• Humus (from the Arabic for "chickpea") – a spread
prepared from sesame tahini, chickpeas, garlic, olive
oil, and lemon juice.
• İçli köfte (also known as oruk) – served either as a
meze or a main dish; especially in the east of Turkey,
when it is cooked through boiling in a pot, içli köfte is
served as a main dish
36. Meze and Salads
• Kalamar (calamari) – fried or grilled, served with
tarator sauce
• Karides (shrimp) – served as a salad, grilled, or
stewed with vegetables in a güveç (a casserole)
• Kısır (also known as 'sarma içi') – a very popular
meze or side dish prepared with fine-ground
bulgur, tomato paste, parsley, onion, garlic, sour
pomegranate juice and a lot of spices
37. Meze and Salads
• Piyaz – white bean or potato salad with onion
and vinegar
• Şakşuka or in another version köpoğlu – fried
and chopped eggplants and peppers served
with garlic yogurt or tomato sauce
• Semizotu (summer purslane) salad – served
with yogurt
39. Meat Dishes
• Kavurma ("kavurma", which means
roasting/parching in Turkish, is generally used for
roasted lamb. Çoban kavurma is a variety of it,
prepared with diced lamb with tomatoes, onions,
mushrooms, peppers and herbs. Kavurma is one
of the favorite dishes of Ramadan.)
• Alinazik kebab, a home-style Turkish kebab
variety which is a specialty of the Gaziantep
province of Turkey.
40. Meat Dishes
• Hünkar Beğendi (meaning that the
sovereign/sultan liked it, sultan's delight, the dish
consists of the puree of grilled eggplant with
cashar cheese topped with cubed lamb meat)
• Türlü (a stew of vegetables and meat cooked in
güveç-casserole)
• Külbastı
• Tandır (without adding any water, the meat is
cooked very slowly with a special technique)
41. Meat Dishes
• İncik (lamb on the bone cooked in the oven)
• Karnıyarık (split-belly eggplant) (eggplants are
cut off and fried. Then they are filled with
minced meat, onion, garlic and tomato paste
and cooked in the oven)
• Kokoreç (the intestines of sheep) with spices is
a traditional low-price fast food in Turkey.
42. Meat Dishes
• Köfte (meatball) is another meat dish in Turkey. The word köfte is
sometimes preceded by the name of a town, which refers to the
technique for cooking it or the ingredients or spices specifically used in
that region, for example; İnegöl köftesi, Sultanahmet köftesi, İzmir köfte,
Akçaabat köfte, Bursa köfte, Filibe köfte, Tire köfte, Islama köfte (mainly in
Sakarya province) etc. Its main ingredients are minced meat, parsley,
bread-egg (not necessarily, usually homemade köfte contains egg yolk and
some crumbled bread) and a range of spices: cumin, oregano, mint
powder, red or black pepper powder with onion or garlic. Kadınbudu köfte
is another traditional speciality; minced meat is mixed with cooked rice
and fried. Içli köfte can be described as a shell of "bulgur" filled with
onion, minced meat and nuts. Çiğ köfte is a meze from south-eastern
Turkey meaning raw meatballs, prepared with "bulgur" and raw minced
meat. Terbiyeli Sulu Köfte is another meatball speciality cooked with flour,
tomato paste and water in which lemon and egg sauce is added.
43. Meat Dishes
• Sujuk (sucuk) is a form of raw sausage (made with beef
meat and a range of spices, especially garlic, slightly
similar to Spanish chorizo) commonly eaten with
breakfast. Instead of classical sausages (sosis), sujuk is
the most used ingredient for snacks and fast-food style
toasts and sandwiches in Turkey.
• Pastırma is another famous beef delicacy (see
pastrami). Both pastırma and sujuk can be put in kuru
fasulye (dry beans) to enrich the aroma. Both can be
served as a meze as well. Sucuk or pastırma with
scrambled eggs, served in a small pan called sahan, is
eaten at breakfast in Turkey.
45. Kebabs
• Adana kebap– kebab with hand-minced (zırh)
meat mixed with chili on a flat wide metal skewer
(shish); associated with Adana region although
very popular all over Turkey.
• Beyti kebab – Ground lamb or beef, seasoned and
grilled on a skewer, often served wrapped in
lavash and topped with tomato sauce and yogurt,
traced back to the famous kebab house Beyti in
İstanbul and particularly popular in Turkey's
larger cities.
46. Kebabs
• Cağ kebab, 'spoke kebab' – Cubes of lamb roasted
first on a cağ (a horizontal rotating spit) and then
on a skewer, a specialty of Erzurum region with
recently rising popularity.
• Çökertme kebabı – Sirloin veal kebap stuffed with
yogurt and potatoes.
• Çöp şiş, "small skewer kebab" – a specialty of
Selçuk and Germencik near Ephesus, pounded
boneless meat with tomatoes and garlic
marinated with black pepper, thyme and oil on
wooden skewers.
47. Kebabs
• Döner kebab
• İskender kebap – döner kebap served with
yogurt, tomato sauce and butter, originated in
Bursa. The kebab was invented by İskender
Efendi in 1867. He was inspired from Cağ
kebab and turned it from horizontal to
vertical.
• Kuzu şiş – Shish prepared with marinated milkfed lamb meat.
48. Kebabs
• Orman kebabı, 'forest kebab' – Lamb meat on
the bone and cut in large pieces mixed with
carrots, potatoes and peas.
• Patlıcan kebabı, 'aubergine kebab' – Special
kebap meat marinated in spices and served
with eggplant (aubergine), hot pide bread and
a yogurt sauce
• Şiş tavuk or Tavuk şiş – Yogurt-marinated
chicken grilled on a stick
49. Kebabs
• Tandır kebabı, 'tandoor kebab' – Lamb pieces
(sometimes a whole lamb) baked in an oven called a
tandır, which requires a special way of cooking for
hours. Served with bread and raw onions.
• Tas kebabı, 'bowl kebab' – Stewed kebab in a bowl,
beginning with the cooking of the vegetables in butter
employing a method called yaga vurmak, ("butter
infusion"), before the meat itself is cooked in the same
grease.
• Urfa kebabı – from Urfa, similar to Adana kebab, but
not spicy
51. Fish
• Turkey is surrounded by seas which contain a large variety of fish. Fish are
grilled, fried or cooked slowly by the buğulama (poaching) method.
Buğulama is fish with lemon and parsley, covered while cooking so that it
will be cooked with steam. The term pilâki is also used for fish cooked with
various vegetables, including onion in the oven. In the Black Sea region,
fish are usually fried with thick corn flour. Fish are also eaten cold; as
smoked (isleme) or dried (çiroz), canned, salted or pickled (lâkerda). Fish is
also cooked in salt or in dough in Turkey. Pazıda Levrek is a seafood
speciality which consists of sea bass cooked in chard leaves. In fish
restaurants, it is possible to find other fancy fish varieties like balık dolma
(stuffed fish), balık iskender (inspired by Iskender kebab), fishballs or fish
en papillote. Fish soup prepared with vegetables, onion and flour is
common in coastal towns and cities. In Istanbul's Eminönü and other
coastal districts, grilled fish served in bread with tomatoes, herbs and
onion is a popular fast food. In the inner parts of Turkey, trout alabalık is
common as it is the main type of freshwater fish. Popular seafood mezes
include stuffed mussels, fried mussel and fried kalamar (squid) with
tarator sauce.
52. Fish
• Popular sea fishes in Turkey include: anchovy
hamsi, sardine sardalya, bonito palamut, gilthead bream çupra or çipura, red mullet
barbun(ya), sea bass levrek, whiting mezgit
(allied to the cod fish) or bakalyaro, swordfish
kılıç, turbot kalkan, red pandora mercan,
tırança, istavrit and white grouper lagos.
54. Desserts
• One of the world-renowned desserts of Turkish
cuisine is baklava. Baklava is made either with
pistachio or walnut. Turkish cuisine has a range of
baklava-like desserts which include şöbiyet,
bülbül yuvası, saray sarması, sütlü nuriye, and sarı
burma.
• Kadaif ('Kadayıf') is a common Turkish dessert
that employs shredded yufka. There are different
types of kadaif: tel (wire) or Burma (wring)
kadayıf, both of which can be prepared with
either walnut or pistachio.
55. Desserts
• Among milk-based desserts, the most popular
ones are muhallebi, su muhallebisi, sütlaç (rice
pudding), keşkül, kazandibi (meaning the bottom
of "kazan" because of its burnt surface), and
tavuk göğsü (a sweet, gelatinous, milk pudding
dessert quite similar to kazandibi, to which very
thinly peeled chicken breast is added to give a
chewy texture). A speciality from the
Mediterranean region is haytalı, which consists of
pieces of starch pudding and ice cream (or
crushed ice) put in rose water sweetened with
syrup.
56. Desserts
• Helva (halva): un helvası (flour helva is usually
cooked after someone has died), irmik helvası
(cooked with semolina and pine nuts), yaz helvası
(made from walnut or almond[14]), tahin helvası
(crushed sesame seeds), kos helva, pişmaniye
(floss halva).
• Lokum (Turkish delight), which was eaten for
digestion after meals and called "rahat hulkum"
in the Ottoman era, is another well-known
sweet/candy with a range of varieties.
57. Desserts
• Güllaç is a dessert typically served at Ramadan, which consists of
very thin large dough layers put in the milk and rose water, served
with pomegranate seeds and walnut. A story is told that in the
kitchens of the Palace, those extra thin dough layers were prepared
with "prayers", as it was believed that if one did not pray while
opening phyllo dough, it would never be possible to obtain such
thin layers.
• Aşure can be described as a sweet soup containing boiled beans,
wheat and dried fruits. Sometimes cinnamon and rose water is
added when being served. According to legend, it was first cooked
on Noah's Ark and contained seven different ingredients in one
dish. All the Anatolian peoples have cooked and are still cooking
aşure especially during the month of Muharrem.
58. Desserts
• Another jelly like Turkish sweet is macun.
Mesir macunu of Manisa/İzmir (which was
also called "nevruziye" as this macun was
distributed on the first day of spring in the
Ottoman Palace) contains 41 different spices.
It is still believed that "mesir macunu" is good
for health and has healing effects.
• Tavuk göğsü is a Turkish style milky pudding
with chicken breast.
60. Alcoholic Beverages
• Raki is a Turkish unsweetened, anise-flavored
hard alcoholic drink that is popular in Turkey
and in the Balkan countries as an apéritif. It is
often served with seafood or Turkish meze. It
is similar to several other alcoholic beverages
available around the Mediterranean, Albanian
regions, the Middle East e.g., pastis, ouzo,
sambuca, arak, and aguardiente. It is
considered as the National alcoholic beverage
of Turkey.
61. Alcoholic Beverages
• There are a few local brands of lager such as
Bomonti, Marmara34 and Efes Pilsen and a large
variety of international beers that are produced
in Turkey such as Skol, Beck's, Miller, Foster's,
Carlsberg and Tuborg.
• There are a variety of local wines produced by
Turkish brands such as Kavaklıdere, Doluca,
Corvus, Kayra, Pamukkale and Diren which are
getting more popular with the change of climatic
conditions that affect the production of wine.
63. Non-alcoholic Beverages
• At breakfast and all day long Turkish people drink
black tea. Tea is made with two teapots in Turkey.
Strong bitter tea made in the upper pot is diluted
by adding boiling water from the lower.
• Turkish coffee is a method of preparing coffee.
Roasted and then finely ground coffee beans are
boiled in a pot (cezve), usually with sugar, and
served in a cup where the grounds are allowed to
settle. This method of serving coffee is found in
the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus, and
the Balkans.
64. Non-alcoholic Beverages
• Ayran (salty yogurt drink) is the most common
cold beverage, which may accompany almost
all dishes in Turkey, except those with fish and
seafood.
• Şalgam suyu (mild or hot turnip juice) is
another important non-alcoholic beverage
which is usually combined with kebabs or
served together with rakı.
65. Non-alcoholic Beverages
• Boza is a traditional winter drink, which is also
known as millet wine (served cold with
cinnamon and sometimes with leblebi).
• Sahlep is another favorite in winter (served
hot with cinnamon). Sahlep is extracted from
the roots of wild orchids and may be used in
Turkish ice cream as well. This was a popular
drink in western Europe before coffee was
brought from Africa and came to be known.
67. Conclusion
Turkish cuisine is the most important part of
our culture.For this reason,I presented Turkish
cuisine and I talked about Turkish foods and
drinks.Turkish cuisine has many dishes and
beverages such as
kebabs,mantı,lahmacun,ayran,turkish coffee etc.
This foods and drinks have very important
place in Turkish cuisine and our culture.