What to try in Turkey: traditional cuisine and food. Turkish cuisine

Turkish cuisine is one of the most popular in the world. Rather, the third. She was overtaken french cuisine, but the Turks are already breathing down the back of the head of the Chinese. What causes such a high popularity of this gastronomy among gourmets around the world? Probably the complicated history of the country itself. The ancient Romans, Byzantines, Seljuk nomads left the most best recipes viands When the militant Ottoman Empire was formed, the Turks borrowed the most delicious dishes from the cuisines of the peoples they conquered: the Egyptians, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Georgia, and Greece. At the same time, the conquerors enriched and cookbooks Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Ukrainians. Goulash, stuffed cabbage, chorba - all these dishes were released in Asia Minor. And fast food, which in our country competes with American hot dogs and Italian pizza? After all, shawarma and donner kebab are dishes Turkish cuisine. We will reveal the recipes of typical national dishes of this country in this article.

General meal rules

Food, like all the peoples of the Mediterranean, occupies a key place in the life of the Turks. The main meal is dinner. Traditionally, it consists of nine courses. During it, rakia with spring water is served, and at the end - coffee. The meal begins with a berek, followed by snacks - cold and hot. Then soup is served. In summer, instead of a hot first course, they eat "dzhadzhik" - an analogue of okroshka. Then the second dish is served - meat or fish. Separately put on the table a side dish (Bulgar, vegetable stew), sauce and a lot of greens or fresh vegetables. And, of course, during every meal, whether it's a light breakfast or a hearty dinner, bread should be on the table. There is a great variety of it in Turkey: with olives, sesame seeds… completes the meal sweet table. It serves both pastries and desserts made from boiled juice (Turkish delight) or tahini halva. There are also seasonal fruits on the sweet table. Turkish national cuisine has only one rule: the taste of the main ingredient must be felt in the dish. Spices and seasonings should only favorably shade it, and not “overshadow”.

Snacks. Dolma

Ukrainian cabbage rolls are nothing but a very modified dish brought to the banks of the Dnieper by Turkish cuisine. Dolma is a snack. In Ukraine, it has become a hot second course. The filling in Turkey is wrapped in grape leaves, less often figs and quince, and even in whole vegetables. In Ukraine, the problem of the shortage of exotic packaging was solved simply, since there was a lot of cabbage. Grape leaves for dolma are harvested in spring and harvested for future use. In Turkish stores, an already salted product is sold. If you use it, you need to pour right amount leaves with boiling water and wait 15 minutes. Then everything is simple. The principle is the same as in the preparation of cabbage rolls. Cook rice until half cooked. We mix the cereal with minced meat (mainly ground lamb), fried onions, chopped herbs, a pinch of cumin, salt and pepper. Lay the grape leaves smooth side down. We put the filling in the middle, wrap it in a tight tube. Put on the bottom of the saucepan grape leaves(for this purpose, torn and defective ones are suitable). Lay the dolma envelopes seam down on this pillow, pressing them tightly against each other. Pour in the broth and let it boil. After the liquid boils, reduce the heat. Stew dolma for an hour and a half, let it brew for a quarter of an hour, serve with garlic sauce or with sour cream.

Chorby

Like many nations, in this country soups are served as the first hot dish on the table. Turkish cuisine offers many recipes for thick or transparent "chorbasy". Sometimes the very name of the dishes sounds like a song. Shekhrieli yesil merdzhimek chorbasy - broth with small vermicelli and green lentils. But here we will give a recipe for a popular yogurt-based soup. In two liters meat broth Pour half a glass of rice and cook for half an hour. Pour three cups of natural yogurt into the mixer, add four yolks and six tablespoons of flour. We beat. Then dilute the mass with water (one and a half cups). Beat again until the mixture reaches the consistency of liquid sour cream. Pour this mass into the boiling soup. Cover with a lid and cook for another quarter of an hour. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan, fry a pinch of red pepper and a handful of dry mint leaves in it. Add to saucepan.

Imam Bayaldi (Turkish Cuisine)

Eggplant plays a paramount role in the gastronomy of the country, the same as lamb. A meal without blue ones will not be fully Turkish. They are baked, stewed, fried, stuffed, served as cold or hot appetizer, make soups, salads or preparations for the winter with them. We present to your attention the recipe "Imam Bayaldy". The name of this dish can be translated as "The Priest in Rapture". Four eggplants need to be baked at 200 ° C for about 15 minutes. Turn vegetables over from time to time. Now we peel off the crust, cut each blue one in half lengthwise and scrape out the middle with seeds and part of the pulp with a spoon. Finely chop three onions, fry in oil, add 500 grams of skinned and chopped tomatoes and 3 garlic cloves. Close the pan with a lid and simmer for five minutes. Then add a bay leaf, a pinch of cinnamon, a little sugar, salt, parsley. Finely chop the pulp extracted from eggplant. Also add it to the pan. Simmer everything together for 10 minutes. Separately, fry 2 tablespoons of crushed almonds. We take out the bay leaf, pour the nuts. We rub olive oil baking sheet, stuff eggplant boats with the resulting filling, put in a baking dish. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Spray the blue ones with oil and bake for about 20 minutes. Stuffed eggplant- especially popular dishes of Turkish cuisine. Well, "Imam Bayaldy" will delight all your loved ones.

Hummus

This dish of Turkish chickpeas is common in all countries of the Islamic world. This snack is nutritious, tasty and very healthy. Hummus is easy to make. The main thing is to stock up necessary ingredients, which in our latitudes is not so easy to get. You will need dry chickpeas (one and a half cups) and sesame paste - products without which Turkish cuisine is unthinkable. Hummus recipes are extremely diverse and each region has its own. Here we describe classic dish. Turkish peas are soaked in the evening. In the morning we change the water, salt and set to boil until the chickpeas become soft. Grind the peas into a puree. Mix half a glass of sesame flour with four crushed garlic cloves. Add one and a half tablespoons of red hot pepper and salt. Combine this mixture with pureed chickpeas, knead. Squeeze two or three lemons into the dish, and then little by little, in a thin stream, pour in half a glass of olive oil. Mix well. Serve hummus with berek or bread.

Pilaf

Rice stewed with lamb has become famous in Asia Minor since the arrival of the Seljuks. But pilaf is “overgrown” with local specifics. It is very different from the classic, Central Asian recipe. Turkish cuisine offers to cook it in the following way. First, stew lamb with onions and shallots. Turks are more loyal to other types of meat, and it is permissible to replace a sheep with veal or chicken. Add washed rice. For one and a half kilograms of meat, it should be 1.5 cups. Now we take prunes and half the amount of raisins. Pour boiling water over the dried fruits, leave under the lid for half an hour. Remove pits from plums. Pour dried fruits into pilaf. We put 100 grams of butter, mix. To smooth out the excess fat content of the dish, add lemon slices, put in the oven to bake.

Shish kebab

Turkish cuisine knows several recipes for this dish. Kebab is any cut and fried lamb meat. There is an iskender kebab. This is lamb in tomato sauce with yogurt, ghee and tortilla pieces. Adana kebab is made from minced meat. There is no need to talk about doner at all. And shish kebab has a second name - Turkish shish kebab. Remove excess fat from the lamb, cut the meat (1 kilogram) into cubes. We chop the onion into rings, a large tomato into slices, Green pepper stripes. Drop a little olive oil into the bottom of the saucepan. Put onions, peppers and meat. Season it with juice from half a lemon, pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Salt, pepper and marinate for 2 hours room temperature. We string the lamb on skewers, smearing pieces of meat with yogurt. We put the barbecue on hot coals.

Bazlam

Turkish cuisine is mostly spicy with sauces. Therefore, bread is always served at the meal. Tortillas are extremely popular in Turkey - with or without filling. Here is a recipe for one of them - bazlams. In 6-7 cups of flour, add a spoonful of salt and a pinch of sugar, pour a bag of yeast. Add warm water and knead until you get a soft, sticky dough. We leave it for an hour. When the dough has doubled, divide it into koloboks the size of an orange, roll in flour and wait another ten minutes. Roll out each piece into a finger-thick cake. Fry in a Teflon pan without oil on both sides.

Patlyjan salads

Turkish cuisine is not rich in salads, but they are still there. These are mainly winter snacks that use marinades. In eggplant salad, blue ones are baked on the grill or fried in a pan. Then the skin is removed from them, and the pulp is pureed. Crushed garlic, salt, parsley are added to the eggplant. Dress the salad with olive oil and lemon juice.

Jeserie

But most of all, Turkish cuisine is famous for its desserts. Baklava, halva, Turkish delight… But here we will give you the recipe for jezerje. This is a type of Turkish delight. Preparing a dessert of carrot juice. Brown sugar is added to it (one and a half cups of vegetables per pound of vegetables) and boiled until thickened. Then pour half a glass of corn starch into the syrup. Continue to cook until a sticky porridge is formed. Then add various nuts, grated zest and remove from heat. The mass is poured onto a baking sheet, smoothed and put in the refrigerator. Ready product cut into cubes and sprinkle them in coconut flakes.

Airan

Did you know that the yogurt that many of us eat every morning was also given to the world by Turkish cuisine? Recipes based on this healthy product are very diverse. But the most popular drink is ayran. Yogurt is diluted with whey. Salt, herbs are added to it and beat in a mixer. It turns out a refreshing, thirst-quenching drink.

When you come to Istanbul, you get the impression that the city is one big shop or one big restaurant. Thousands of cafes, small cafes and bakeries on virtually every street. Therefore, the question “where to eat?” usually no one has it.

Whatever you order in a cafe or restaurant, you are unlikely to be dissatisfied, as a rule, they cook very tasty. I have been living here for quite a long time and I want to tell you about the most famous dishes of Turkish cuisine, so that when you are in Turkey, you definitely know what you should definitely try in Istanbul.

Turkish street food deserves special attention , first I will talk about it, or rather, about those dishes that are not mentioned in the last article.

In fact, this is the well-known “baby potato”, very tasty, satisfying and not too healthy. 🙂 It is believed that the best kumpirs are cooked in the Ortakoy region, although, having tried it in Taksim, I didn’t see much difference, perhaps, only the design is not so beautiful. It costs kumpir 10-12 lira. Oil, cheese are added to a huge baked potato, mixed, and then you choose a bunch of salads, add ketchup, mayonnaise, sprinkle with cheese, make an impromptu foil plate, or ready-made cardboard branded boxes and voila! Afiyet olsun! (Afiet olsun - bon appetit! - tour.)

(Islak hamburger, tour. - wet hamburger). This time there is no question of usefulness either, but it’s worth a try at least once! The hamburgers are in a closed glass display case, and they are moist from the hot steam rising from below. Yslak tastes like spicy hamburgers, with juicy cutlet with spices and tomato sauce inside and very, very tasty!
According to the established opinion, the best yslak hamburgers are sold in Taksim (the central district of Istanbul).

I am not a seafood lover, and for a long time I could not force myself to try mussels, BUT ...! After one day friends literally shoved one thing into me, I fell in love with them forever. Dolma mussels are ready-made mussels stuffed with rice, which you, after opening the shell, pour over with lemon juice. It's incredibly delicious! The only thing is that mussels are sold on trays almost all over Istanbul, but it is better to buy them in trusted places. Good mussels are made in the Ortakoy area and in normal cafes and restaurants. I don’t advise you to try near the metro, again on the recommendation of friends - the Turks.

(tur. Çiğ köfte - raw meat cutlets, a traditional dish of Turkish cuisine). Cooking real chi kofte is a long process. Chopped meat is mixed with bulgur and hot spices and kneaded for a long, long time.
A few years ago, the Turkish Ministry of Health banned the sale of such dishes prepared without heat treatment, so now chi kofte is made from bulgur, many hot spices, walnuts and tomatoes. Usually they offer a choice of moderately spicy or very spicy meatballs.

Opposite our house there is a specialized shop where they cook and sell delicious chi kofte. Therefore, we usually do not eat them in a cafe, but buy them by weight on the way home. It is very interesting to observe the seller at the same time. Putting on disposable gloves, he pinches off a piece from a hill of ready minced meat and deftly forms a beautiful figured cutlet, after which he sends it to the tray. This process is so fast that in just a couple of minutes the tray is already full.

generous portion thin lavash, lettuce, greens, pomegranate sauce and lemon are included without fail.
Chi kofte is eaten with the hands, putting the cutlet in fresh leaf lettuce, adding a sprig of parsley, a few drops of pomegranate sauce and lemon juice. Then all this is wrapped in a small piece of thin pita bread and eaten with incomparable Turkish ayran.It's very, very tasty!
You can also order chi kofte in the form of a durum (like shawarma, everything is the same, but wrapped in pita bread). You can try almost everywhere.

(tur. Kokoreç) - warm crispy bread stuffed with mutton giblets roasted on a spit, with the addition of tomatoes and spices. Hot pickled peppers are often added. They drink airan. Quite popular among both locals and tourists. My mother, after watching the Turkish TV series "Shards", where one of the characters was a passionate admirer of kokorech, was eager to try it without fail and, I must say, was completely delighted. She said: "An amateur, of course, but very tasty!" It is better to try in specialized street cafes, where they cook only kokorech.

Well, now about the delicious dishes of Turkish cuisine, which you can try in Istanbul cafes and restaurants.

Merdzhimek Chorbasy (tour. Mercimek çorbası - lentil soup). Thick and very delicious puree soup, to which red pepper and lemon juice are added. I highly recommend, you will just lick your fingers with fresh pita bread!

By the way, this site has detailed recipe cooking this wonderful, and, as always, the recipe is very simple.

(tur. Beyran) - a delicious spicy soup with rice and lamb, very similar to kharcho. Served with fresh pita bread, lemon and a plate of arugula. It is not found on the menu everywhere, there are even several restaurants that specialize only in this soup. In general, it is common for Turks to have cafes and restaurants with only a couple of main dishes on the menu. And these places are the best, as they tend to be family-run, long-term businesses and maintain their impeccable reputation.

Although my mother has already written about this dish, I cannot but mention it too. My all-time favorite, insanely delicious! Grilled meat, cut into thin slices, on hot pita bread, poured hot butter topped with delicious tomato sauce. Of course, it is served with Turkish yogurt and a plate of vegetables. It is simply impossible to visit Turkey and not try iskender. I highly recommend!

(tour. Izgara kofte) - delicious meatballs grilled with vegetables. There are many varieties of these cutlets, along with vegetables and tomato sauce - delicious!

Ichli kofte (tur. İçli köfte) - very unusual cutlets, consisting of a thin crispy shell of bulgur and a juicy meat filling inside. The filling is made from lamb and beef with the addition of walnuts and spices. Usually deep fried. Very filling and amazingly delicious!

I can’t help but mention one more dish of Turkish cuisine, namely about. In general, if you open the menu, you will see that the name of many dishes is preceded by the name of a Turkish city, for example, Izmir koftesi, Adana kebab, Gaziantep yzgara koftesi, etc. That is, the place where this dish was first prepared and invented is indicated. If you pay attention to the names of cafes and restaurants, you will also notice that it is unusual for Turks to name their establishments. beautiful names such as "Mirabel", "Plyushechka", etc. For them, their origin is very important. Even if the Turk himself was born in Istanbul, most likely the name of the city where his family comes from will be on the signboard. This is the Turkish mentality. Just like when your name is asked, the second question is "Where are you from?" and rigmarole of knowledge about this place. But this is a digression.

So, Adana kebab. I’ll make a reservation right away that I haven’t tried a better kebab than in the city of Adana itself. But, it must be admitted, this dish is also perfectly cooked in Istanbul. Adana kebab is a grilled long, juicy, rather spicy cutlet, served with a side dish of grilled vegetables, yogurt, spicy tomato sauce, many plates of vegetable snacks and, of course, fresh hot pita bread.

In general, Turkish hot meat dishes are mostly grilled, so one smell ready meal starts to go crazy. Portions of real Adana kebab are very impressive, to put it mildly, masculine. But it is absolutely impossible to break away. I strongly advise you to try this truly Turkish dish. If you are not a fan of spicy food, then thick natural yogurt, which is served with almost all meat dishes and which is an integral part of Turkish cuisine, will always smooth out any spiciness.
I’ll make a reservation right away, in Moscow, in a cafe like Shykydym, don’t even spend your money on supposedly Turkish dishes, there was no limit to my disappointment and indignation at the miniature portion of Adana kebab the size of a sausage, not to mention taste.

Given several unsuccessful visits to unfamiliar cafes, I would advise you to use the Foursquare app on your phone. I understand that it doesn’t sound very romantic after describing the chic dishes, but this application presents the ratings of all cafes according to the reviews of visitors, and not only according to the ratings of foreign tourists, but also according to the reviews of the Turks themselves - experts in their native cuisine. I am very friendly with this program, especially when traveling to new places, there have been no mistakes so far. 🙂

One can talk endlessly about Turkish dishes, this is the richest cuisine, quite healthy, since the Turks eat a lot of vegetables and, in general, are extremely reverent about food. It is absolutely incomprehensible to the Turks how yesterday's dinner can be eaten the next day, serve everything to them piping hot, but this has a special oriental charm. Therefore, when you come to Turkey, forget about Starbucks, Burger Kings and other nonsense, and enjoy chic Turkish dishes, finishing your meal with traditional Turkish coffee or tea.

And, of course, when you arrive in Istanbul, try to see as many of its sights as possible.
All the most famous historical monuments of Istanbul are concentrated in and around Sultanahmet. This is both, and the former Christian temple, and now, and monuments, and many, many others. It is with these sights that all excursions of tourists coming to Istanbul begin. In my articles, I will try to tell as much as possible about these ancient structures and show them in the photo. I hope you enjoy reading.

See you in the next story about Istanbul!

Turkish food a - unique, deliciousand very varied. When I first came to restaurant en, everything on the menu was incomprehensible, except for the word “Su” - in Crimea it is water. Somehow I didn’t feel like water, I had to poke at what other people ordered and say: I, too, have the same.
Two weeks later, when our time in Turkey came to an end,we tried about one tenth of Turkish dishes, nothing more. I will try to tell you about what is there at all, in the order in which the dishes appear on the table.
Photos dug in the internet. Somewhere the food looks better, somewhere worse - do not blame me;)

How Turkish food is served in restaurants.
When ordering Turkish dishes, it is worth remembering one truth: they don’t save on products here. For example, when ordering a barbecue or any other meat dish, you get a free drink, a salad (or even two or even three types of salad) and a plate full of bread. Therefore, there are not so many salads on the local menu: they are all included in the names of the dishes.
Often a meat dish is also accompanied by free pilav - in this case, crumbly delicious rice.
In addition, a lemon is attached to every dish in Turkey - they grow on the streets here and cost a penny. Lemon juice really gives the dish a completely different taste.

For convenience, all the Turkish food that we tried, I divided into categories.
0. Turkish breakfasts.
I. Bread.
II. Drink.
III. Soup.
IV. Salad.
V. Pilav.
VI. Second courses.
VII. Sweets.

0. Breakfast.

I. Bread.
Bread in Turkey is unmeasured. There are about two bakeries per block in the city (there seem to be no bakeries there at all), where fresh crispy fragrant bread is sold every day. There are a lot of types of it, we tried just a couple of pieces.
Ekmek - so in Turkey they call bread in general. The same crispy White bread- it's him, ekmek. If you want to carry it with you, eat faster, it gets stale within a couple of days.

Isparta ekmek - brown round loaves. village bread. For hiking, the most is that it does not get stale for a long time.

Yufka - thinly rolled cakes that look like Caucasian khychins. Very often they are made gozleme- wrap cheese with spinach or some other stuffing in yufka and heat it up.

pide - soft thick oblong cakes from yeast dough. The trip lasted 5 days. Translated into Russian - pita Those who know will understand - although this word does not mean anything to me. In Turkey, there are establishments specializing only in pita - pide salonu. There they put all kinds of food on the pita, roast it - and transfer pide for foreigners like turkish pizza. If the restaurant menu says pide- this is 99% a tortilla with a filling, and not just bread, which will be served separately from the dish.

pide- Turkish pizza

Simit - bagels, which are sold in special carts on the street. Topped with sesame seeds and extremely tasty.

II. Drink.
Su - water. Often included in the price of the order. There is büyük su - big bottle and küçük su - small bottle. A small bottle is placed on the table.
It is worth mentioning that soda, which is familiar to us, is sold here under a different name - Gazoz (see below)

Cay - tea. Pronounced exactly the same. It is mainly served in special glasses with pieces of refined sugar - and this is its charm. By the way, in Turkey there are special establishments - tea rooms - in which only men sit, drink black tea, like ebonite, and play backgammon and other board games.

Kahve - coffee. Emphasis on the last syllable. Coffee in Turkey is instant - it will be served to you upon request” kahve " - and turk kahve or turkish coffee- Turkish coffee is served in a small cup.

Ayran - ayran. Oriental salty drink based on yogurt. Great suppresses spicy food - for a solid spicy dinner, 100 ml of ayran is enough, and after that you don’t feel like drinking. I personally liked it very much, I ordered it in all restaurants and bought it in stores. Satisfies thirst and satiates.

Gazoz - soda. Both sweet and ordinary. That's what they say about Coca-Cola, cola.

Bira - beer. Since Turkey is a Muslim country, there is not much beer there. Basically it's a brand Ephesus, the taste of which leaves much to be desired. That's right, drink tea :)

Raki - aniseed vodka. They say it's still crap. The main joke: when serving, transparent moonshine is diluted with transparent water (you can just add ice), as a result of which a whitish liquid is formed, which should be consumed.

Sarap - wine. We drank Cappadocian wine Turasan- very delicious. But in a restaurant it is too expensive, it is easier to buy a bottle in a supermarket. Moreover, in Cappadocia it is more expensive than in Antalya - towns for tourists have been built, who should have enough money to buy :)

Meyve suyu - fresh. There are a lot of fresh juices in Turkey, almost on every corner, men with fruits stand and sell, like we have shawarma.

III. Soup.
All the soups I've seen have been pureed soups. It is convenient to add a spicy spice there, called pulbiber - dried red pepper flakes. Seasoning usually stands on the table and warms in cold times :)

We ate two kinds of soups:
Mercimek CorbasI - Egyptian lentil soup. Looks yellow.

Domates corbasi - tomato soup. Looks red.

IV. Salad.
Most salads in Turkey are served alongside main courses. That is, when ordering a barbecue, you usually get a salad and pilaf(cm.V. Pilav). But in places where there are a lot of tourists, dishes are served on their own, without salads and snacks. And you have to order the salad yourself. The easiest salad
Coban salatası - a popular vegetable salad with olive oil and wine vinegar.

There are also a bunch of types of salads, mostly with eggplant, the Turks love them very much. But you have to try them, we only saw them from afar :)
The kebab is also served with onion salad with sumac(Turkish seasoning). From experience men like it, women don't. I didn’t find its name anywhere - I think it’s not served separately, only to fried meat as a side dish.

V. Pilav.
Pilav - in our opinion, pilaf. In fact, there are several types Pilavov, but one of them, the usual rice without meat, is almost always served with meat dishes. Understandably, varieties pilava in fact, a lot, from vegetarian to different varieties meat, but the restaurant usually serves one, maximum two - so you have to go and try)

VI. Second courses.
There are a lot of second courses, and you can’t try them all. But some things were sorted out.
Kebab- a dish fried on fire. The prefix to the word “ kebab”.
Şis-kebab - kebab.

Iskender kebab - chopped meat in tomato sauce.

Adana kebab - finely chopped meat, fried on a spit.

Domatesli-kebab - Shish kebab of tomatoes with meat.

Patlicanli-kebab - fried eggplant.

The restaurant menu can have up to 15 kebabs, and each one is different (not only meat - fish, meat, mushroom - different, in general :)).
Doner kebab - a separate topic from kebabs. Generally doner- This is a regular shawarma. But if you order in a restaurant ordinary doner- Meat chips with vegetables and bread will be brought to you on a platter. Having bought doner on the street- you run the risk of running into the same shavings with vegetables, put in cut bread. And to try the very shawarma that everyone is used to, you need to order lavash-doner , shawarma in pita bread.

Döner kebab on the street

Döner kebab in a restaurant

Lavaş-doner

Kofte - meatballs. There are also a lot of types of kofte, no less than kebabs.

Manti - Turkish manti. They look like tiny dumplings - they are even sold dried in supermarkets. It tastes more like pasta than meat. As always, there are a lot of species.

Turkish cuisine - a symbiosis of traditions different peoples peace. Over the centuries, it was formed under the influence of the cultures of the Middle East, Asia Minor and Central Asia and the Mediterranean. The most popular dishes of local gastronomy are meat dishes, the king of which can be called kebab. Turkey has more than a dozen different types kabab, and their recipe differs depending on the region.

Tourists with a sweet tooth will be pleased with a myriad of traditional sweets - Turkish delight, halva, baklava - for every taste and pocket.

Every traveler should taste Turkish coffee or tea in Turkey from small cups resembling glasses, a simit bagel, stuffed mussels in Turkish style, and lahmajun - a kind of pizza.

Let's take a closer look at these dishes...

The culinary culture of society is always inextricably linked with the way of life of the people. National cuisine necessarily reflects the traditions and customs of the people, culinary preferences develop and change along with the development of society, and therefore it is not surprising that modern Turkish cuisine, which has absorbed and retained the best over the long centuries of the existence of various civilizations on Turkish soil, today is able to surprise even the most spoiled gourmet.

Many centuries ago, the Turks, like many other nationalities, led a nomadic lifestyle, dependent on agriculture and animal husbandry. Moving through the vast expanses of Central Asia, they met various animals and new plants characteristic of other regions, and over the centuries, the national Turkish cuisine was enriched not only with new products, but also with new ways of cooking.

In the Ottoman Empire, food has always been elevated to a cult. In the Istanbul palace in the 17th century, there were about 13,000 chefs at any one time, and each of them specialized in cooking only one dish. Every day, 10 thousand people dined in the palace, and the city nobility received baskets of food from the palace as a sign of special disposition.

Turkish cuisine was strongly influenced not only by Islam with its restrictions (the ban on the consumption of pork and alcohol, fasting in Ramadan, etc.). At different historical times in Turkish cuisine, as in all Turkish culture, other peoples who lived in Turkey left their mark: Persians, Greeks, Assyrians, Seljuks, Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Armenians ... Therefore, modern Turkish cuisine can be considered part of mediterranean cuisine- in some ways it is similar to both Greek and Balkan.

The Turks have learned how to properly store food, thereby introducing variety into their diet during the winter months. As a result of this evolution, today Turkish cuisine offers us such a variety of dishes that even the longest trip is not enough to taste them all.

A feature of Turkish cuisine is that it is impossible to single out one dominant dish in it, such as pasta in Italy or sauces in France - the national Turkish cuisine is distinguished precisely by the diversity and originality of the menu. Due to the great abundance of dishes on offer, variations of their recipes that reflect regional characteristics, and their original taste According to experts, Turkish cuisine occupies the third place among all the national cuisines of the world, second only to French and Chinese.

Most Turkish dishes are a healthy and well-balanced combination of ingredients. Dolma and Sarma (this is stuffed vegetables), lentil soups, meat with vegetables, rice or wheat groats (bulgur) and, finally, yogurt, which is served with almost all of these dishes - this menu will appeal to everyone. Meat stewed with vegetables in Turkish cuisine is always served with rice or wheat groats pilaf.

Turkish pastries are made from unleavened or yeast dough, which may include eggs, milk, yogurt, vegetable oil and flour, and sometimes spices and seasonings are added. Turkish cuisine usually uses meat, cheese or vegetables seasoned with aromatic herbs to stuff products made from such dough.

Yogurt-based soups in Turkish cuisine are made from various grains with the addition of meat and legumes, they are also very tasty and healthy. Different kinds legumes are combined in dishes with meat, vegetables and cereals. Pilaf in Turkish cuisine is cooked with meat, chicken, fish and vegetables. Vegetable pilafs are often served as a side dish, and it is customary to serve them with airan (yogurt diluted with water) or tzatzik. Juicy and fragrant kebabs are cooked with vegetables and served with vegetable pilaf, Turkish bread and ayran.

And, of course, the top of the culinary traditions of Turkish cuisine are desserts, without which Turkish cuisine is simply unthinkable. The main desserts in Turkish cuisine are fruits and berries, which are eaten fresh and dried and are used to make jams and preserves. And famous oriental sweets– baklava, lokma, muhallebi, marmalade, Turkish delight, halva, marzipan… The list of Turkish cuisine desserts is endless!

A European traveling in Turkey will definitely notice how slow the Turks are in relation to food. A typical lunch in Turkey can last 4-5 hours. Turks never eat alone or snack on the go. Every lunch in Turkey can seem like a real oriental feast to a tourist, and it doesn’t matter where exactly you dine - in an expensive restaurant or a small cafe, visiting a simple Turk or in the house of a local rich man - delicious meals Turkish cuisine, prepared with skill and love from the freshest and highest quality products, appear on the table, as in an oriental fairy tale, surprising with its variety and tempting aroma.

Bourekas or in other words “cigara berek” is a puff pastry product made in the shape of a cigar and stuffed with white cheese and herbs.

By the way, if you literally translate the name of this dish from Turkish, you get “Crack in the stomach” (tur. Karnıyarık)

Among the main snacks - dolma (grape leaves stuffed with rice and minced meat), boreki, fried zucchini, eggplant. Eggplant is a separate song, local restaurateurs and housewives love it so much. Eggplants are fried, baked in the oven, stewed, served as an appetizer, side dish, and often the main dish. They are served alone or with other vegetables, as well as bread, yogurt, meat, or variations of all of the above.

Very popular soup (in Turkish « chorba» ), especially lentil and yogurt-based soup. Good too Turkish soup with giblets. The main distinguishing feature of national soups is their consistency - as a rule, we are talking about thick soups (mashed soups).

Must try imam bayaldy – delicious dish baked eggplant, stuffed with tomatoes, sweet pepper and herbs, with the addition of garlic paste, onions, nuts and spices. Served cold or slightly warm. According to legend, the imam, who tasted this delicacy, experienced such bliss that he fainted (hence the name of the dish).

Eating duck embryos at speed (DO NOT ENTER impressionable) The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -

One trip to Turkey is not enough to enjoy all its culinary delights. There everyone will find a dish to their taste, because Turkish cuisine, like the country itself, has rich history and traditions.

Gastronomic Turkey. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiwanc/

Turkey is divided into five culinary regions: Central Anatolia, Aegean Coast, Black Sea Coast, Southeast Anatolia and the Sea of ​​Marmara region. Each of them prepare their own specialties- depending on the climate, the presence or absence of seafood, vegetables, berries, etc.

The main national meat dish is kebab (mutton, beef or chicken meat cooked on open fire). The secret of its popularity lies in a special marinade.

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The most common types of Turkish kebabs are Iskander kebab and Adana kebab. Iskander kebab is named after Alexander the Great. There is a legend that it was he who came up with the recipe: he put a piece of fried lamb on the cake, sprinkled it with lentils and poured yogurt.

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Adana kebab is a shish kebab made from minced lamb.

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Meat in Turkey is forbidden to be chemically processed, so it is of very high quality and, accordingly, expensive. But, for example, sausage is available to everyone.

But still, Turkey is not famous for meat dishes. Desserts are the highlight of the national cuisine. First of all, you need to try the heat-resistant ice cream - dondurma. It is prepared in wooden barrels exclusively from natural products: dried orchid root, goat milk, fruit. They eat it with a fork and knife. The birthplace of dondurma is the capital of southeastern Turkey - Kahramanmarash. Sultans have long surprised guests with such a delicacy. The sellers of this ice cream have a great sense of humor, so each serving is accompanied by a joke.

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The main delicacy with which Turkey is associated is Turkish delight or, as the Turks call it “lokum”, a sweetness for the throat. The recipe was invented in the 18th century. Lokum was an elite dessert that only noble nobles and sultans could afford. Today it is available to everyone. You can try real Turkish delight in Istanbul, on the famous confectionery factory founded by Bekir Efendi about 250 years ago. A variety of Turkish delight fillings will please anyone, even the most fastidious, sweet tooth: pistachio, rose water, chocolate, nut, almond and a huge number of different flavors.

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Many countries are famous for branded drinks: Scottish whiskey, French wine. Turkey has its own -. It is prepared from young grapes, insisted on anise seeds for three months. The fortress reaches 75 degrees. It has a specific sweetish taste of a medicinal mixture, which is why in the 19th century it was called by Europeans "drops of the Danish king." The Turks dilute crayfish with mineral or ordinary water, after which it acquires a dull white color. Therefore, crayfish is also called "lion's milk."

But remember, Turkey is an Islamic country, and the attitude towards alcohol there is negative. Selling alcohol in public places is prohibited, and drinking is indecent. The conclusion suggests itself one - drink tea.
Turks are tea fanatics. It is drunk everywhere and in large quantities. It is steamed in two teapots of different sizes, located vertically one above the other. This keeps the aroma intact.

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They drink tea from special pear-shaped glass cups without a handle. Such a glass helps to keep tea hot longer and enjoy its beautiful rich color. There is a legend that in ancient times in Turkey there lived tribes in which women were engaged in men's work. Men at that time drank tea, adhering to the slogan: "What if there is war, and I'm tired." And so that the husband would not get bored during the absence of his wife, they began to give the glass the shape of a woman's waist.

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Tea in Turkey can be drunk anywhere. There are even special places - tea gardens. However, until the first half of the 20th century, not tea, but coffee was popular.

It was in Turkey that they came up with the “Turk” or, in the original, the “Cezve”. For Turkish coffee, the beans are finely ground. Then ground coffee boiled in a Turk, add cardamom and cinnamon. They drink coffee without sugar.

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Turkish cuisine, like the country itself, is very colorful. The abundance of sweets testifies to the cheerfulness of its people. Therefore, having fully enjoyed the culinary delights, do not forget to thank those who opened the delicious world of Turkish cuisine for you - “Elinize saglik” (“Thank you and health to the hands of the cook!”).