10 Traditional Turkish Foods You Must Try
If you’re looking for beautiful scenery, incredible beaches, and a fascinating history
in the places that you visit, then you’ve definitely made the right decision in choosing
Turkey as your travel destination.
However an additional way to truly immerse yourself in the culture of the country is
to experiment with the typical local cuisines.
When you arrive, you’ll soon find that Turkish food goes far beyond kebabs and incorporates
a mouth-watering blend of seasoned meats, fresh vegetables, mezes, and sweet pastries.
To assist you in selecting your dinner options from unfamiliar menus, I’ve compiled this
list of ten of the best traditional Turkish dishes you should try during your upcoming
trip to Turkey.
Turkish Delight Don’t be fooled by the imitation versions
of Turkish Delight that you find in commercial stores internationally.
Even those who believe that they don’t actually like Turkish Delight find themselves pleasantly
surprised when they visit Turkey for themselves and try the authentic versions.
Turkish Delight (or “Lokum” as it’s known as locally) comes in a variety of flavours
– from chopped pistachio to fragrant rose.
Meze After a week or so in Turkey, you are certain
to stumble upon a meze at some point.
Quite simply, a meze is a small selection of dishes that may be served at the start
of a meal, or can make for a pleasant, light lunch.
This selection typically consists of hummus, yoghurts, and perhaps an assortment of other
such dips, warm fresh breads, kofte (meatball), dolmas (rice stuffed vine leaves) and eggplant
salad among other tasty local favorites.
This concept is great as it allows you to try a little
of everything.
Baklava, Arguably
the most
popular dessert in the country, baklava is a sticky, sweet filo pastry that consists
of several pastry layers, filled with chopped nuts and held neatly in place together with
syrup or honey.
Since the dish is so popular, you are certainly sure to have the opportunity to try it during
your trip and it is served up at most restaurants.
Kokoreç, Kokoreç is a flavourful dish that less adventurous
eaters may feel a little wary to experiment with at first.
However once they have experienced the mouthwatering taste and texture of this marinated meat dish,
they will no doubt be happy that they tried it.
Kokoreç is made with either lamb or goat intestines that are then wrapped around seasoned
offal.
It’s actually technically a Turkish “street food” so you will find this dish around
a lot of bustling marketplaces in the town and city centres, The dish comes in a couple
of forms – You can enjoy Kokoreç as part of a sandwich, or as simply meat without bread
or garnishes on a plate.
Lentil Soup (Mercimek Corbasi), Simple yet delicious, Turkish lentil soup,
or “Mercimek Corbasi” as it is known locally is a blended puree of lentils and spices,
then garnished with cilantro and a squeezed lemon slice for added zing and flavour.
Served with hot pitas on the side, this dish is satisfying and filling while remaining
inexpensive.
You will note that it is widely available at most restaurants and eateries.
I would eat it all the time as a starter for my meals.
Kofte, As per its earlier mention, Kofte is a common
sight in meze platters and can be considered a staple part of the Turkish diet.
The dish consists of balls or patties of ground beef or lamb and can be found served in a
variety of ways – you can find them in delicious casseroles (that go by the name of izmir kofte),
eat them totally raw, or have them coated in egg and then fried (kadin budu) among many
other options.
The different variations of kofte available have different levels of spice, different
ingredient blends, and come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
Vegetarian travelers who are intrigued about this dish can try mercimek koftesi.
Manti, A dish that could be seen as the Turkish answer
to ravioli, manti may bear a somewhat similar resemblance to the popular Italian meal however
it is completely different when it comes down to taste and texture.
These little dumplings are meat-based, contain either beef or lamb and are boiled or fried
and then served with yoghurt and a range of spices.
Lahmacun, A popular street food dish that is widely
available in Turkey, Lahmacun is a crispy flat bread that is usually topped with minced
meat, salad, and lemon juice for the taste (though variations are possible!).
If you’re having a busy day sightseeing and you want to grab a quick yet delicious
snack, lahmacun is a great option.
Borek, Typically filled with meat, cheese, potato
or spinach, Borek is a stuffed pastry that is essentially Turkey’s answer to the pie.
This hearty delicacy can be found at the majority of bakeries around the country though you
will also find dedicated borek shops where the quality is notably better.
The pastry also comes in several variations, for example: su borek (also known as ‘water’
borek) is a very soft, wet pastry whereas sigara borek (“cigarette” pie) comes in
the form of a long, thin puff pastry.
This article details just a few of my favourite local dishes, however Turkey has an extremely
expansive food culture and there are many more flavourful traditional favourites.
I personally recommend experimenting with everything that you can.
Oh, and don’t forget to wash it all down with a nice Turkish tea or coffee!