The abundance offered by the fertile Anatolian lands and the diversity of being home to different cultures for many years are the main reasons why traditional Turkish cuisine is so rich.
If we look at the main lines of Turkish cuisine, we can group them as soups , olive oil dishes , pastries, pot dishes , stuffed meats, wraps , kebabs , meatballs and of course desserts .
The tastes and features of Turkish cuisine do not end with writing. That’s why I made a mini compilation of the most popular flavors of Turkish cuisine in this article. Hope you enjoy reading! The Most Delicious Turkish Food:
Lentil soup
There is hardly anyone who does not like lentil soup, which is said to be one of the oldest soups of traditional Turkish cuisine .
Especially the strained lentil soup topped with a little lemon and a little chili pepper , I think suits every moment of the day.
Tarhana soup
Tarhana soup, which is made from delicious tarhana dried in the sun in summer, brings healing to our tables , especially during the winter months .
Although the way of preparation and drying of tarhana differs from region to region, its place on the table never changes during the winter.
Ezogelin Soup
Bringing all the richness of Anatolian cuisine together in one bowl, ezogelin soup is one of the most popular soups of Turkish cuisine.
According to legend, Ezo Gelin from Antep makes a soup by combining the few ingredients left at home on the days when he struggles with poverty.
Those who taste it like the soup so much that today, ezogelin soup is a guest on our tables in the name of the beautiful girl who found it.
Yoghurt soup
In some regions with lentils , in others with chickpeas or wheat . Yogurt soup is sometimes made with rice and sometimes with different legumes . However, no matter in which region it is cooked, it does not come to the table without pouring hot oil with mint and chili pepper on it.
In fact, yogurt soup is such an indispensable part of our kitchens that even in summer, cold buttermilk finds its place on many tables as a vaccine.
Tripe soup
Especially when it comes to night soup , it comes to mind first. This is tripe soup with lots of garlic and lots of lemon .
I don’t think a Turkish cuisine without tripe soup is unthinkable, even if it doesn’t like it as much as it loves it. For healing purposes.
Olive Oils and Appetizers
Vegetables with plenty of olive oil, as well as meat dishes, are indispensable for our tables. That’s why I think we have a Mediterranean cuisine on one side and an Anatolian cuisine on the other.
Although we cook almost every vegetable with olive oil, some vegetables have a different place in our hearts, what do you think?
Fresh Beans with Olive Oil
Here is another olive oil dishes, I think green beans come first. Ayse woman , bush or pole .
Whatever your bean is, when you cook it with fragrant summer tomatoes , extra virgin olive oil , onions and a little sugar, that irresistible flavor comes out.
Kidney Bean Stew with Olive Oil
One of the most sought-after and most loved olive oil dishes on the tables in all four seasons is red bean stew.
By keeping the kidney beans that you pick freshly in the freezer during the summer season, you can prepare delicious stews that you can’t get enough of dipping bread in throughout the winter . Especially if you have a piece of rice pilaf next to it, don’t let it bother you.
Imambayildi
Can an eggplant dish ever be bad? One cannot get enough of eating the dishes made with fresh eggplants, especially in season.
A delicious imambayildi with fragrant fresh tomatoes and a little garlic is among the indispensables of our kitchens.
Roasted Eggplant Salad
If they ask what is the best appetizer for both kebab and fish , I would say roasted eggplant salad without thinking.
I would say that you should not miss the eggplant salad, which you can make with yogurt or roasted red pepper , especially in the summer months.
Fava
Fava made with dried broad beans is one of the sine qua non of the most enjoyable appetizer tables. And if it has caramelized onions and lots of dill on it, it’s inedible.
However, when you pass through the Aegean, I say leave the classic fava beans aside and taste the fava made with the Aegean gambilya .
Lentil Meatballs
The star of tea hours and the head of the most missed mother’s delicacies, I think, is lentil meatballs. Who can say no to eating it among the crunchy lettuce leaves?
If you are one of those who do not shy away from healthy and nutritious tastes, you should definitely make room for lentil meatballs on your tables.
Pot Dishes
Is there anything as fruitful and satisfying as a pot meal? I think one of the most beautiful aspects of our culinary culture and traditions is cooking pot dishes that warm the house with their warmth and bring the whole family together at the same table.
Which of us does not remind us of the warmth of the family that the smell of cooking emanating from the pot. That’s why, no matter which city you go to, there are many artisan restaurants where various dishes are lined up on the counters .
Then welcome to the most popular ladle pot dishes of our kitchen.
Haricot bean
One of the indispensable dishes of artisan restaurants, which creates a festive atmosphere on the tables with a rice pilaf with plenty of pickles and butter, is dry beans.
Beans with meat , with sausage , with pastrami … All kinds of dry beans are good, but I think the taste of dry beans in a lightly helmed casserole is different. What do you think?
Chickpeas
Chickpea must be one of the most popular legumes after dry beans. If you have noodle rice pilaf cooked with meat broth and pickles, you will not get enough of it.
Who can say no to chickpeas, which is one of the most sought after meals on the table , especially in winter ?
Türlü
One of the sine qua non of our kitchens is meat dishes with vegetables. Bean , eggplant , potato and, of course, cubed meat is one of our most fertile pot dishes.
Whether you take it in a casserole dish and cook it in the oven, or on the stove . Whatever your cooking preference is, make sure to have bulgur pilaf and yoghurt from your side.
Karniyarik
Eggplant is one of the most used vegetables in Turkish cuisine . Karnıyarık, which is thought to have been made since the Ottoman period, is one of our most delicious pot dishes made with eggplant. The fried aubergines are stuffed with minced meat and cooked, resulting in a wonderful flavor.
If there is a delicious rice and tzatziki with the Karnıyarık dish, it is inedible for me to say.
Like many dishes in our traditional cuisine, the preparation of the belly is a bit of a chore . If you don’t like to spend long hours in the kitchen but still don’t want to give up on these delicacies, you can choose eggplant moussaka , which can be considered as the brother of knuckle .
Bulgur Rice
Bulgur, which is one of the indispensables of Anatolian lands, adds a completely different taste to every dish it touches. However, we have such beautiful pilafs made with bulgur that each one brings a storm of flavors to the tables.
Those that are cooked with lentils , chickpeas , vegetables , tomato paste or just meat broth are the ones that find their place most frequently on our tables. Which is your favorite bulgur pilaf?
Potato Sitting
A very common dish, especially in Anatolian cuisines, is snapped potatoes. Potato sitting is one of the most popular tastes of both breakfast and dinner .
In the morning , you can break eggs into it and for dinner, you can prepare a wonderful potato sitting by frying some minced meat on the bottom.
Stuffed – Wraps
Dolmas and wraps are undoubtedly among the most popular dishes of Turkish cuisine. Although their names are constantly confused, both have a very different place in hearts and kitchens.
Almost every region has its own wrap or stuffing. For example , when the Southeastern Anatolia Region is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is dry stuffing . Eggplant , pepper , tomato or haylance zucchini are hung in the form of hevenks and dried in the summer, and stuffed stuffing is made that you can’t get enough of during the winter .
While the Aegean is famous for its olive oil wrap wrapped in vine leaves , the people of Tokat make its meat by wrapping vine leaves in the form of amulets . By the way, the most delicious vine leaves in Turkey are grown in the Erbaa district of Tokat.
In Erzurum, the vine leaves are replaced by chard. In Erzurum cuisine , chard leaves turn into a delicious wrap with cream and fine bulgur.
In the East, especially in Bitlis , zucchini is stuffed with a special minced meat, then sliced and cooked, called ‘katikli dolma’ .
Istanbul-style stuffed peppers with olive oil have a different taste.
Pastries
Sometimes pastries are the best accompaniment to meals, sometimes the star of breakfasts, and sometimes an indispensable part of tea time.
Almost every city has its own pastry flavor. Hangeli of Kars , yogurtmacı of Tokat, bald bagel of Kastamonu , coffee of Gaziantep , water pastry of Bayburt, keta of Erzurum and many more…
As you can see, the pastries in our kitchen do not end with writing, so it would be useful to make a mini introduction to pastries with their outlines.
Su böreği
Su pastry must be one of the most difficult dishes to make in Turkish cuisine . Thinly rolled phyllo dough is boiled, then after the water is squeezed well, it is arranged in layers by putting the inner mortar between them.
Although there are varieties with minced meat and cheese, I am one of those who say that water pastry is cheese.
Pide
Although it is identified with the Black Sea Region, pita is one of the indispensable parts of Turkish cuisine. With minced meat , roasted , cheese , cubed or mixed .
Although everyone’s favorite is different, pita always has a place in our hearts.
Lahmacun
Lahmacun is the most crispy of starters and an indispensable part of kebab tables. Some like it with lots of lemon, some like it with lots of onions or lots of parsley .
Although varieties such as cheddar , sausage and cheese have been started to be made with modernized food habits, no one can take away the throne of a crispy lahmacun with thin minced meat in the classical style . Especially if you have an ice-cold ayran with you, don’t let it touch your joy.
Mantı
In traditional Turkish cuisine , it is possible to find many different types of ravioli, from buttered walnuts to plenty of tomato sauce , from open-mouthed ravioli made on huge trays to crispy ravioli.
However , although the way of closure, filling and presentation vary from region to region, the tiny Kayseri ravioli with yoghurt and spice on top is always the crown of the table.
Meats and Kebabs
Almost every region in our country, especially in the Southeastern Anatolia Region , has its own unique type of kebab and meatballs. That’s why when it comes to Turkish cuisine, the first thing that comes to mind is kebab.
There are many different types of kebab in Adana , such as beyti , pistachio kebab , six- paste kebab , or new world kebab , eggplant kebab . Let’s take a brief look at our meat and kebab varieties in this section.
Meatball
Almost every province has its own special meatballs .
Turning meals into a feast when it meets with its companions, meatballs are among the most popular and indispensable flavors of our kitchens.
İskender Kebap
Bursa mutfağının yıldızı İskender Kebap, mutfağımızın olmazsa olmazları arasında ilk sıralarda yer alıyor.
Sıcacık pide üzerine dizilen lokum gibi bir döner, üzerine gezdirilen özel domates sosu ve cızırdayan tereyağı ile lezzet patlaması yaşatan iskender kebap uğruna seyahat edilecek geleneksel lezzetlerimizden biri.
Döner
When it comes to Turkish cuisine, it is undoubtedly one of the first things that come to mind. On top of rice , portion , bread or wrap , I think doner kebab is always good.
If I give a brief information, doner kebabs with sauce are popular in Antakya, with more oil in Central Anatolia and Eastern Anatolia regions , and with a lower fat content in coastal areas .
Hunkarbegendi
He liked a delicious eggplant, a piece of meat like cotton wool on it, a kebab that makes one’s mouth water even as I write it, I think it was Hünkarbegen.
If you like kebabs that combine vegetables and meat , then Hünkarbegendi is just for you.
Baklava
The glory of baklava, one of the most popular desserts of traditional Turkish cuisine, has already exceeded the borders of the world.
Plenty of pistachios or walnuts are placed between the thinly rolled phyllo and are arranged in layers. The final touch to the baklava, which is cooked until it is crispy , is made with warm sherbet . Who can say no to a delicious baklava that makes your mouth water even as you write?
Kunefe
Who can resist a crispy künefe with cheese that goes on and warm syrup ?
Especially if you have eaten the künefe of Hatay , which is one of our cities that stand out with its abundance of traditional flavors , you can be addicted to it, let me tell you.
Helva
I think it is one of the desserts that have an undeniable place in Turkish cuisine.
Flour halva that attracts people with its roasted smell , warm semolina halva that melts in the mouth , especially after eating fish, hot tahini halva in the oven and many more.
Ashura
Ashura , which combines legumes such as wheat , chickpeas and beans with dried fruits and nuts , is one of the most beautiful traditions of Turkish cuisine.
Ashura, which is boiled in huge pots , is distributed to neighbors hot on the day of cooking, so that abundance and abundance are not missing from the kitchens.
Şekerpare
Şekerpare is one of our favorite sherbet desserts . Especially when you add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to it, you can’t get enough of it.
I think the best of the candy paren, which is called sherbet cookies in some regions , is decorated with nuts such as almonds , pistachios , hazelnuts , and hazelnut.
Creamy Bread Kadayif
One of the first things that come to mind when Afyon is mentioned is bread kadayıf, which cannot be separated from the city’s delicious cream .
One of the most popular and oldest desserts of traditional Turkish cuisine, bread kadayıf has also started to be made with cherry in recent years. However, I am one of those who think that the taste of the classic is different, what do you think?
Raw Meatballs
It is impossible to talk about kebab and not to mention raw meatballs. Raw meatballs, which are usually served with lemon , lettuce and pomegranate syrup in their most classic form, have also been frequently seen as wraps in recent years .
One of the favorites of those who want to fill their stomachs quickly , raw meatball wrap has already taken its place among the sine qua non of our kitchen.
Stuffed mussels
I think it is unthinkable to write about the most popular tastes of Turkish cuisine without stuffed mussels.
One of the first things that come to mind when talking about street food , especially in the Aegean Region , stuffed mussels with lots of black pepper and lemon , I think, is a summer classic.
Kokoreç
Would it be okay to mention street delicacies and skip kokoreç? It is not known whether it is made there for the first time in our country, Izmir-style kokoreç is something else.
Türk Kahvesi
Talking about this much food, it is impossible not to miss Turkish coffee, which is the crown of our traditions, the partner of the deepest conversations, the end of the most enjoyable meals.
Turkish coffee, one of our most indispensable traditions, is sometimes served with an ice-cold sherbet and sometimes with a piece of double roasted Turkish delight, but it is always served with juice.