Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Eating
The locals love to eat. For them, food is much more than belly fuel,
and meals are occasions to share and be celebrated. For most locals,
the idea of eating in front of a TV or from a freezer is absolute ana-
thema - theirs is a cuisine that is social, slow and seasonal.
Tray of regional specialties
AYTUNC AKAD/PANOS ©
What's on the Menu?
The local cuisine has been refined over centuries and is treated more reverently than any
museum collection in the country. That's not to say it's fussy, because what differentiates
Turkish food from other national noshes is its rustic and honest base. Here mezes are
simple, kebaps uncomplicated, salads unstructured and seafood unsauced. Flavours explode
in your mouth because ingredients are grown locally and are used when they are in season.
MARVELLOUS MEZES
Mezes aren't just a type of dish, they're a whole eating experience. In
meyhanes
(Turkish
taverns) waiters heave around enormous trays full of cold meze dishes that customers can
choose from - hot meze dishes are usually chosen from the menu.
Mezes are often vegetable-based, though seafood dishes also feature.
MEAT - THE TURKISH WAY
Overall, the Turks are huge meat eaters. Beef, lamb, mutton, liver and chicken are prepared
in a number of ways and eaten at home, in
kebapçıs
(kebap restaurants) and in
köftecıs
(meatball restaurants).
