The cooking of Giresun is the cooking of the eastern Black Sea, a region that eats with the seasons and treats the sea and the mountain with equal seriousness. Anchovies from the harbor, black cabbage from the gardens, corn bread from the stone ovens, and the famous hazelnuts of the hillsides all come together in a kitchen that is honest, hearty and deeply local. This guide covers the dishes to look for and the places where the people of Giresun actually eat them.
Hamsi: The Anchovy of the Black Sea
The hamsi, the small anchovy of the Black Sea, is the defining food of the region, and in Giresun it is eaten with a devotion that borders on ritual. From November to March, when the shoals run along the coast, the fish arrives fresh at the harbor every morning.
It is cooked every way the region knows: fried whole and eaten with bread, baked in the oven, stuffed, or grilled over charcoal at the harbor restaurants. In the villages they even bake it into a pie, layering the small fish with herbs and batter.
The anchovy season is a matter of pride, and the quality of the hamsi in Giresun is spoken of with real competitiveness. If you visit in winter, eating fried anchovies by the harbor is not just a meal; it is the taste of the whole coast.
The anchovy of the region is small, oily and intensely flavored, nothing like the larger anchovies of other seas. The locals eat the whole fish, head and all, and the first plate of the season is a small celebration.
Black Cabbage and the Vegetables of the Gardens
The dark green leaves of karalahana, the black cabbage, grow everywhere in the wet Black Sea climate, and the region’s cooking revolves around it. It is simmered with beans, stirred into soups, and layered into the stuffed rolls that are a household staple.
The local way of eating black cabbage is with cornmeal and butter: the leaves are cooked slowly with the region’s maize, producing a dish that is thick, earthy and warming. The gardens of the hillsides also supply the beans, the greens and the herbs that fill the daily pots.
For the visitor, the vegetables of the region are a reminder that this coast eats seasonally and simply. The market at Giresun, with its piles of greens and beans, is the best place to see the garden produce that fuels the town.
The market women of the region sell the cabbage in great dark bundles, and the villages preserve the surplus for the winter months. It is the most democratic food of the coast, eaten by every household.
Corn Bread and the Foods of the Oven
The wet climate and the hilly fields made maize the grain of the Black Sea, and corn bread is the daily bread of the region. The yellow loaves and flatbreads come from the bakeries in the morning, still warm, and they are eaten with cheese, butter, honey or the day’s soup.
The region’s cornmeal dishes include the melted-butter polenta of the coast and the many fried and baked preparations that fill the breakfast tables. The corn bread of the Black Sea has a dense, sweet crumb that is nothing like the breads of the Anatolian plateau.
Buy it warm from the bakery, eat it with the local honey and cheese, and you have the simplest and most honest meal in Giresun. The ovens of the town are the best introduction to the region’s cooking.
The corn bread of the region is also the base of many of its savory dishes, torn into soups and stews. It is at its best still warm, and the smell of the bakeries in the morning is one of the town’s daily pleasures.
The Breakfast Table of the Black Sea
Breakfast in Giresun is a serious, slow affair, laid out on a table that covers every taste: the local white cheese, honey from the mountain apiaries, olives, eggs, tomatoes, and the corn bread of the morning.
The region adds its own touches: hazelnuts from the hills, kaymak, the clotted cream of the coast, and the local jams made from the berries and fruits of the region. The tea, served in the tulip glasses of Turkey, comes from the eastern Black Sea gardens.
The breakfast places of the old quarter and the harbor serve this spread throughout the morning, and the meal regularly runs to an hour or more. In Giresun, breakfast is not a pit stop; it is the first event of the day.
The breakfast places are scattered through the center and the old quarter, and the full spread costs very little. In Giresun, breakfast is the meal that prepares you for the hills of the town.
Hazelnuts: The Taste of the Hills
The hazelnut is the wealth of Giresun, and the local kitchen finds a hundred ways to use it. The fresh nuts of the harvest season, still white and milky inside, are a seasonal treat that the whole town waits for.
Beyond the raw nut, the confectioners of Giresun turn the hazelnut into pastries, cakes, halva and the chocolate-covered nuts that are the town’s sweet calling card. Hazelnut butter and hazelnut spreads appear on the breakfast tables of the region.
In season, from late August, the whole town smells of roasting nuts, and the markets are full of sacks and trays of them. For a visitor, buying a bag of fresh hazelnuts and eating them by the harbor is the essential Giresun experience.
The harvest is also a social season, when the families of the region gather in the orchards and the whole coast turns to the crop. The fresh nut, eaten in the shell, is the taste of that season.
Where to Eat: The Harbor, the Market and the Lokantas
The best eating in Giresun is spread across three kinds of place. The fish restaurants of the harbor grill the day’s catch with nothing between you and the sea, and they are the town’s great evening institution.
The lokantas of the center serve the home cooking of the region at lunch: the black cabbage dishes, the beans, the soups and the stuffed vegetables, with corn bread from the oven. The market district supplies the sweets, the hazelnuts and the pastries.
The rule, as everywhere in Turkey, is to follow the crowds. The restaurant full of families, the bakery with a queue, and the market stall that is sold out by noon are all telling you the same thing: this is where Giresun eats well.
The confectioners of Giresun build their trade on the hazelnut, and their windows are full of the nut in every form: roasted, candied, folded into pastries and coating the local chocolates.
The pastries of the town also carry the flavors of the coast, with the local butter, the honey of the mountains and the fruit of the region’s gardens. The shops of the center and the market make them fresh through the day.
Leave room after any meal: a hazelnut dessert and a glass of tea is the Giresun ending, and the confectioners’ boxes make the best souvenirs of the town.
The Fish of the Harbor and the Meals of the Sea
The fish restaurants of the Giresun harbor are the town’s great dining institution, grilling the catch of the day over charcoal within sight of the boats that brought it in.
Beyond the winter anchovy, the coast offers the bonito, the bluefish and the other fish of the Black Sea through the warmer months, each with its season and its way of cooking.
The harbor meals are simple by design: the fish, a salad, the corn bread of the region and tea. The setting, with the boats and the castle above, is the part you cannot pack.
The Sweets and Pastries of the Confectioners
The confectioners of Giresun build their trade on the hazelnut, and their windows are full of the nut in every form: roasted, candied, folded into pastries and coating the local chocolates.
The pastries of the town also carry the flavors of the coast, with the local butter, the honey of the mountains and the fruit of the region’s gardens. The shops of the center and the market make them fresh through the day.
Leave room after any meal: a hazelnut dessert and a glass of tea is the Giresun ending, and the confectioners’ boxes make the best souvenirs of the town.
The prices at the harbor are a little higher than in the center, but the fish is worth it, and the tea gardens are the cheapest pleasure in Giresun. A meal by the water, with the boats and the castle overhead, is the classic closing scene of the town, and the memory of it travels well.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most famous food of Giresun?
The hazelnut is the town’s most famous product and the heart of its economy, eaten fresh, roasted and in countless sweets. The most distinctive local dish, however, is the hamsi, the Black Sea anchovy, which arrives at the harbor in winter and is cooked in every way the region knows.
Where should I eat in Giresun?
The fish restaurants at the harbor are the classic choice for evening meals, grilling the day’s catch with a view of the boats. For lunch, follow the locals to the center’s lokantas for home-style Black Sea cooking, and leave room for the pastry shops and the hazelnut confectioners of the market district.
Is the food in Giresun very different from the rest of Turkey?
Yes, in a good way. The eastern Black Sea eats more fish, more corn, more cabbage and more butter than the rest of the country, and the hazelnut appears in everything. The result is a distinctive, hearty regional kitchen that rewards visitors who try the local specialties.
All Over Information
The All Over Information editorial team researches and writes practical English-language guides to Turkey. Facts are checked against official and local sources before publication, prices are published as dated ranges rather than quotes, and guides are revised when things change. We accept no sponsored posts, paid placements or paid links.
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