food guide

Turkish ice cream, dondurma, is unlike any ice cream you have ever eaten.

Gozleme is the great comfort food of the Turkish countryside: a thin, hand-rolled flatbread, folded over a savory filling, and cooked on a convex iron griddle called a sac.

Balik ekmek, the Turkish fish sandwich, is the taste of the Bosphorus in its simplest form: a grilled mackerel fillet, a few slices of onion, a squeeze of lemon, and a piece of bread.

Midye dolma, or stuffed mussels, is the great street food of the Turkish coast.

çiğ kofte is one of the great surprises of Turkish food. The name means raw meatball, yet the version sold on Turkish streets today contains no meat at all.

Testi kebab is the most theatrical dish in Turkish cuisine: a clay pot sealed at the rim, cooked for hours, and cracked open at the table with a single decisive tap.

Turkish breakfast, kahvalti, is not a quick meal; it is an event.

Kunefe is the dessert that stops conversation.

The Turkish meze platter is a meal disguised as an appetizer: a table full of small dishes that can be served before a main course or enjoyed as a feast on their own.

Ayran is the quiet giant of Turkish cuisine: a simple mixture of yogurt, water, and salt that accompanies almost everything Turkey eats, from a kebab on the street to a formal family dinner.

Turkish coffee is one of the oldest coffee traditions in the world, a method that has barely changed since it arrived in Istanbul in the sixteenth century.

Turkish tea, cay, is more than a drink in Turkey; it is the national beverage, the social glue of the country, and the companion to every conversation, meal, and negotiation.