Bread

Without bread no meal is complete in Turkey. Every neighborhood has a bread bakery in Turkey.

Turkish breads fall into three categories: very thin rolled sheets known as yufka, flat leavened breads such as pide, and loaves known as somun.

Börek

Börek occupies an important place in the Turkish culinary tradition.

Böreks are made of phyllo pastry or dough rolled out in thin layers and filled with
cheese, meat or spinach.

Pilaf (Pilav)

Turkish cuisine gives the same importance to pilafs as Western cuisine give to potatoes. The basic ingredient in pilafs is either rice, bulgur (boiled and cracked wheat) or vermicelli.
There are varieties of pilafs cooked by adding onion, tomato, vegetables, nuts,herbs, poultry, or meat or combinations of these, but generally cooked plain and eaten as a side dish served with meat or vegetable dishes.

Dolma and Sarma

Dolma and Sarma are stuffed vegetables. Dolma is derived from the verb “doldurmak” which means to stuff and Sarma is derived from the verb “sarmak” which means to wrap. The stuff mix can be prepared in two ways with meat or with rice. The latter is cooked in olive oil and eaten at room temperature. The meat dish is a main course dish eaten with a yogurt sauce. Many vegetables can be stuffed with or wrapped around these mixes, such as pepper, eggplant, zucchini,tomatoes, cabbage and grape leaves.

Desserts

The most well-known dessert associated with Turkish Cuisine is “Baklava”.

The most wonderful contribution of Turkish cuisine to the family of desserts are the milk desserts – the “muhallebi” family.

Yogurt

Yogurt is one of the most typical features of Turkish cooking, it is eaten in almost every meal. It garnishes a great many vegetable dishes, as well as being incorporated in kebabs and puddings.

Ayran, a refreshing drink, is prepared by adding water and salt to yogurt.

Turkish Coffee

Coffee was first brought to Istanbul from Yemen in the 16th century.

It was in Turkey that a new method of preparing ground coffee – now called “Turkish Coffee” – was invented.

Turks introduced this new drink prepared in their own way to Europe by the 17th century.

Boza

Boza is a thick, fermented drink made of wheat berries, to be enjoyed with a dash of cinnamon and a handful of roasted chick peas.

Sahlep

Sahlep is a hot drink made with milk and and sahlep powder sprinkled with cinnamon.