Cuisine

Turkish food is sometimes hot and spicy, sometimes infused with herbs, but always absolutely delicious. Mediterranean selections feature a variety of vegetables, herbs and olive oil, while Anatolian offerings are often meat-based, and hot and spicy. And Turkish bread is simply scrumptious.

Soups are a favourite all year round; lentil soup (mercimek corbasi) being the staple in its own right and the base for many more varieties like the spicier bride’s soup (ezogelin corbasi). Without doubt the country’s most famous export is the kebab—spicy or plain, served alone or with vegetables, salad or yoghurt, they are all delicious!

Things to definitely try include Iskender Kebab (named after Alexander the Great); tasty slices of doner meat sitting on a diced bread base, with a rich tomato sauce poured over the top, add a spoonful of yoghurt on one side and a tomato salad on the other and you have a meal to die for! Shish kebabs, or simply shish as they say here, come in all sorts and styles; cop shish (pronounced like chirp without the ‘r’ sound) is small cubes of lamb charcoal-grilled on a skewer while kuzu shish has bite sized pieces of lamb and usually comes plated up with rice and salad or off the skewer and wrapped up in a tortilla-like durum.

With all the mouth-watering meat dishes we can’t forget the incredibly tasty vegetables available here. You will enjoy tomatoes that actually smell of tomatoes, cucumber that has real taste plus a whole variety of seasonal vegetables to complement any meal or just be eaten alone.

With your food, in addition to international liquor selections, you can choose from among various Turkish wines, or go for the national drink raki, an aniseed-based alcoholic beverage best enjoyed mixed with water, and in small sips throughout the meal.