What to eat in Turkey
The definitive guide to Turkish cuisine: regional kebabs, iconic street food, rich soups, and authentic desserts with tips on where to eat.

[ ] Try Iskender kebap
    Paper-thin shavings of döner meat layered over diced warm pide bread, drenched tableside with sizzling melted butter and rich tomato sauce, served alongside cold strained yogurt.
[ ] Try Adana kebap
    Hand-minced lamb fat-tailed mince mixed with spicy red peppers, mounted onto wide iron skewers and charcoal-grilled. Served over thin lavash alongside charred tomatoes and sumac-dusted onions.
[ ] Try lahmacun
    An ultra-thin, crispy disc of dough topped with finely ground spiced lamb or beef, tomatoes, peppers, and garlic, flash-baked in a stone oven. Spritz with fresh lemon, stuff with parsley, roll up, and eat warm.
[ ] Try mercimek çorbası
    A velvety cream soup made from red lentils, carrots, onions, and dried mint sautéed in butter. It is customary to squeeze half a fresh lemon into the bowl and sprinkle crushed pul biber chili before eating.
[ ] Try testi kebabı
    Cubed lamb slow-cooked with shallots, garlic, and sweet peppers inside a sealed, single-use earthenware jug placed in embers. The server ceremoniously taps and cracks the jug's neck open at your table to release the steaming stew.
[ ] Try balık ekmek
    A crusty half-loaf of white bread packed with a freshly griddled mackerel fillet, sliced white onions, and crisp lettuce, doused in tangy lemon juice.
[ ] Try Kayseri mantı
    Miniature handmade pasta pockets stuffed with minced spiced beef or lamb, simmered and topped with cold garlic yogurt, warm paprika-infused butter, dried mint, and tart sumac.
[ ] Try Turkish pide
    A boat-shaped, stone-oven baked flatbread with crisp crusts and molten fillings ranging from seasoned minced beef (kıymalı) to meltable kashar cheese, tender diced meat, or spicy sucuk sausage.
[ ] Try menemen
    A silky, loose scramble of eggs cooked gently in a two-handled copper pan with stewed ripe tomatoes, mild green peppers, and olive oil, eaten directly by dipping torn bread into the pan.
[ ] Try kokoreç
    Seasoned lamb offal wrapped snugly in intestines and roasted horizontally over charcoal embers, then chopped finely on a hot griddle with oregano, chili flakes, and tomatoes before being scooped into crispy bread.
[ ] Try midye dolma
    Plump mussels stuffed in their shells with aromatic rice cooked with pine nuts, currants, allspice, and black pepper. The street vendor cracks one open, uses the top shell as a spoon, spritzes lemon, and hands it over.
[ ] Try fresh simit
    A circular braided bread ring dipped in grape molasses (pekmez) bath and completely encrusted in toasted sesame seeds before baking, yielding a deeply crunchy exterior and soft, chewy crumb.
[ ] Try imam bayıldı
    Whole baby eggplant braised in generous amounts of olive oil until meltingly tender, stuffed with a slow-cooked filling of caramelized onions, garlic, and ripe tomatoes.
[ ] Try pistachio baklava
    Dozens of paper-thin phyllo sheets stacked with Gaziantep green pistachios and drenched in clarified butter and clear sugar syrup. Properly made, it crackles sharply upon the first bite, revealing a rich buttery sweetness.
[ ] Try künefe
    Shredded kadayıf pastry baked golden over open flame in a copper pan around a layer of unsalted, stretchy Hatay goat-and-cow milk cheese, finished with fragrant syrup and ground pistachios.
[ ] Try Maraş dondurma
    Incredibly dense, stretchy ice cream made from goat's milk thickened with ground wild orchid tubers (salep) and mastic resin. It resists melting in the heat and is chewy enough to be eaten with a knife and fork.
[ ] Try pişmaniye
    Delicate clusters of whisper-thin, spun sweet fibers made by repeatedly pulling roasted flour and melted sugar into silky strands, often flecked with pistachios or dipped in dark chocolate.
[ ] Drink Turkish black tea
    Robust, deep-crimson black tea sourced from the misty Rize hills, brewed using a stacked double-kettle (çaydanlık) system. Poured piping hot into delicate curved tulip glasses alongside sugar cubes.
[ ] Drink authentic Turkish coffee
    Extra-finely powdered coffee beans simmered slowly with water inside a copper cezve pot over hot sand or embers, yielding an unctuous cup with a dense froth. Served with cold water and a cube of lokum.
[ ] Drink fresh ayran
    A cooling beverage prepared by whisking fresh yogurt, cold water, and a pinch of salt until frothy. At quality grill houses, ask for *açık ayran*, ladled fresh with a deep head of foam into chilled copper mugs.
[ ] Drink winter salep
    A thick, velvety winter drink concocted from steamed milk, sugar, and flour ground from the dried tubers of wild Anatolian mountain orchids, heavily dusted with ground cinnamon.
[ ] Sip Turkish rakı
    An unsweetened, anise-flavored grape spirit double-distilled in traditional copper alembics. When mixed with chilled water, it turns an opaque milky-white color, famously earning the nickname 'lion's milk' (aslan sütü).

Checklist from Unload: https://unloads.me/c/food-turkey