Turkish Food Questions
 

We are planning a fall trip to Turkey. Boring itinerary questions to follow but currently here are a few food questions.

We understand it is difficult to get coffee for breakfast. Is this correct? If so, what are the ways around it?

We also understand that Turkish yogurt is spectacular. What are the best dishes with it?

We see Turkish delights listed but are unsure of what is exactly. Hey get your mind out of the gutter.

Thank you.

I was on a tour in Turkey and there was always coffee at breakfast but it wasn't anything to rave about. I had two extra days in Istanbul w/o the tour and the hotel (different from the tour hotel) served coffee at breakfast so I doubt it will be a problem. Turkish coffee is served after dinner but that's too late for me to have coffee. It kicks in about 2 hours after drinking it and keeps me up all night.

I didn't think Turkish yogurt was any better than French yogurt - both are delicious. I ate it every morning and enjoyed it. I only had yogurt at breakfast so I can't help you with dinner foods and yogurt. I never saw it served at dinner.

Do you mean Turkish Delight? It a gelatinous candy and reminds me of squishy jello with some powder substance on it. You buy it in squares. I had it once and that was enough (more than enough).

What I loved were the nuts covered in sesame and honey and the fresh squeezed orange juice vendors on the streets. And the apple tea (not the stuff in a tea bag but the powdered stuff that is sweetened and probably full of chemicals). You can get it in every cafe. There are tons of flavors but I loved the apple. I brought home a kilo of it with some apple tea glasses.

Been to Turkey and love the food and yogurt. There is a yogurt drink that is favored by the Turks called ayan - very good. Turkish and Greek food are the same if not similar - so Turks have their version of tziki - yogurt, garlic, cucumber dressing that is served with various dishes - including meats. But I am vegetarian and love Turkish cuisine because there are a lot of vegetable and mezze dishes so yogurt goes great with grape leaves and stuffed vegetables like zuchini and eggplant.

Not sure about Turkish breakfast because we had an apartment and did our own breakfast but if it is anything similar to Israeli breakfast it is probably yogurt, cheeses, olives, cucumber, and bread or pita.

Didn't try Turkish delight but loved the baklava.

I never had any problem getting coffee in Istanbul.

Apple tea is very common in Turkey.

Eggplant is everywhere in Turkey.

If you want really good dessert in Istanbul (the tiramisu is to die for) head to Ozsut on the Istiklal Caddesi.

Istanbul is famous for its rice pudding.

When you go into a restaurant, order a mezes. It will give you a little bit of everything to taste.

And, of course, you must try a doner kebab.

Thin

A Turkish Delight is a candy. I thought it was pectin based. Here is what they look like:

http://www.libertyorchards.com/produ...Fruit_Delights

Costco, along with other stores, carry similar products (at least at stores in my area.)

Thank you for your answers.

I never had a problem getting coffee at breakfast in Turkey. It was always Turkish coffee - strong, dark, and wonderful.

Turkish food is fabulous.

Never had a problem getting coffee in Istanbul. Hotel breakfast was much as described above, also included eggs. Yogurt was delicious. The breads were also quite delicious.
Turkish delight - aka <i>lokum</i> - is a sugar and starch confection (according to wikipedia) in texture something like the inside of a jelly bean but a bit stiffer. It is cut into cubes and dusted with powdered sugar. You will see it everywhere, it is a major tourist product. The best I had was purchases at a stall in the Spice Market.

We are looking forward to the food among other things. There is a very good Turkish restaurant near us, but we are uncertain how much they Americanize the food.

We often go to restaurants, before a trip, where we know the owners or staff are from that country and as for recommendations.

Hi

Turkish food is very wholesome and appetising. I didn't see much obesity there so it must be healthy eating. I found the coffee very strong and unpleasant though (even though I'm a coffee addict and love percolated varieties). You'll have no trouble getting coffee with breakfast. Yogurt is served at breakfast. It's a lovely creamy naturally flavoured. I'm not a fan of yogurt so I added honey to it. What a taste explosion! Turkish Delight lives up to its name. Don't get the one sold in boxes - they are a bit stale. Instead buy it loose. You can get different flavours - I liked the one with nuts. For more info check this link - http://www.hacibekir.com.tr/eng/urun_lokum.html. Apple tea is very refreshing. I'm not a fan of apple juice but loved this stuff!

Breakfast coffee in our experience was Nescafe. Turkish coffee was available for extra. I switched to tea.

The coffee thing varies quite a bit. Turkish coffee is, by default, served a lot sweeter than many on this board might like and if you like Turkish coffee you need to understand which sweetness level you prefer and specify it: sade (unsugared), which most Turks think is downright tasteless, az sekerli (some sugar, and probably about the right compromise) or sekerli (to my mind disgusting, but close to many Turks' taste).

Most Turks, though, routinely drink tea rather than coffee for breakfast, which is probably why you've stumbled on this (unfounded) claim about difficulty in finding it. The Turkish word for breakfast means something like "before coffee", which was once what Turks drank later in the morning, though the etymology is no more a guide to modern Turkish behaviour than "breakfast" implies English-speakers have been rigorously fasting since midnight.

If Turkish coffee isn't your thing in the morning, then most cheaper hotels routinely serve instant coffee. And an exceptionally acrid, insubstantial, version at that: not so much Tesco Basics as hardcore, ultra-nasty, 1980-style, Tesco Value Lines.

You MIGHT find posher hotels serve what Western European regard as proper coffee: but I never have. Turks understand their own coffee, tea, and fruit teas perfectly: why chase out a drink that's quite alien to most of them?

Turkish delight comes in a number of guises: the basic jelly will usually be flavoured with rosewater, which is why it's slightly pink, and is dusted with icing sugar, which isn't quite as cloying as it sounds, but still requires high tolerance of the excessively sweet. It might, though, be flavoured with lemon or mastic and be stuffed with something like pistachio. If that's the kind of thing you like, you'll finds lots of things to like

Otherwise, Turkish food is to the Middle East what French food is to NW Europe: infinitely better and more varied than its neighbours', based on a culture with great appreciation of its subtleties. But the standard travel writer cliche that, overall, Turkey for food is in a unique class together with France and China is downright absurd: a middling Italian regione has more, better and more varied restaurants than all of Turkey.

Travel writers though - especially the out and out witterers like whoever writes the awful Fodors guide - are pretty hopeless on Turkish food, most often just telling you how you must try a kebab, and recommending a gazillion variants, all about as different as Kama Sutra positions 1768 and 1769 (ie, you cross different fingers). Wiki, though, is your friend here. Its "Turkish cuisine" page gives a proper guide to the complexities of vegetable, pulse, bread, dairy, sweet and rice
cookery that really do make Turkey as serious a place for good eating as Vietnam or the Punjab. And demonstrates how grilled slugs of meat are as peripheral to real Turkish food as they are to the food of Canton or the Basque country.

Thank you again for the information.

Dear aduchamp 1,

Have you had achance to view the Fodor's thread of some five six months ago/

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-turkey.cfm

flanneruk is correct that there is not too much variety in restaurants but Turkish home cooking and hot plate has much more variety than Italian, indian, Thai, etc. even though the basic ingredients are not that many.

original Istanbul home can cook eggplant and zuccini in tens of different ways, with or without different types of meat, fried, sauteed, grilled, steamed and baked.

there is not much use of spice in istanbul, except for mint, oregano, black pepper, bay leaves for fish, a little cumin for meatballs, all spice for filled vegetables.

lots of onions, tomatoe paste and/or fresh tomatoes in pot dishes and qute a bit of garlic though not as much as in korean or italian.

as a rule, we have never eaten the same dish twice in a month in our home unless it was a special request from a dinner guest.

The "Kanlica" yoghurt is very special, only found in Kanlica and a few small groceries in the city.

the best Baklava is at the original Gulluoglu with main shop at karakoy and branches in Athens and New York. (You can also get diabetic and baklava baked with olive oil instead of butter.)

I do not trust the Turkish delight sold in the open in the Spice market. The Haci Bekir, Divan, and Kosla brands and possibly other prepackaged ones will be more hygienic.

American type of filter coffee is available in all modern restaurants and cafes in istanbul. Fewer will have the stronger French or Italian or german coffee. But Espresso is also available, Lavazza, Ilie, nespresso, etc., but usually not in budget restaurants and cafes.

The cheapest Turkish breakfast (usually not available in Istanbul) is red or yellow lentil soup
The low standard is bread, white cheese and olives.
Then you add tomato and cucumber
Then you add jam or marmalade
then you add honey
then you add eggs
then you add buffalo cream
then you add pasty with cheese and/or ground meat (borek or pogaca)
then you add 4-8 different types of cheese
then you add cold cuts

I've never seen fried onions or mushrooms, or potatoes at a Turkish breakfast, but beef bacon was available, although seldom.

My husband took the new Starbucks VIA (one serving coffee packages) and it was his life saver.

........and if you want a 'real' coffee in Istanbul you'll
find there are - wait for it - actual Starbucks cafes.

A friend who just returned from Turkey told me the trick she used when served less-than-wonderful bread; just asked for it toasted!

Flanneruk,

You made some very good points on the laziness of guidebook writers. Agreed.
But I'd like to add to your comment that "that [Turkish food is] infinitely better and more varied than its neighbours". "Turkish" food is actually a "best of list" of its neighbors with a twist. have a close look at the regional cuisines and where those regions lie for explanation.
I think the misconception is in the idea of a national cuisine. It's a farce created by nationbuilders. But when you consider the food rooted in a certain place- local recipes, lets say- within the four corners of this country, I think you'll find a very unique diversity difficult to match.
I am not comparing Turkey to China but you've got to look a bit beyond the kebab here.
As you pointed out, unfortunately guidebook writers rarely do.

All the advice you have received above is spot-on, Aduchamp.

I loved all the food in Turkey - I was there for the last 2 weeks in October - and you probably will too. Breakfast was my favourite meal everyday. As others have said, coffee of varying tastes and qualities were available everywhere. The yoghurt was excellent - thick, rich and creamy. I enjoyed it best with local dark brown honey and a sprinkling of dried mulberries (which you will find everywhere), apricots and walnuts. You will also be served small pots of jam/preserves, savoury yogurt, tahini, honey and other dips to dunk fresh cucumber and tomato slices.

Don't miss the freshly squeezed orange and pomegranate juice from street vendors. Delicious and inexpensive.

My favourite kind of Turkish delight is the one made by Rowntree or Cadbury, that comes in a purple packet and is covered in chocolate. I know this is not the local turkish offering but it's my favourite. I find the other stuff too sweet.
Various types of baklava abound and I have a photo of a dazzling storefront display with the sign "Turkish Viagara" attached. I didn't need to try it !

I only once had yogurt served to me in an evening meal and that was in Cappadocia. It was a pork dish with beans in a thick tomato sauce with yogurt swirled through. It was delicious.
I also enjoyed fantastic roasted meats and vegetables (open fire).

Have fun.

Another dish we had in Turkey that included yogurt was manti, similar to ravioli, in a tomato sauce with yogurt swirled into it. Delicious! We loved all Turkish food, very fresh and healthy.

I think we are particular about our coffee, we like it strong, and drink only Dunkin Donuts brand here in the USA (which we make ourselves at home).
We stayed at Dersaadet Hotel in Sultahnamet and their morning (American, not Turkish) coffee was NOT Nescafe or instant of any sort. It was strong and delicious. Their whole breakfast was fabulous.
If you enjoy yoghurt and are vegetarian, we had a cold mezze that had cooked eggplant cubes in garlic-y yoghurt which was very delicious. The red pepper cold mezze is very simple and very delicious as well. I ate both of these at Hamdi restaurant (not Hamdi Cafe), which is near the Spice Market and overlooks the Marmara Sea (Balcony eating area on the 3rd floor, take the elevator up).

"If you want really good dessert in Istanbul (the tiramisu is to die for) head to Ozsut on the Istiklal Caddesi."
Wish I'd known about this before I went as I happened to have eaten at this very place. I love love love tiramisu. However, we had a layer cake with coffee cream filling which was very good. Their Turkish coffee was much better than that which we had at two other places during our stay.

I can't believe no one has brought up Iskender Kebap, which is one of the most famous dishes in Turkey. Lamb meat basted in tomato sauce on top of slices of pide slathered in an incredible yogurt sauce.

In my mind, Turkish cuisine was one of the best I've ever eaten in all of my travels. Always something new to discover.

Coffee is widely available. The choices in cafes are often either Nescafe or Turkish coffee. I personally love Turkish coffee, although I realize it can be an acquired taste. I ask for it az sekarli (less sugar), because those Turks really seem to like things sweet (I never liked the lokum at all).

Have fun, I'm jealous.

Thank you all again for the advice.

Sorry Woyzeck, we intend to have to have fun.

The coffee questions are for my wife. She is quite happy to hear it will be available at breakfast. It seems no matter how adventurous an eater someone may be, they are inflexible about breakfast. As noted earlier there is a very good Turkish restaurant near us. We will soon see how authentic it is.

We will also post an itinerary soon for you guys to poke holes in. Usually when we travel we know something about something. I know very little about Turkey except for the well know historical references and the best known sights.

We are quite excited about the trip. My wife is a watercolorist and I am photographer, so we stay longer in places, to do these things.

Thank you all again.

You will both be in your element in Turkey - without a doubt.
It is such a diverse and beautiful country and hopefully your itinerary will cover at least 3 of the different regions of natural and man-made beauty, though there are many more (we'll help you). I had over 600 pics after I edited them down and I was there for just 2 weeks and in 3 regions. I definitely plan to return.

If you go to Eastern Turkey, to the Van - Dogubayazit region, try ayran ashi, a soup made of yogurt and herbs. Lots of other regional dishes there that you wouldn't find in other parts of the country. The area, the landscapes is quite amazing, too, so definitely worth checking it out. Another region with distinct cuisine is Antakya. In Istanbul, check out the Ciya restaurant in Kadikoy - they have quite a selection of dishes (mainly form the South-East) other than the usual kebabs.