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Gözleme is a Turkish flatbread consisting of flour, water, yeast, olive oil, and yogurt, which prevents the flatbread from going too brittle. The dough is filled with ingredients such as meat, vegetables, eggs, various cheeses, or mushrooms, and is then baked on a sac griddle.
Originally, gözleme was served for breakfast or as a light afternoon snack, but today it has a status of popular fast food that can be found throughout the country's restaurants, food carts, and cafés.
MOST ICONIC Gözleme
Börek is a baked dish consisting of a savory or sweet filling wrapped in yufka - thinly stretched sheets of dough made with flour, water, and salt. Heartier than phyllo, but thinner than a tortilla, hand-made yufka is typically brushed with butter before baking.
Although many countries have their own versions of this satisfying dish, it was probably invented during the Ottoman Empire in the Anatolian Provinces, an area that nowadays belongs to Turkey. Some sources suggest that börek might be even older, a descendant of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Anatolian dish known as en tyritas plakountas, consisting of layered dough filled with cheese, its recipe dating back to 160 BC.
VARIATIONS OF Börek
MOST ICONIC Börek
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The cylindrical sigara böreği is a famous Turkish deep-fried pastry. These small, crispy rolls of thin dough are stuffed with a creamy mixture of cheese and parsley. They are traditionally made with sheets of thin yufka dough, a common ingredient in many boregi varieties, or with a thicker phyllo dough.
Mixed with fresh parsley and (sometimes) eggs, the cheese is spread on the triangle-shaped dough, which is then shaped into a cigar. After it is fried, sigara böreği turns into a satisfying delicacy, with a crispy outer layer and a velvety filling.
MOST ICONIC Sigara böreği
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Manti are traditional Turkish dumplings filled with spiced ground meat and onions. The dumplings are most commonly topped with a sauce consisting of yogurt and garlic. The name of the dish is derived from mantu, meaning dumplings, and they were originally brought over from Central Asia to Türkiye by nomadic Turkish tribes in the 13th century.
Today, manti dumplings are popular throughout Turkey, as well as in numerous other cuisines such as Armenian, Afghan, and Central Asian.
VARIATIONS OF Manti
MOST ICONIC Manti
This traditional Turkish white bean stew is a staple in virtually every household and lokanta—an establishment serving simple but hearty meals to people on the go. Kuru fasulye translates to dried beans which are first soaked and then cooked together with sautéed chopped onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and salça (tomato paste).
The dish can also be enriched with meat - typically lamb - in a variation known as etli kuru fasulye.
MOST ICONIC Kuru fasulye
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Mercimek çorbası is a beloved Turkish soup made with red lentils, chicken stock, onions, and carrots. It is often seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, or paprika. Easy to prepare, filling, and warming, the soup is consumed for breakfast, lunch, or dinner in rural parts of Turkey, especially in local eateries known as lokantas.
MOST ICONIC Mercimek çorbası
Found in various forms throughout cuisines of Southeast Europe and the Middle East, cacık is a refreshing Turkish dip made with strained or diluted yogurt mixed with finely chopped cucumbers and minced garlic. It is traditionally flavored with olive oil, dill weed, mint, either lemon juice or vinegar, and sometimes even oregano, thyme, sumac, and paprika.
Cacık is served chilled and it is used for virtually everything from various appetizers to main dishes. It pairs especially well with classic Turkish meat fare such as köfte and kebabs of all kinds. As a side dish, cacık is typically enjoyed in place of a salad, diluted with water and eaten with a spoon, like soup.
MOST ICONIC Cacık
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Imam bayildi (lit. the Imam fainted) is a Turkish dish consisting of eggplants cut in a way that they look like long canoes, filled with a combination of onions, red peppers, garlic, and tomatoes. The dish is flavored with oregano, cumin, paprika, and lemon juice, while the ingredients for the filling are sautéed in generous amounts of olive oil.
It is typically baked in the oven, and when done, imam bayildi can be served warm, at room temperature, or cold, ideally paired with a glass of yogurt.
MOST ICONIC Imam bayildi
Çerkez tavuğu or Circassian chicken is a Turkish dish made with shredded boiled chicken in a sauce consisting of stale bread, walnuts, garlic, red pepper flakes, coriander, and stock. When served, the dish is often sprinkled with chopped walnuts and sprigs of coriander, accompanied by toasted bread, steamed vegetables, or a green salad.
It is believed that the dish originated during the Ottoman reign, and was brought over to Turkey by Circassian slaves who had served in the harems as concubines.
MOST ICONIC Çerkez tavuğu
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Dolma is Türkiye's national dish, and it signifies any sort of vegetable stuffed with a mixture based on rice. For traditional dolma, grape leaves are stuffed with rice and ground meat. Stuffed leaves were first made at the court of King Khusrow II in the early 7th century.
The popularity of dolma spread throughout the Muslim world, so there are numerous variations of the dish. Dolma is divided into two groups: dolma without meat and dolma with olive oil. Those without meat and cooked with olive oil are called yalanci, meaning imitation.
