Istanbul and the rest of Turkey is a veritable heaven for foodies.
After all, it features different cultures and cooking styles. The cuisine of Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Romans and Ottoman society worked their magic at this imperial city – the home of emperors and sultans. Can you imagine a host of cooks (experts in their own right) working and dreaming up dish upon dish, all bent on delighting the royal palate? Of course, this kind of cooking standard is bound to leave a lasting legacy to the city’s cuisine.
Add to this the availability of a diverse choice of ingredients from the four corners of the great empires – spices, meats, and fresh produce are all combined to produce delicacies that make their contribution into making Turkish cuisine one of the world’s best.
Now, let us make a survey of some must-trys when it comes to Istanbul food:
Starters
Appetizers (mezes) are made up of culinary delights such as red pepper salad (ezme), fried cheese shaped as cigars (sigara boregi), leaves and peppers stuffed with mint, pine nuts, rice and other ingredients (dolmalar). You can also start off with honeydew melon slices or feta cheese on baked bread. Meze is very much like the tapas of the Spaniards – small portions that start you along a feast of a meal. The meze served also depends on what the main dish is. Usually, these are accompanied by a glass of raki. Raki is sometimes called lion’s milk, and is a national favorite. This drink is made from raisins and then redistilled using aniseed. This is an alcoholic drink and can pack quite a punch, so drink in moderation.
Main dishes
The main course is usually made up of grilled fish or meat.
Here are some of the main dishes you can feast on:
Kebab/Kebap – fried meat, often eaten stuffed inside a bread roll. As Shish-Kebab, the meat is grilled, while the Iskended-kebab makes use of lamb, yogurt, bread and sauce. Eat at your own risk, as the lamb is drenched in butter before it is added to the pide bread. Kebab is highly popular in Istanbul and comes in so many permutations. Grilled lamb and eggplant slices (patlican kebap), spicy ground lamb sausage (Adana kebap) and lamb slices (doner kebap) are just some examples.
Mercimek corbasi – red lentil soup of the spicy kind.
Kofte – The Turkish version of the hamburger. This is made up of meatballs with green chili peppers and tomatoes.
Turkish pizza (Lahmacun) – meat, tomato, greens and onions are spiced up and made into a flat cake. The bread is very thin (as thin as a crepe).
Desserts
Of course, there is the famous Turkish delicacy – baklava. The thin layers of dough are drenched in syrup and are stuffed with walnuts, filberts or pistachios. What you should also try not to miss are the muhallebi (milk-based drinks made of rice flour), Keshkuli (a concoction made of coconuts and almonds), lokum (a combination of Arab herbs, roses, jasmine and honey) and helva (mainly made of sugar and sunflower seeds).
Beverages
Let’s start with Turkish coffee, which is made up of finely ground coffee beans boiled with water. The grounds that settle at the bottom of the cup should not be swallowed or eaten. You shouldn’t expect Turkish coffee to give you that much-needed caffeine shot. For that, the locals in Istanbul turn to tea. The fact that there are many tea-houses or tea-gardens dotting the city is testimony of the role of tea in the Istanbulite’s daily like. Drinking a hot cup of tea is one good reason to sit, talk and relax amongst friends. Ayran, on the other hand, is made up of water and yogurt. It has a salty taste, unlike the sweetness one usually associates with yogurt drinks. This is a refreshing drink, especially if you just came in the shop to escape the heat. As for wines, the best Turkey has to offer is in Capadoccia.
