The Turkish cuisine can often be a pleasant surprise for many first time visitors. Traditionally everyone associates this country with the infamous kebab, but tasting them in Turkey is a completely different experience to the norm. Lamb is the basic meat of all Turkish kitchens and here the pieces of lamb are threaded or grilled over charcoal to form the “shish kebab”. The Doner is a roll of lamb on a vertical skewer turning parallel to a hot grill.
The aubergine is also highly used in Turkey and forms many of the dishes from eggplant salad (Patlican Salatasi) to stuffed eggplants (Patlican Dolmasi). Many times it is used with onions, garlic and tomatoes and served cold as Imam Bayildi. Borek is also popular here and this is flaky pastry stuffed with meat, cheese or potatoes and wrapped around various savoury fillings given a light, crisp and airy texture.
It goes without saying that the Turks love coffee and it actually was the first European country to begin to introduce coffee to its native residents. It is often served thick and dark in a small cup and is truly delicious. Turkish sweets are also famous throughout the world and many of these have milk as there basic ingredient, all produced locally. The most famous of all is the Baklava and this must be tried when you come to Turkey.