About Turkish Cuisine and Turkish Kebabs

Turkish Cuisine

Turkish Spices

Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Caucasian, Middle Eastern,Mediterranean and Balkan cuisines.

Mantı

Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbouring cuisines, including those of Western Europe. The Ottomans fused various culinary traditions of their realm with influences from Middle Eastern cuisines, along with traditional Turkic elements from Central Asia (such as yogurt and mantı), creating a vast array of specialities—many with strong regional associations.

Turkish Spice Market

Dolmas

Turkish cuisine varies across the country. The cooking of Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, and rest of the Aegean region inherits many elements of Ottoman court cuisine, with a lighter use of spices, a preference for rice over bulgur, koftes and a wider availability of vegetables stew (türlü), eggplant, stuffed dolmas and fish.

Bulgur, Köftes, Türlü, The Sultan's Favorite Eggplant Dish

The cuisine of the Black Sea Region uses fish extensively, especially the Black Sea anchovy (hamsi).

Turkish Fish Market,Stuffed Mussels,Hamsi,Raki (Turkish ouzo)

The cuisine of the southeast -Urfa,Gaziantep and Adana- is famous for its variety of kebabs, mezes and dough-based desserts such as baklava, kadayıf and künefe.

Baklava,Kebabs, Mezes,Döner Kebap, Shish Kebap, K

Turkish Delights

Turkish olives and olive oil

Especially in the western parts of Turkey, where olive trees grow abundantly, olive oil is the major type of oil used for cooking.

Gözleme

The cuisines of the Aegean, Marmara and Mediterranean regions are rich in vegetables, herbs, and fish. Central Anatolia has many famous specialties, such as keşkek (kashkak), mantı (especially from Kayseri) and gözleme.

Turkish Pizza (pide), Turkish Ham (pastırma),Simit,Pickles 

Turkish Foods

Adana Kebap

A specialty's name sometimes includes that of a city or region, either in or outside of Turkey, and may refer to the specific technique or ingredients used in that area. For example, the difference between Urfa kebap and Adana kebap is the thickness of the skewer and the amount of hot pepper that kebab contains.Urfa kebab is less spicy and thicker than Adana kebap.

Turkish Kebabs

Kebab, (also kebap, kabob, kebob, or kabab) is a Middle Eastern, Eastern Mediterranean, and South Asian dish of pieces of meat, fish, or vegetables roasted or grilled on a skewer or spit originating in the Eastern Mediterranean, where it is mentioned by Homer,or the Middle East, and later adopted in Central Asia and by the regions of the former Mongol Empire and later Ottoman Empire, before spreading worldwide. In American English, kebab with no qualification refers to shish kebab (Turkish: şiş kebap) cooked on a skewer, whereas in Europe it refers to doner kebab, sliced meat served in a pita. In the Middle East, however, kebab refers to meat that is cooked over or next to flames; large or small cuts of meat, or even ground meat; it may be served on plates, in sandwiches, or in bowls.

Shish(şiş) Kebab 

The traditional meat for kebab is lamb, but depending on local tastes and religious prohibitions, other meats may include beef, goat,chicken, pork or fish. Like other ethnic foods brought by travellers, the kebab has remained a part of everyday cuisine in most of the Eastern Mediterranean and South Asia. Doner kebab is popular in Germany as a snack after a night out.

In Turkey

Before taking its modern form, as mentioned in Ottoman travel books of the 18th century, the doner used to be a horizontal stack of meat rather than vertical, probably sharing common ancestors with the Cağ Kebabı of the Eastern Turkish province of Erzurum.

Çağ Kebabı

In his family biography, İskender Efendi of 19th century Bursa writes that "he and his grandfather had the idea of roasting the lamb vertically rather than horizontally, and invented for that purpose a vertical mangal".

Döner Kebab

Since then, Hacı İskender is known as the inventor of Turkish döner kebab. With time, the meat took a different marinade, got leaner, and eventually took its modern shape.

The Greek gyro, along with the similar Arab shawarma and Mexican taco al pastor, are derived from this dish.