Turkish cuisine – not that famous as the Italian or French cuisine, but very rich indeed – blends the Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern food cultures. It consists of a wide selection of regional specialties of the Mediterranean coast, which are sea food, vegetables & olive oil based food; Middle Eastern specialities such as meat, kebabs and pistaacchio based dough desserts; and anchovies and corn based Northern specialities.
You may find further encyclopedic information on Wikipedia; but here are my personal “must try” recommendations for a tourist in Turkey (Click on the items for further information):
- Raki (Rakı)
- Turkish hors d’oeuvres (Meze)
- Manti (Mantı)
- Seasonal fish on grill (lufer -my personal favorite-, palamut, etc) or anchovies fried on pan (hamsi tava)
- Doner (Döner)
- Kebab (Kebap)
- Lahmacun
- Baklava
- Kazandibi
- Yaprak Sarma
- Midye Dolma
- Turkish Coffee (Türk Kahvesi)