Turkish Cuisine as one of the most famous kitchens in the world

Turkish cuisine is known as one of the most famous kitchens in the world. It has a variety of delicious tastes, due to the unique geographical location of Turkey at crossroads between continents. Consequently, enriched by several cultures that composed the country’s contemporary history.

In other words, you can smell the food of Damascus, Greece, Persia and Andalusia altogether in the Turkish cuisine. Moreover, it is distinguished by simplicity of preparation, and affordability that suits all classes of society.

Most Famous Dishes in Turkish Cuisine

Each region in Turkey has its own culinary character, as one finds the authentic taste of local delicacies. Whereas, visitors to major cities, Istanbul for example, can find restaurants serving the most famous as well as most delicious Turkish dishes from all over the country.

Hereafter, we will mention some of the most famous Turkish dishes, that every tourist or resident must taste its rich and distinctive flavors.

1- Turkish Börek

Turkish cuisine is famous for serving breakfast with its delicious börek. They are pieces of dough that contain cheese, meat or vegetables, cooked in the oven or in boiling oil, and served in various shapes. The most famous is the twisted rolled shape that looks like a cigarette, known as ‘cigarette börek’.

2- Raw Kofta (Çiğ köfte)

Raw kofta originally started from the city of Urfa. Bulgur, boiled potatoes, red pepper, and black hot are kneaded. Whereas, raw meat was dispensed due to the diseases it causes when uncooked.

Indeed, raw kofta is currently considered one of the most popular foods in Turkish cities. Furthermore, its price is affordable to all segments of Turkish society. In fact, the plate or sandwich does not exceed few dollars.

3- Simit

Simit dates back to the fourteenth century, the days of the Ottoman Empire. Indeed, it is one of the most popular food that Turkish people serve in their breakfast.

Simit is a sesame baton of varied sizes, sold in shops and streets of Turkey. It is considered one of the meals preferred by tourists because of its wonderful taste, its afforable price, and it is served with delicious Turkish tea.

4- Kokoreç

It is a Balkans or Turkish Asian food, famous in Turkey, Albania, Greece and Armenia. It is well-known by this same name, with a slight difference in the letters.

The Kokoreç consists of goat or sheep intestine, thoroughly cleaned with water and soaked with lemon, vinegar, salt, garlic, pepper and olive oil. Consequently, rolled onto a skewer, similar to a shawarma skewer, and grilled over charcoal at a low heat. Finally, it is served as a sandwich with an unparalleled flavor of spices, together with vegetable salad.

5- Lahmajun (Lahmacun)

Meat with dough (or paste meat) is one of the most important oriental meals in the Levant. Consequently, it spread in Italy, the Balkans and Turkey.

It is a dough with minced meat and pieces of onion and red pepper. Then, it is baked inside the oven and sprinkled with parsley, Turkish spices and lemon juice. Finally, served hot with the Turkish yogurt drink ‘Ayran’.

6- Turkish Coffee

Although Turkish coffee was known in Europe for the first time in the sixteenth century, yet it is still served as a final treat in any meal. In particular, it is served along with one of the masterpieces of Turkish dishes, namely the malban, or known as ‘lokum’.

History of Turkish Cuisine

Opinions differ about the origins of Turkish cuisine; some say that it goes back to Middle Eastern kitchens, especially Arab kitchens, because of the Ottomans remaining among the Arabs for a long time.

While others emphasized the originality of Turkish cuisine and its return to its ancient historical roots. Turkish cuisine is one of the important Turkish legacies from the Ottoman era.

There are luxurious Ottoman kitchens, known as ‘the palace kitchen’, whereby all sorts of delicious dishes were prepared for the Ottoman sultans upon returning from the battles.

Similarly, some historians believe that Turkish kitchens have European origins. This was as a result of the Ottoman conquests that roamed the countries of the world east and west, and reached as far as the French borders.

Turkish Cuisine Ranked Fifth in the World

In a related context, the Vice President of the Union of Turkish Chefs (Yilmaz Sechim) stated in an interview with Anadolu Agency: “Turkish cuisine is ranked fifth among the best international kitchens after French, Italian, Chinese and Spanish cuisine”.

Yilmaz further added that Turkish cuisine is witnessing a continuous development in recent years, pointing out that Turkish chefs are spreading in major international kitchens.

Moreover, he explained that the opening of gastronomy branches in Turkish universities is one of the most important factors in the development of Turkish cuisine. In fact, Turkey presently occupies an important position internationally in the field of restaurant tourism and gastronomy.

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