30 DAYS, 30 DISHES – DAY 22: Çay (Turkish Tea)

Posted on by
2

Çay is probably the most popular drink in Turkey. It is strong, fragrant black tea, grown in the black sea region. It’s brewed in a special teapot, called a çaydanlık, and you can get really beautiful decorative ones! The tea is served in small tulip shaped glasses, usually a cube or spoon of sugar is added.. It is drunk literally everywhere, in all seasons and at all times of day but especially at breakfast – it’s just not breakfast without a glass of tea! When visiting the village, I am served tea all day long, and it’s considered rude to refuse. By the end of my visit I’m pretty sure I have tea flowing through my veins!

When I first moved to Turkey I didn’t like çay at all, but there’s only so many times you can politely drink something you dislike before actually growing to love it. I absolutely love it now and we often drink it at home here in London, although it just does not taste the same here!

Apple tea has become associated with Turkey too, but it’s mostly a tourist thing, very few Turkish people actually drink this.

30 DAYS, 30 DISHES – DAY 21: Kuzu şiş

Posted on by
Reply


Kuzu şiş (lamb shish) is a simple kebab dish, but delicious. Marinated cubes of lamb on skewers, cooked perfectly and served with special flat bread (which is hiding some of the meat in my photo above), rice, grilled peppers, onions and tomatoes, and raw onion salad with sumac sprinkled on top. Perfect when the meat is tender! My photo above was taken at Mozaik Bahçe in Fethiye, their presentation is especially impressive.

I always feel like ordering lamb or chicken shish kebab is so boring when eating out, but it’s so tasty I can never resist!

30 DAYS, 30 DISHES – DAY 20: CHICKEN DÖNER

Posted on by
Reply

A Turkish döner kebab is nothing like the ones you’ve come across in the UK. I’ve never had a lamb one, but chicken döner is one of my favourite fast foods!

The name relates to the way the seasoned meat is cooked slowly on a vertical rotisserie. As the outside layers of meat get cooked, they are carved off and served.  There are various ways the meat is served – over rice with salad, in a wrap (dürüm) or in a half-bread like a sandwich (yarım ekmek). We usually get the half-bread – the perfectly cooked chicken is shaved off and put inside along with onion, tomato and lettuce.

It’s served with a side of pickled hot chili peppers. The English in me means I sometimes order chips, cover them in salt and vinegar and stuff them inside too!

 

30 DAYS, 30 DISHES – DAY 19: Konya Etli Ekmek

Posted on by
Reply

Konya Etli Ekmek is a cross between pide and lahmacun. A thin, flat bread topped with ground beef and peppers, cooked in a stone oven. We had this in Fethiye and aside from the taste, the most impressive thing was the size of the etli ekmek – 1.5meters long!! Served with spicy acılı ezme and salad and all for 10tl (although this was 2 years ago, it may have increased in price since). Despite being so long, it’s quite light since it’s thin. Delicious!

30 DAYS, 30 DISHES – DAY 18: MANTI

Posted on by
1

Manti are tiny little dumplings, filled with ground meat, similar to ravioli. Sheets of dough are rolled thinly and cut into small squares, then a small amount of filling is added and the sides pinched together, to form little dumpling parcels. The manti is then boiled and served covered in garlic yogurt with a spicy sauce, made from oil or butter and chili flakes.

Making it from scratch is a lot of effort, so when they decide to make it, women in Turkish villages invite each other around and they’ll sit in a group forming a little production line, gossiping whilst making hundreds of manti for their families.

I like it, as long as it’s not too soggy, but I still struggle with the concept of yogurt on dinner foods!

 

30 DAYS, 30 DISHES – DAY 17: Gözleme

Posted on by
Reply


Gözleme is a popular street food in Turkey, marketed in holiday resorts as ‘pancakes’ even though they aren’t really pancakes at all, they’re more of a flat bread. It’s made with flour, water and salt, which forms a basic pastry dough. The dough is rolled very thinly on a special low round table, then filled, folded and cooked on a metal plate. Traditional fillings are savoury – mincemeat, parsley and onion, cheese and spinach or potato and onion etc, but in some areas you will find sweet flavours too – lemon and sugar, nutella and banana, etc, flavours which have been highly influenced by tourist crowds!

My favourite is mincemeat and potato, and our favourite place go for one is the Korkmaz family’s stall in the Fethiye area weekly markets!

 

30 DAYS, 30 DISHES – DAY 16: ADANA KEBAB

Posted on by
Reply


Adana kebab is a spicy lamb kebab, named after the Turkish city. The meat is minced together with spices and pepper then moulded around a thick, flat skewer and grilled over coals. Usually served with with rice and salad, with sumac to add to the flavour!

I like this dish but sometimes find it a bit fatty/gritty, some are definitely made better than others.

30 DAYS, 30 DISHES – DAY 15: Çıntar

Posted on by
Reply

 
Çıntar mushrooms are a seasonal delicacy in Turkey. November/December are the months when these mushrooms are found in abundance. They grow around pine trees in forest areas, of which there are many in this region of Turkey! During these months you will find random cars parked up in the trees with people wandering around searching for the wild mushrooms. I’ve actually been foraging for çintar mushrooms in Denizli before too and we managed to fill a big bag, it’s quite satisfying when you find them!

The mushrooms are an orange colour and have quite a meaty texture and taste. The only way I’ve eaten them is cooked on a BBQ, and they are delicious!

According to google, the proper name for these mushrooms is Lactarius deliciosus, also known as Saffron Milk Cap mushrooms.

30 DAYS, 30 DISHES – DAY 14: Kokoreç

Posted on by
1


Kokoreç is a popular street food in Turkey – one that I’ve not yet been brave enough to try and I don’t think I ever will!

Kokoreç is made from sheep intestines. The intestines are cleaned then packed onto a large skewer and cooked horizontally over a coal fire, giving it a unique taste. The smell of it cooking is very strong and puts me off even more!

After it is cooked, it is carved off and finely chopped up into pieces then squished in between a half or quarter loaf of bread and eaten like a hot sandwich. Ayran is usually the drink which accompanies this feast!

30 DAYS, 30 DISHES – DAY 13: KUNEFE

Posted on by
Reply

Kunefe is a popular, authentic Turkish dessert. It’s made from kadayıf (dried shredded dough which looks like shredded wheat) and cheese. It is covered in syrup and eaten straight out of the oven when hot, so the cheese is stringy and gooey but the pastry is crispy. It’s sometimes served with crushed pistachios, like the photo above.

The combination of cheese and syrup doesn’t sound like it would be good together, but it is!

It’s Berkay’s favourite Turkish dessert.