The culture of Turkish cuisine has a variety of food dishes with varied flavors and a great historical heritage; as it witnesses an unrivaled demand among tourists from different parts of the world.
Turkish Cuisine Origins
Many people wonder about the history of Turkish cuisine;
- Some say that the origin of Turkish cuisine goes back to Middle Eastern kitchens in particular; and Arab kitchens in general, by virtue of the Ottomans remaining among the Arabs for a long time.
- Some of them say that the fundamentalism of Turkish cuisine return to its ancient historical roots; as they consider Turkish cuisine to be one of the important Turkish legacies of the Ottoman era, as there are luxurious Ottoman kitchens that were called (the palace kitchen), which used to bring to the Ottoman Sultans what was good of food, especially when Their return from the fights.
- While some believe that Turkish kitchens are due to European origins, relying on this to the Ottoman conquests that roamed the countries of the world east and west, and reached as far as the French borders.
Turkish Cuisine Culture
Whatever the origins of Turkish cuisine, and whatever it may be, the culture of Turkish cuisine varies from state to state.
- As we find Ottoman traditions embedded in the features of Turkish cuisine in the cities of Istanbul, Bursa and Izmir.
- And we see the Black Sea regions heavily influenced by European cuisine culture, such as the cities of Kastemono, Duzce and Zongul. Dak,
- While the culture of Arab cuisine appears clearly on southern Turkish regions such as Gaziantep, Urfa and Mardin.
Turkish Breakfast
The Turkish breakfast consists of bread, semolina, cheese, eggs, olives, Turkish sausage, pastrami with tomatoes, cucumbers, jam, and honey, and we do not forget (dumlak) Turkish tea, which is the most important ingredient in the breakfast meal.
The most important characteristic of Turkish cuisine is in the breakfast meal (bork), which are pieces of dough that contain cheese, meat or vegetables, and are cooked in the oven or in boiling oil, and they are sold in the market as quick meals and are presented in various forms, the most important of which is the rounded shape that looks like The shape of cigarettes, called (Burke cigarette).
Turkish Lunch
In general, Turks depend for lunch on beef, lamb, chicken and fish.
Turkish cuisine contains basic ingredients, including: eggplant, green pepper, onions, garlic, lentils, rice and tomatoes.
The soup meal is served at the beginning of the lunch meal, in order to prepare the stomach to receive the basic food, which mainly consists of a meal of rice, bulgur or pasta, and with it Turkish meat dishes (lamb, beef and chicken), and meat is cooked in Turkey with tomato sauce or boiled with Vegetables.
Sometimes the meat is prepared on charcoal and barbecues on trips, and spread the types of domestic kebab that is being prepared, and presented on different dishes of vegetables, known types Meatballs in Turkey cities that specializes in it, for example, there Kofta Izmir , and kofta Tcardag , and kofta Urfa .
The rice cooker (pilav) is considered one of the basic cooking in Turkish cuisine , as methods of preparing it vary in Turkey, so tomatoes are added to some types of rice sometimes, meat is added at other times, and other types of rice mixed with nuts, chickpeas, eggplant or chicken pieces are cooked.
Turkish Dinner
And the dinner meal varies between breakfast and lunch food, some of them eat eggs, cheese and the like at breakfast, and you see some of them eat meat and its derivatives according to each person’s desire for food.
But one of the most important Turkish foods, the most famous of which is chi kofta, or as it is known in Turkish, Çiğköfte, and it’s devoted to dinner for its lightness on the stomach, its unparalleled pleasure, and its good taste at this time especially.
But it is possible to eat this Çiğköfte at any time of the day in general, as it is usually served with a few fresh green parsley leaves with drops of lemon juice in a piece of lettuce leaves, and do not forget to drink with it Ayran milk, which gives it a wonderful taste.