FOOD
With a long history, the Turks have a rich culinary culture. This wealth is evident in the rich variety of foods. Turkish Cuisine has a very pure quality. The variety and simplicity of the recipes and the quality of the ingredients are guarantees of delicious meals.
Contrary to European and American culture, Turks most often eat foods cooked with water; so much so that “sulu yemek” (foods with water) comprises a distinct category of dishes. Most vegetables an grains are cooked in water with ground or cubed meat and onions. For this reason the Turks have developed a very rich variety of soups. Even today, soup is the preferred breakfast food in rural areas.
For Turks, bread is a sacred food. One who has bread to eat, gives thanks to God. typical Turkish dishes are:
Pilaf – Generally made of rice, but also of bulgur (cracked wheat) and sehriye (vermicelli)
Borek – Thinly rolled pastry, often the paper thin variety known as yufka, is wrapped around various savory fillings or arranged in layers
Doner Kebap – Slices of marinated lamb on a tall vertical spit and grilled as it slowly turns are delicious. The cooked parts of the cone of meat are cut in very thin slices by a huge sword-like knife, and arranged on a plate with Ace or flat pide (pitta) bread
Kofte – The diverse köftes of all shapes and sizes are a culinary world of their own. Finely minced meat mixed with spices, onions and other ingredients is shaped by hand, and grilled, fried, boiled or baked.
WINE
Turkey grows more variety of grapes than any other country on earth.[1] Although the history of winemaking dates back about 6,000 years, Turkey’s modern wine industry wasn’t launched until the early 20th century. Yet Turkey remains one of the world’s largest grape producers. There are more than 1,000 types of indigenous grapes grown in Turkey, but only about 40 varieties are used in commercial wine making.
With abundant sunshine and near Mediterranean conditions, the Thracian wine regions along the Sea of Marmara account for nearly 40% of Turkey’s wine production. Another 20% are grown along the Aegean coast near Izmir with the remaining portions located in various places throughout the Eastern and Central Anatolia regions.
But wait! There’s also tours.
