Anatolian Rose Homes

TURKISH CULINARY ARTS Turkey is known for an abundance and diversity of foodstuff due to its rich flora, fauna and regional differentiation. And the legacy of an Imperial Kitchen is inescapable. Hundreds of cooks specializing in       different types of dishes, all eager to please the royal palate, no doubt had their influence in perfecting the Cuisine as we know it today Turkish cuisine is excellent and you’ll be spoilt for choice.  Fish dishes are reasonably priced, always fresh  and  delicious. Various sorts of meat served on skewers, the juicy fruits and tasteful vegetables which cost next to nothing - no wonder that the Turkish cuisine is rated as one of the best three worldwide. “Variety is the spice of life” and the menus are so diverse that you’ll find it difficult to choose between the meze dishes served before the main course. (Although after eating a few of the meze dishes there’s hardly any room left for the main course!!!) The meze is composed primarily of vegetable dishes such as braised artichokes, broad beans in tomato sauce, vine leaves stuffed with rice, currants and pine nuts, mustard greens, beet salads, and eggplant in several different forms. But there is also quite a bit of seafood (mostly shrimp and calamari) and plenty of yogurt. Turks typically drink raki, an anise-flavored spirit, with meze.  There is a large selection of Turkish wine for all budgets. Most Turkish dishes are good combinations of well balanced foods and/or ingredients. For example: Dolma and Sarma (stuffed and wrapped vegetables), soups made with lentils, meat and vegetables, rice or bulgur from Bread-Cereals group and finally yogurt, which is served with most of these dishes.  Meat and vegetable stews are always served with rice or bulgur. The main ingredient of Borek is plain or raised dough made from egg, milk, yogurt, oil and flour. Meat, cheese, vegetables with herbs and a variety of seasonings are used as fillings in borek.  Yogurt-based soups with a variety of cereals and meat and /or legume mixtures are also perfect combinations. Dried legumes are combined with vegetables, meat and cereals. Pilafs are made with meat, chicken, fish and or variety vegetables. Pilafs are also good side dishes for dried vegetables.  They are usually served with ayran or cacik.  Kebabs are prepared with vegetables and served with Turkish bread  and ayran. Desserts are mostly pastry-based, and commonly include nuts and syrup. The most popular desserts include Baklava, lokma, tulumba and tatlisi,  It is hard to imagine breakfasts, social gatherings, business meetings, negotiations for carpets in the bazaars, or ferry rides  without the presence of tea. With tea servers in streets, shopping malls, and parks shouting, tea (chai) the beverage is always within shouting distance. It is fundamental to Turkish social life,  It is served in delicate tulip-shaped glasses, boiling hot and is drunk without milk.