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Turkey

Turkey, straddling Europe and Asia, bridges Istanbul’s Bosphorus bustle—its cultural heart—with Ankara’s inland capital, a land of kebabs, carpets, and Hagia Sophia’s domes. Known for cotton, hazelnuts, and ancient Troy, its economy thrives on manufacturing, tourism, and trade, blending Ottoman grandeur with modern grit. Its bazaars and Cappadocia’s balloons dazzle. Turkey’s vibrant crossroads reigns.

Turkey

Featured Dishes from Turkey

Açma

Açma

A bagel is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. Bagels are traditionally made from yeasted wheat dough that is shaped by hand into a torus or ring, briefly boiled in water, and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior. Bagels are often topped with seeds baked on the outer crust—traditional choices include poppy and sesame seeds—or with salt grains. Different dough types include whole-grain and rye. The basic roll-with-a-hole design, hundreds of years old, allows even cooking and baking of the dough; it also allows groups of bagels to be gathered on a string or dowel for handling, transportation, and retail display.

Borek

Borek

Börek or burek is a family of pastries or pies found in Ottoman cuisine. The pastry is made of a thin flaky dough such as filo with a variety of fillings, such as meat, cheese, spinach, or potatoes. A borek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as individual pastries. They are usually baked but some varieties can be fried. Borek is sometimes sprinkled with sesame or nigella seeds, and it can be served hot or cold. It is commonly served with ayran or yogurt in Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Serbia, North Macedonia and Romania. It is a custom of Sephardic Jews to have bourekas for their Shabbat breakfast meal on Saturday mornings.

Bread

Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diets. It is one of the oldest human-made foods, having been of significance since the dawn of agriculture, and plays an essential role in both religious rituals and secular culture. Bread may be leavened by naturally occurring microbes (e.g. sourdough), chemicals (e.g. baking soda), industrially produced yeast, or high-pressure aeration, which creates the gas bubbles that fluff up bread. In many countries, commercial bread often contains additives to improve flavor, texture, color, shelf life, nutrition, and ease of production.

Cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk . During production, milk is usually acidified and either the enzymes of rennet or bacterial enzymes with similar activity are added to cause the casein to coagulate. The solid curds are then separated from the liquid whey and pressed into finished cheese. Some cheeses have aromatic molds on the rind, the outer layer, or throughout. Over a thousand types of cheese exist, produced in various countries. Their styles, textures and flavors depend on the origin of the milk (including the animal's diet), whether they have been pasteurised, the butterfat content, the bacteria and mold, the processing, and how long they have been aged. Herbs, spices, or wood smoke may be used as flavoring agents. Other added ingredients may include black pepper, garlic, chives or cranberries. A cheesemonger, or specialist seller of cheeses, may have expertise with selecting, purchasing, receiving, storing and ripening cheeses.

Çılbır

Çılbır

Çılbır is a Turkish dish of poached eggs with yogurt . There are records of çılbır being eaten by Ottoman sultans as far back as the 15th century. It is now common to serve the dish topped with melted butter infused with Aleppo pepper, for which paprika can be substituted. In several Balkan countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, the Turkish word çılbır is rendered as čimbur and refers to a dish of fried eggs. Almost identical is the Panagyurski style eggs dish in Bulgaria.

Cucumber

Cucumber

The cucumber is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables. Considered an annual plant, there are three main types of cucumber—slicing, pickling, and seedless—within which several cultivars have been created. The cucumber originates in Asia extending from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, China (Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi), and Northern Thailand, but now grows on most continents, and many different types of cucumber are grown commercially and traded on the global market. In North America, the term wild cucumber refers to plants in the genera Echinocystis and Marah, though the two are not closely related. The cucumber is a creeping vine that roots in the ground and grows up trellises or other supporting frames, wrapping around supports with thin, spiraling tendrils. The plant may also root in a soilless medium, whereby it will sprawl along the ground in lieu of a supporting structure. The vine has large leaves that form a canopy over the fruits.[citation needed]

Feta

Feta

Feta is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and aged in brine. Its flavor is tangy and salty, ranging from mild to sharp. Feta is used in salads, such as Greek salad, and in pastries, notably the phyllo-based Greek dishes spanakopita "spinach pie" and tyropita "cheese pie". It is often served with olive oil or olives, and sprinkled with aromatic herbs such as oregano. It can also be served cooked (often grilled), as part of a sandwich, in omelettes, and many other dishes. Since 2002, feta has been a protected designation of origin in the European Union (EU). EU legislation and similar legislation in 25 other countries limits the name feta to cheeses produced in the traditional way in mainland Greece and Lesbos Prefecture, which are made from sheep milk, or from a mixture of sheep milk and up to 30% of goat milk from the same area.

Gözleme

Gözleme

Gözleme is a savory Turkish stuffed turnover. The dough is usually unleavened, and made only with flour, salt and water, but gözleme can be made from yeast dough as well. It is similar to bazlama, but is lightly brushed with butter or oil, whereas bazlama is prepared without fat. The dough is rolled thin, then filled with various toppings, sealed, and cooked over a griddle. Gözleme may sometimes be made from prepackaged hand-rolled leaves of yufka dough. Fillings for gözleme are numerous and vary by region and personal preference, and include a variety of meats , vegetables (spinach, zucchini, eggplant, leek, chard, various peppers, onion, scallion, shallot, garlic), mushrooms (porcino, chanterelle, truffle), tubers (potatoes, yams, radish), cheeses (feta, Turkish white cheese (Beyaz Peynir), lavaş, çökelek, Kasseri, and Kashkaval), as well as eggs, seasonal herbs, and spices. The word gözleme is derived from the Turkish word közleme, meaning "to grill/cook on the embers". This word can ultimately be traced back to Turkish word köz, meaning "ember". The Ottoman Turkish alphabet had no distinction between k and g sounds, so it is unclear when the consonantal shift from köz to göz happened. The oldest record of the word in a Turkic language is dated back to 1477. It is first attested in Persian-Turkish dictionary Lügat-i Halîmî [tr] and also found in Evliya Çelebi's Seyahatnâme.

Honey

Honey

Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants or the secretions of other insects, like the honeydew of aphids. This refinement takes place both within individual bees, through regurgitation and enzymatic activity, and during storage in the hive, through water evaporation that concentrates the honey's sugars until it is thick and viscous. Honey bees stockpile honey in the hive. Within the hive is a structure made from wax called honeycomb. The honeycomb is made up of hundreds or thousands of hexagonal cells, into which the bees regurgitate honey for storage. Other honey-producing species of bee store the substance in different structures, such as the pots made of wax and resin used by the stingless bee.

Ispanakli yumurta

Ispanakli yumurta

Eggs with spinach and onions

Jam

Jam

Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the method of preparation, type of fruit used, and its place in a meal. Sweet fruit preserves such as jams, jellies, and marmalades are often eaten at breakfast with bread or as an ingredient of a pastry or dessert, whereas more savory and acidic preserves made from "vegetable fruits" such as tomato, squash or zucchini, are eaten alongside savory foods such as cheese, cold meats, and curries.

Kaşar

Kaşar

A stringy cheese made from sheep and goat milk

Katmer

Katmer

Filo pastry made with kaymak (clotted cream), poppy paste, pistachios

Kaygana

Kaygana

Egg and vegetable pancake or omelette

Kaymak

Kaymak

Kaymak, sarshir, or qashta/ashta is a creamy dairy food similar to clotted cream, made from the milk of water buffalo, cows, sheep, or goats in Central Asia, some Balkan countries, some Caucasus countries, the Levant, Turkic regions, Iran and Iraq. The traditional method of making kaymak is to boil the raw milk slowly, then simmer it for two hours over a very low heat. After the heat source is shut off, the cream is skimmed and left to chill (and mildly ferment) for several hours or days. Kaymak has a high percentage of milk fat, typically about 60%. It has a thick, creamy consistency (not entirely compact, because of milk protein fibers) and a rich taste. The word kaymak has Central Asian Turkic origins, possibly formed from the verb kaymak, which means 'melt' and 'molding of metal' in Turkic. The first written records of the word kaymak is in the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk of Mahmud al-Kashgari. The word remains as kaylgmak in Mongolian, which refers to a fried clotted cream, and with small variations in Turkic languages as qaymaq in Azerbaijani, qaymoq in Uzbek, қаймақ in Kazakh and Shor, каймак in Kyrgyz, kaymak in Turkish, gaýmak in Turkmen, კაიმაღი (kaimaghi) in Georgian, καϊμάκι (kaïmáki) in Greek, and кајмак (kajmak) in Serbo-Croatian, caimac in Romanian. This dairy food is called sarshir (سَرشیر) 'top of the milk' in Iran. They use this name because after boiling milk, a layer of fat stands on the top of the boiled milk.

Labneh

Labneh

Strained yogurt, Greek or Greek-style yogurt, yogurt cheese, sack yogurt, kerned yogurt or labneh is yogurt that has been strained to remove most of its whey, resulting in a thicker consistency than normal unstrained yogurt, while still preserving the distinctive sour taste of yogurt. Like many types, strained yogurt is often made from milk enriched by boiling off some water content, or by adding extra butterfat and powdered milk. In Europe and North America, it is often made from low-fat or fat-free cow's milk. In Iceland a similar product named skyr is made. Strained yogurt is usually marketed in North America as "Greek yogurt" and in the United Kingdom as "Greek-style yoghurt", though strained yogurt is also widely eaten in Levantine, Eastern Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, South Asian, and Eastern European cuisines, where it is often used in cooking, as it curdles less readily when cooked. It is used in a variety of dishes, cooked or not, savory or sweet. Straining makes even non-fat yogurt varieties thicker, richer, and creamier than unstrained. Since straining removes the whey, more milk is required to make strained yogurt, increasing the production cost. In Western Europe and the United States, strained yogurt has increased in popularity compared to unstrained yogurt. Since the straining process removes some of the lactose, strained yogurt is lower in sugar than unstrained yogurt.

Menemen

Menemen

Menemen is a popular traditional Turkish dish that includes eggs, tomato, green peppers, and spices such as ground black and red pepper cooked in olive oil. Menemen may be made with onions, but the addition of onions is often debated and is more common when menemen is eaten as a main dish, rather than at breakfast. The dish is similar to Libyan dish shakshouka also found in other Arab countries. Menemen is commonly eaten for breakfast and served with bread. Its name originates from a small town in Izmir Province.

Muesli

Muesli

Muesli is a cold Swiss breakfast dish, the primary ingredient of which is rolled oats. Traditionally, it is set to soak in water overnight ("overnight oats") and eaten the next morning with fresh fruit, nuts, lemon juice, and cream sweetened with honey. Additional ingredients, such as other grains, seeds, and dried fruits are sometimes added, and other citrus juice may be used. Yogurt, milk or other milk products, or milk substitutes are now commonly added to both homemade and commercially packaged muesli recipes. Developed around 1900 by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital, it has become a common breakfast cereal dish. In Switzerland, it is also consumed for supper as Birchermüesli complet – muesli with Café complet (milk coffee, accompanied by Butterbrot (bread, butter and jam)). In addition to being prepared raw, muesli can be toasted. Muesli can also be processed further by adding sweetener and oil to bind the ingredients together and baked to produce granola.

Örgü peynir

Örgü peynir

Pastirma

Pastirma

Pastirma or Pasterma, also called pastarma, pastırma, pastrma, pastourma, basdirma, basterma, basturma, or aboukh is a highly seasoned, air-dried cured beef that is found in the cuisines of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Bulgaria, Egypt, Kurdish region, Greece, Cyprus, Iraq, the Levant, North Macedonia, Turkey and Georgia. Basturma existed in ancient Armenian cuisine, where it was known as aboukh' .[full citation needed] The word abookhd (Classical Armenian apukht) was already used in the Armenian translation of the Bible, in the fifth century AD, meaning “salted and dried meat”. Pastırma is mentioned in Mahmud of Kashgar's Diwan Lughat al-Turk and Evliya Çelebi's Seyahatname.[better source needed] According to Turkish scholar Biron Kiliç, the term is derived from the Turkic noun bastırma, which means "pressing".[better source needed] The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink writes that pastırma is the word the Ottomans used for a type of Byzantine cured beef that was called paston (παστόν). According to Johannes Koder, an expert in Byzantine studies, paston could mean either salted meat or salted fish, while akropaston (ἀκρόπαστον) means salted meat. Andrew Dalby gives the definition of paston as "salted fish" and akropaston apakin as "well-salted fillet steak". Gregory Nagy gives the definition of akropaston as "smoked", describing apakin as "a kind of salami sausage, probably similar to pastourma". The Oxford Companion for Food says that a Byzantine dried meat delicacy was "a forerunner of the pastirma of modern Turkey".

Pogača

Pogača

Pogača is a type of bread baked in the ashes of the fireplace, and later in modern ovens. Found in the cuisines of the Balkans, Levant, Turkish and Hungary it can be leavened or unleavened, though the latter is considered more challenging to make. It is generally made from wheat flour, but barley and sometimes rye may be added. It can be stuffed with potatoes, ground beef, olive, or cheese, and have grains and herbs like sesame, black nigella seed, or dried dill in the dough or sprinkled on top. The word derives ultimately from the Latin panis focacius, i.e. bread (panis) baked on the hearth or fireplace (focus), via the Byzantine Greek πογάτσα (pogátsa), thence entering the South Slavic languages as pogača / погача. A variant is known as pogačice (diminutive form), a type of puff pastry eaten in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey (where it is called poğaça) with variations like karaköy. It is called pogatschen in Austria, and pagáče in Slovakia. It is known by similar names in other languages: pogácsa (Hungarian), pogace (Romanian), Greek: μπουγάτσα 'bughátsa', Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbian Cyrillic: погача, Albanian: pogaçe, Arabic بغاجة (baghajah).

Simit

Simit

Simit is a circular bread, typically encrusted with sesame seeds or, less commonly, poppy, flax or sunflower seeds, found across the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and the Middle East, especially in Armenia, Turkey and the Balkans. Simit's size, crunch, chewiness, and other characteristics vary slightly by region. In İzmir, simit is known as gevrek , although it is very similar to the Istanbul variety. Simit in Ankara are smaller and crisper than those of other cities.[citation needed] The word simit comes from Arabic samīd (سميد) "white bread" or "fine flour".

Sucuk

Sucuk

Sujuk or sucuk is a dry, spicy and fermented sausage which is consumed in several Turkish, Balkan, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cuisines. Sujuk mainly consists of ground meat and animal fat usually obtained from beef or lamb, but beef is mainly used in Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sucuk was first mentioned in the 11th century by Mahmud al-Kashgari in his Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk as suɣut. Another mention was made by Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati in his early 14th century work titled Kitab al-'idrak li-lisan al-'atrak (كتاب الإدراك للسان الأتراك). The word "suɣut" itself means "sujuk, or dried thing" and derived from Turkic root -suɣur meaning to dry or to drain off and the suffix "-çïk/-çuk" is Turkic diminutive suffix (Suɣutçuk => Sucuk). But according to some sources, this word evolved from a Middle Iranian word attested in Early New Persian as zīç (زيچ) and ziwīdj (زویج) (meaning "stretching, strip, cord" and "sausage" respectively) which later took the form of zīçak (زیچک), Cognate names are also present in other Turkic languages, e.g. Kazakh: шұжық, shujyq; Kyrgyz: чучук, chuchuk. Franciscus a Mesgnien Meninski in his Thesaurus recorded the word sucuk (سجوق) for the first time in Ottoman Turkish in late 17th century.

Tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and northern Myanmar. Tea is also made, but rarely, from the leaves of Camellia taliensis. After plain water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the third century AD, in a medical text written by Chinese physician Hua Tuo. It was popularised as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking subsequently spread to other East Asian countries. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century. During the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among the English, who started to plant tea on a large scale in British India.

Toast

Toast

Toast is sliced bread that has been browned by radiant heat. The browning is the result of a Maillard reaction altering the flavor of the bread and making it crispier in texture. The firm surface is easier to spread toppings on and the warmth can help spreads such as butter reach its melting point. Toasting is a common method of making stale bread more palatable. Bread is commonly toasted using devices specifically designed for such, e.g., a toaster or a toaster oven. Toast may contain more acrylamide, caused by the browning process, which is suspected to be a carcinogen. However, claims that acrylamide in burnt food causes cancer have not been proven. Butter or margarine, and sweet toppings, such as jam or jelly, are commonly spread on toast. Regionally, savory spreads, such as peanut butter or yeast extract, may also be popular. Toast may accompany savory dishes such as soups or stews, or it can be topped with ingredients like eggs or baked beans to make a light meal. Toast is a common breakfast food. A sandwich may also use toasted bread.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes

The tomato , Solanum lycopersicum, is a plant whose fruit is an edible berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originated from and was domesticated in western South America. It was introduced to the Old World by the Spanish in the Columbian exchange in the 16th century. Tomato plants are vines, largely annual and vulnerable to frost, though sometimes living longer in greenhouses. The flowers are able to self-fertilise. Modern varieties have been bred to ripen uniformly red, in a process that has impaired the fruit's sweetness and flavor. There are thousands of cultivars, varying in size, color, shape, and flavor. Tomatoes are attacked by many insect pests and nematodes, and are subject to diseases caused by viruses and by mildew and blight fungi.

Yumurta

Yumurta

Boiled eggs are typically from a chicken, and are cooked with their shells unbroken, usually by immersion in boiling water. Hard-boiled or hard-cooked eggs are cooked so that the egg white and egg yolk both solidify, while soft-boiled eggs may leave the yolk, and sometimes the white, at least partially liquid and raw. Boiled eggs are a popular breakfast food around the world. Besides a boiling water immersion, there are a few different methods to make boiled eggs. Eggs can also be cooked below the boiling temperature, i.e. coddling, or they can be steamed. The egg timer was named for commonly being used to time the boiling of eggs.

Zeytin

Zeytin

The olive, botanical name Olea europaea, meaning 'European olive', is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin, with wild subspecies found further afield in Africa and western Asia. When in shrub form, it is known as Olea europaea 'Montra', dwarf olive, or little olive. The species is cultivated in all the countries of the Mediterranean, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, North and South America and South Africa. It is the type species for its genus, Olea. The tree and its fruit give their name to the Oleaceae plant family, which also includes species such as lilac, jasmine, forsythia, and the true ash tree. The olive's fruit, also called an "olive", is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil; it is one of the core ingredients in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. Thousands of cultivars of the olive tree are known. Olive cultivars may be used primarily for oil, eating, or both. Olives cultivated for consumption are generally referred to as "table olives". About 80% of all harvested olives are turned into oil, while about 20% are used as table olives.

Acıbadem kurabiyesi

Acıbadem kurabiyesi

Almond macarons (French macaroons)

Aşure

Aşure

Ashure, Anoushabour, Noah's pudding or Trigo koço is a sweet pudding that is made of a mixture consisting of various types of grains, fresh and dried fruits, and nuts. Armenians make it as a Christmas pudding and for New Year's celebrations, where it is a centerpiece, and in the Balkans and Turkey, Sufi Muslims make the dish during the month of Muharram in which the Day of Ashure takes place. Sephardic Jews prepare the dish to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat. In some Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, a similar dish is prepared to commemorate a child's first tooth, or the passing of a family member. Ashure was traditionally made and eaten during the colder months of the year due to its heavy and calorie rich nature, but now it is enjoyed year-round. The dish is traditionally made in large quantities and is distributed to friends, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, classmates, and others, without regard to the recipient's religion or belief system as an offering of peace and love.

Ayva tatlısı

Ayva tatlısı

A sweet quince dessert with cloves, cinnamon, lemon juice, kaymak or clotted cream, pistachios or walnuts

Badem ezmesi

Badem ezmesi

Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal , sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and small marzipan imitations of fruits and vegetables. It can also be used in biscuits or rolled into thin sheets and glazed for icing cakes, primarily birthday cakes, wedding cakes and Christmas cakes. Marzipan may also be used as a baking ingredient, as in stollen or banket. In some countries, it is shaped into small figures of animals as a traditional treat for New Year's Day or Christmas. Marzipan is also used in Tortell, and in some versions of king cake eaten during the Carnival season.

Baklava

Baklava

Baklava is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine. There are several theories for the origin of the pre-Ottoman version of the dish. In modern times, it is a common dessert among cuisines of countries in West Asia, Southeast Europe, Central Asia, and North Africa. It is also enjoyed in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where, although not a traditional sweet, it has carved out a niche in urban centers. The word baklava is first attested in English in 1650, a borrowing from Ottoman Turkish: باقلاوه /bɑːklɑvɑː/. The name baklava is used in many languages with minor phonetic and spelling variations. The earliest known reference to baklava is in a poem by the 15th century mystic Kaygusuz Abdal.

Berliner

Berliner

A Berliner or Krapfen is a German jam doughnut with no central hole, made from sweet yeast dough fried in lard or cooking oil, with a jam filling, and usually covered in powdered sugar. Sugar was very costly until the 16th century, and early doughnuts were usually stuffed with savory fillings like cheese, meat and mushroom. When imports from Caribbean sugar plantations made sugar more affordable, fruit preserves gained in popularity. In 1485, the first German-language cookbook to be published in printed form Kuechenmeisterei was published in Nuremberg and remained in print at least until 1674 with 20 editions . It was one of the first cookbooks printed using the Gutenberg press and contains the first known recipe for a jelly doughnut, called Gefüllte Krapfen made with jam-filled yeasted bread dough deep-fried in lard. It's unknown whether this innovation was the author's own or simply a record of an existing practice. The yeast dough contains a good deal of eggs, milk and butter. For the classical Pfannkuchen made in Berlin the dough is rolled into a ball, deep-fried in lard, whereby the distinctive bright bulge occurs, and then filled with jam. The filling is related to the topping:[citation needed] for plum-butter, powdered sugar; for raspberry, strawberry and cherry jam, sugar; for all other fillings, sugar icing, sometimes flavoured with rum. Today the filling usually is injected with a large syringe or pastry bag after the dough is fried in one piece.

Boortsog

Boortsog

Boortsog[a] or baursaki is a type of fried dough food found in the cuisines of Central Asia, Idel-Ural, Mongolia and the Middle East. It is shaped into either triangles or sometimes spheres. The dough consists of flour, yeast, milk, eggs, butter, salt, sugar, and margarine. Tajik boortsog are often decorated with a criss-cross pattern by pressing the bottom of a small strainer on the dough before it is fried. Boortsog is often eaten as a dessert, with syrup or jam or honey. They may be thought of as cookies or biscuits, and since they are fried, they are sometimes compared to doughnuts. Mongolians and Turkic peoples sometimes dip boortsog in tea. In Central Asia, baursaki are often eaten alongside chorba. Uštipci are doughnut-like fried dough balls popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia, especially in Vojvodina, Srem district and Slovenia where they are known as "miške".

Bourma

Bourma

Rolled phyllo pastry filled with a sweet mixture of pistachios or walnuts, sugar and cinnamon

Bülbül yuvası

Bülbül yuvası

Bülbül yuvası , literally "nightingale's nest", is a Middle Eastern phyllo dough dessert. It takes its name from its hollow and circular shape. Having been baked, warm syrup is sprinkled, and the hollow center is filled with pistachios before being served.

Cevizli sucuk

Cevizli sucuk

Candle-shaped sweet made with walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds threaded onto a string, dipped in thickened grape juice or fruit juice and dried in the shape of a sausage (hence the name sujuk)

Cezerye

Cezerye

Cezerye is a semi-gelatinous traditional Turkish dessert made from caramelised carrots, shredded coconut, and roasted walnuts, hazelnuts, or pistachios. Cut into matchbox-sized rectangular chips, it is traditionally served on special occasions. It originated from the Turkish province of Mersin. Grated carrots are boiled first and then roasted with sugar, coconut powder is spread on it, and pistachios, hazelnuts, peanuts or walnuts are put in it. While variations on the treat exist which replace the carrot with fig or date purée, the name is nonetheless derived from the word "jazriyya", which is Arabic for "with carrot".

Chocolate

Chocolate

Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring in other foods. The cacao tree has been used as a source of food for at least 5,300 years, starting with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is present-day Ecuador. Later, Mesoamerican civilizations consumed cacao beverages, of which one, chocolate, was introduced to Europe in the 16th century.

Demir tatlısı

Demir tatlısı

Deep-fried shaped pastries, formed by dipping a metal mold into batter and then plunging it into hot oil

Dilber dudağı

Dilber dudağı

Dilber dudağı is a Turkish dessert. The ingredients are egg, yogurt, milk, butter, sunflower oil, baking powder, lemon, flour, sugar, water. The dessert reveals sexual imaginations just like other Turkish desserts such as Hanımgöbeği (lady's navel), Vezir Parmağı (visier's fingers), Kerhane Tatlısı (brothel dessert), Sütlü Nuriye (Milky Nuriye) etc.

Dondurma

Dondurma

Dondurma is the Turkish name for ice cream. Outside Turkey, it typically refers specifically to mastic ice cream, which is believed to originate from the city and region of Kahramanmaraş and is known as maraş dondurma in Turkish.[a] This is made from cream, salep , mastic (plant resin), and sugar. Two qualities distinguish Turkish ice cream: hard texture and resistance to melting, brought about by inclusion of the thickening agents salep, a flour made from the root of the early purple orchid, and mastic, a resin that imparts chewiness. The Kahramanmaraş region is known for Maraş dondurması, a variety which contains distinctly more salep than usual. Tough and sticky, it is sometimes eaten with a knife and fork.

Ekmek kadayıfı

Ekmek kadayıfı

Ekmek kadayıfı is a specialty dessert of Turkish cuisine but it is also known in many regions that were historically part of the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish name of the dessert literally translates as "Kadayıf made of ekmek " giving clues on its preparation. The dessert is usually served with kaymak, a kind of clotted cream. Historically being a regional specialty of Afyonkarahisar, the dessert is served in special events within its region of origin. The dessert may optionally be flavored or topped with cherries of which Afyonkarahisar produces a significant amount. In Greek cuisine, it is known as "ekmek kataifi". Historically, as with other bread puddings, this recipe emerged as a way to utilize stale or day-old bread. For modern home cooks, it is a popular alternative to more demanding traditional desserts like baklava. It is served at iftar meals during Ramadan. In modern times, ekmek kadayıfı is sold ready made. All the cook needs to do at home to prepare the dessert is to make the sugar syrup called "şerbet" and top the finished dessert with "kaymak".

Fıstıklı sarma

Fıstıklı sarma

Pistachio and filo wraps, similar to rolled baklava with a lot of crushed pistachios

Gaziantep Baklavası

Gaziantep Baklavası

Baklava from the city of Gaziantep, Turkey

Gingerbread

Gingerbread

Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as crisp as a ginger snap. Originally, the term gingerbread referred to preserved ginger. It then referred to a confection made with honey and spices. Gingerbread is often used to translate the French term pain d'épices (lit. 'spice bread') or the German and Polish terms Pfefferkuchen and Piernik respectively (lit. 'pepper cake' because it used to contain pepper) or Lebkuchen (of unclear etymology; either Latin libum, meaning "sacrifice" or "sacrificial bread," or German Laib for loaf or German for life, Leben). Pepper is also referenced in regional names like Norwegian pepperkaker or Czech perník (originally peprník). The meaning of gingerbread has evolved over time. For centuries the term referred to a traditional European pastry, very like a modern cookie, traditionally used to make gingerbread men. In the United States the first known recipe for "Soft gingerbread to be baked in pans" is found in Amelia Simmons' 1796 cookbook, American Cookery.

Güllaç

Güllaç

Güllaç is a Turkish dessert made with milk, rose water, pomegranate and a special kind of pastry. It is consumed especially during Ramadan. Güllaç is considered by some as being the origin of baklava. The similarities between the two desserts are many, such as the use of thin layers of dough. Güllaç dough is now prepared with corn starch and wheat flour, although originally it was made only with wheat starch. Güllaç contains walnuts between the layers that are put in milk. Its first known mention is in a 14th-century book, Yinshan Zhenyao (飮膳正要), a food and health manual written by Hu Sihui (忽思慧), a physician to the Mongol court of the Yuan dynasty. The book documents primarily Mongol and Turkic dishes that exhibit a limited amount of Chinese influence.

Halva

Halva

Halva is a type of confectionery that is widely spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa, the Balkans, Central Asia, and South Asia. The name is used for a broad variety of recipes, generally a thick paste made from flour, butter, liquid oil, saffron, rosewater, milk, turmeric powder, and sweetened with sugar. The word halva entered the English language between 1840 and 1850 from Romanian, which came from Ottoman Turkish: حلوى, romanized: helva, itself ultimately derived from Arabic: حلوى, romanized: ḥalwā, a sweet confection. The root in Arabic: ح ل و, romanized: ḥ-l-w, means "sweet". The original name for the confection was Persian: روغن خورديگ, romanized: rōɣn khordīg, meaning "oil food".

Hoşaf

Hoşaf

Fruit compote using dried fruit boiled in syrup, then cooled

Hoşmerim

Hoşmerim

Höşmerim or hoşmerim is a Turkish dessert popular in the Aegean, Marmara, Trakya and Central Anatolia, Black Sea, East Black Sea regions of Turkey. It is sometimes called peynir helva or "cheese halva". It is generally consumed after a meal as a light dessert and may be topped with ice cream, honey or nuts. Höşmerim has been served for 50–55 years as a commercial product in the markets and pastry shops. However, most of its manufacture occurs on a small scale. Recipes and methods may differ from one region to another. Traditional recipes include fresh unsalted cheese, semolina and powdered sugar. Commercially produced höşmerim may include cream, egg and riboflavin in addition to the traditional ingredients for the homemade varieties. The Turkish word hoşmerim is loaned from the Persian word χʷoş-maram . It is a compound word, derived from χʷoş (خوش), meaning "sweet" and maram (مرم), meaning "kaymak". The oldest attested use of the word in a Turkic language is found in Ni‘mettullāh bin Aḥmed bin Ḳāżī Mübārek er-Rūmī's 1540 dictionary Lügat-i Ni'metu'llâh.

Irmik helvası

Irmik helvası

Semolina halva dessert

Kabak tatlısı

Kabak tatlısı

Kabak tatlısı is a pumpkin dessert in Turkish cuisine. It is made by cooking peeled and cut pumpkin that has had sugar sprinkled on it (candied pumpkin). Milk can also be used. The dish is topped with chopped walnuts with tahini or kaymak. It is a winter-time seasonal dessert.[unreliable source?] The texture has been described as resembling taffy.

Kalburabastı

Kalburabastı

Kalburabastı or kalburabasma[citation needed] (Turkish, also known as hurmašice in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and throughout the rest of former Yugoslavia as urmašice), and sometimes also known under the name of hurma, are syrup-drenched pastries that have a riddled appearance. They are featured among the favorite specialities that are prepared during the Islamic holidays, including the three-day Eid al-Fitr (called Şeker Bayramı or "Candy Feast" in Turkish language) and Eid al-Adha. This Ottoman Turkish treat has a very similar variation of it ("hurmašice") which can be found in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other parts of former Yugoslavia.

Kayısı tatlısı

Kayısı tatlısı

Dried apricots filled with kaymak cream, walnuts, pistachios

Kazandibi

Kazandibi

Kazandibi or kazan dibi is a Turkish dessert and a type of caramelized milk pudding. It was developed in the kitchens of the Ottoman Palace and is one of the most popular Turkish desserts today. It is traditionally made by burning the bottom of tavuk göğsü. A variant of kazandibi uses muhallebi instead.

Keşkül

Keşkül

Keşkül is an almond-based milk pudding from Turkish cuisine. Usually served in a bowl and eaten with a spoon, it is often garnished with coconut shaving or pistachio nuts and is off-white in colour. The dish's name is derived from the Ottoman Turkish idiomatic expression "keşkül-i fukara" meaning "beggar's bowl". The word keşkül and its respective idiom is ultimately traced back to Persian kaşkūl (كشكول), meaning "beggar" or "beggar's bowl". The oldest written usage of the word in a Turkic language is traced backed to Franciscus a Mesgnien Meninski's Thesaurus. According to Meninski the word originally meant poculum or scyphus. The usage of the word to indicate the dessert is first attested in Şemseddin Sami's 1900 work Kamûs-ı Türkî [tr]. Muhallebi

Kestane şekeri

Kestane şekeri

Candied chestnuts

Kompostosu

Kompostosu

Compote or compôte is a dessert originating from medieval Europe,[citation needed] made of whole or pieces of fruit in sugar syrup. Whole fruits are cooked in water with sugar and spices. The syrup may be seasoned with vanilla, lemon or orange peel, cinnamon sticks or powder, cloves, other spices, ground almonds, grated coconut, candied fruit or raisins. The compote is served either warm or cold. Compote conformed to the medieval belief that fruit cooked in sugar syrup balanced the effects of humidity on the body. The name is derived from the Latin word compositus, meaning mixture. In late medieval England it was served at the beginning of the last course of a feast (or sometimes the second out of three courses), often accompanied by a creamy potage. During the Renaissance, it was served chilled at the end of dinner. Because it was easy to prepare, made from inexpensive ingredients and contained no dairy products, compote became a staple of Jewish households throughout Europe. In modern French, the term refers to usually unsweetened fruit purée without fruit chunks, such as applesauce.. Dried fruit is often used for compote by cultures from Eastern Europe, and its syrup is also drunk as a beverage. Both are called kompot. In Mennonite culture, dried-fruit compote is known by the Plautdietch name pluma moos.

Künefe

Künefe

Knafeh is a traditional Arab dessert made with kadayif (spun pastry dough) layered with cheese and soaked in a sweet, sugar-based syrup called attar. Knafeh is a popular throughout the Arab world, especially in the Levant, and is often served on special occasions and holidays. The most common variant of knafeh in Jordan and Palestine, Knafeh Nabulseyeh, originated in the Palestinian city of Nablus. The English language borrows the word "knafeh" from Levantine and Egyptian Arabic, and widely transliterates it as kanafeh, kenafeh, knafeh, kunafah, kunafeh, konafa, knéfé, kunafa, and similar variations.

Kurabie

Kurabie

Qurabiya also ghraybe, ghorayeba, ghoriba, ghribia, ghraïba, gurabija, ghriyyaba,, kurabiye, or kourabiedes (Greek: κουραμπιέδες) and numerous other spellings and pronunciations, is a shortbread-type biscuit, usually made with ground almonds. Versions are found in most Arab, Balkan and Ottoman cuisines, with various different forms and recipes. They are similar to polvorones from Andalusia. In the Maghreb and Egypt, they are often served with Libyan tea, Arabic coffee or Maghrebi mint tea. A recipe for a shortbread cookie similar to ghorayebah but without almonds, called in Arabic khushkanānaj gharīb (exotic cookie), is given in the earliest known Arab cookbook, the 10th-century Kitab al-Ṭabīḫ. Kurabiye appears in the Ottoman cuisine in the 15th century.

Kurabiye

Kurabiye

Qurabiya also ghraybe, ghorayeba, ghoriba, ghribia, ghraïba, gurabija, ghriyyaba,, kurabiye, or kourabiedes (Greek: κουραμπιέδες) and numerous other spellings and pronunciations, is a shortbread-type biscuit, usually made with ground almonds. Versions are found in most Arab, Balkan and Ottoman cuisines, with various different forms and recipes. They are similar to polvorones from Andalusia. In the Maghreb and Egypt, they are often served with Libyan tea, Arabic coffee or Maghrebi mint tea. A recipe for a shortbread cookie similar to ghorayebah but without almonds, called in Arabic khushkanānaj gharīb (exotic cookie), is given in the earliest known Arab cookbook, the 10th-century Kitab al-Ṭabīḫ. Kurabiye appears in the Ottoman cuisine in the 15th century.

Laz böreği

Sweet phyllo pic with muhallebi (milk custard)

Lokma

Lokma

Lokma is a dessert made of leavened and deep fried dough balls, soaked in syrup or honey, sometimes coated with cinnamon or other ingredients. The dish was described as early as the 13th century by al-Baghdadi as luqmat al-qādi , "judge's morsels". The Arabic word luqma (لُقْمَةٌ) (plural luqmāt), means morsel, mouthful, or bite. The dish was known as luqmat al-qādi (لُقْمَةُ ٱلْقَاضِيِ) or "judge's morsels" in 13th-century Arabic cookery books, and the word luqma or loqma by itself has come to refer to it. The Turkish name for the dish, lokma, is derived from the Arabic, as is the Greek name loukoumádes (λουκουμάδες). The recipe for Luqmat al-Qadi, yeast-leavened dough boiled in oil and doused in honey or sugar syrup with rosewater, dates back to at least the early medieval period and the 13th-century Abbasid Caliphate, where it is mentioned in several of the existent cookery books of the time. It is also mentioned in the One Thousand and One Nights, in the story The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad. The explorer and scholar Ibn Battuta in the 14th century encountered the dish he knew as Luqaymat al-Qadi at a dinner in Multan, during his travels in medieval India, where his hosts called it al-Hashimi.

Lokum

Lokum

Turkish delight, or lokum is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often flavored with rosewater, mastic gum, bergamot orange, or lemon. Other common flavors include cinnamon and mint. The confection is often packaged and eaten in small cubes dusted with icing sugar, copra, or powdered cream of tartar to prevent clinging. The origin of modern lokum is not precisely known, though the confection is known to have been produced in the Ottoman Empire since the late 18th century.

Macaroon

Macaroon

A macaroon is a small cake or cookie, originally made from ground almonds, egg whites, and sugar, but now often with coconut or other nuts. They may also include jam, chocolate, or other flavorings. The name macaroon is borrowed from French macaron, in turn from the Sicilian maccarone, a variant form of maccherone, the same word as macaroni. The origin of that is unclear; it may be from medieval Greek μακαρία, 'barley broth', or μακαρώνεια, 'funeral chant'. The etymology connecting it to Italian maccare, 'to bruise' is now rejected. The origin of the word may also have referred to a sort of gnocchi.[citation needed] Macaroons can be traced to a French monastery of the 8th century in the city of Cormery. Later, two Benedictine nuns, Sister Marguerite and Sister Marie-Elisabeth, came to Nancy, France seeking asylum during the French Revolution. The two women paid for their housing by baking and selling macaroons, and thus became known as the "Macaroon Sisters".

Macun

Macun

Macun is a soft, sweet and colorful Turkish toffee paste. It is a street food that may be prepared with many herbs and spices. Macun originated from spicy preparations of Mesir macunu, a traditional Turkish herbal paste from the classical antiquity period. During classical antiquity, macun was consumed as a pharmaceutical medicine. It was historically served in a round tray with separate compartments for the various flavors, a serving style that has continued into modern times. The consumption of macun is a part of some Turkish customs. Macun is a street food that is often sold outdoors, especially during street festivals (panayır). It is a popular sweet among children. The color of various macuns may be vivid or bright. Macun may be prepared with a great deal of herbs and spices. Ingredients to flavor macun have traditionally included bergamot, cinnamon, mastic, mint, rose, lemon and plum. Macun originated from spicy preparations of Mesir macunu, a traditional herbal paste from classical antiquity. During classical antiquity, macun was consumed as a pharmaceutical medicine.

Marron glacé

Marron glacé

Marron glacé is a confection originating in France or Italy that consists of a chestnut candied in sugar syrup and glazed. It is an ingredient in many desserts and is also eaten on their own.

Marzipan

Marzipan

Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal , sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and small marzipan imitations of fruits and vegetables. It can also be used in biscuits or rolled into thin sheets and glazed for icing cakes, primarily birthday cakes, wedding cakes and Christmas cakes. Marzipan may also be used as a baking ingredient, as in stollen or banket. In some countries, it is shaped into small figures of animals as a traditional treat for New Year's Day or Christmas. Marzipan is also used in Tortell, and in some versions of king cake eaten during the Carnival season.

Mousse

Mousse

A mousse is a soft prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. Depending on preparation techniques, it can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick. A mousse may be sweet or savoury. Sweet mousses are typically made with whipped egg whites, whipped cream, or both, and flavored with one or more of chocolate, coffee, caramel, puréed fruits, or various herbs and spices, such as mint or vanilla. In the case of some chocolate mousses, egg yolks are often stirred into melted chocolate to give the final product a richer mouthfeel. Mousses are also typically chilled before being served, which gives them a denser texture. Additionally, mousses are often frozen into silicone molds and unmolded to give the mousse a defined shape. Sweetened mousse is served as a dessert or used as an airy cake filling. It is sometimes stabilized with gelatin. Savoury mousses can be made from meat, fish, shellfish, foie gras, cheese, or vegetables. Hot mousses often get their light texture from the addition of beaten egg whites.

Mozaik pasta

Mozaik pasta

A no-bake chocolate cake made with broken cookie pieces

Muhallebi

Muhallebi

Muhallebi is a milk pudding commonly made with rice, sugar, milk and either rice flour, starch or semolina, popular as a dessert in the Middle East. While the dessert is called muhallebi in Turkey and Iraq, in the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine) and Egypt, it is called mahalabiyeh or mahalabia. Legend has it that muhallebi (Arabic: مهلبية) was introduced into Arab cuisine in the late seventh century by a Persian (Iranian) cook from what was then the Sasanian Empire (224–651), who served it to an Arab general by the name of Al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra. He liked it so much, he named it after himself. The earliest recipes, dating to the 10th century, featured three versions: milk thickened with ground rice, milk with rice grains and chicken, and an egg custard without rice. Early recipes for muhallabiyya include a work attributed to Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq of Baghdad and two 13th-century Arab cookbooks, one by al-Baghdadi and another from Al Andalus that have a spiced pudding variation made with mutton instead of chicken. In the Middle Ages, muhallebi and its European counterpart blancmange were made with shredded chicken. There are records from the Ottoman Empire for two versions of muhallebi: a version with shredded chicken (tavuk göğsü) served during the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror, and a later recipe dating to 1530 for a meatless version flavored with rose water.

Orcik şekeri

Orcik şekeri

Orcik candy is a confection made of walnuts and a slightly fermented juice called şıra that is made with grapes or blackberries. It is a regional specialty of Elazığ. It is similar to churchkhela (called cevizli sucuk in Turkish), but the walnut and grape mixture is stuffed into hand pulled candy.

Panna cotta

Panna cotta

Panna cotta is an Italian dessert of sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and molded. The cream may be aromatized with coffee, vanilla, or other flavorings. The name panna cotta is not mentioned in Italian cookbooks before the 1960s, yet it is often cited as a traditional dessert of the northern Italian region of Piedmont. One unverified story says that it was invented by a Hungarian woman in the Langhe in the early 19th century. An 1879 dictionary mentions a dish called latte inglese (lit. 'English milk'), made of cream cooked with gelatin and molded, although other sources say that latte inglese is made with egg yolks, such as crème anglaise; perhaps the name covered any thickened custard-like preparation. The dish might also come from the French recipe of fromage bavarois from Marie-Antoine Carême in le pâtissier royal parisien, which is the same as the modern panna cotta, except that one part of the cream is whipped to make chantilly and included in the preparation before adding the gelatin.

Pekmez

Pekmez

Pekmez is a molasses-like syrup obtained after condensing juices of fruit must, especially grape, by boiling it with a coagulant agent like wood ashes or ground carob seeds. It is used as a syrup or mixed with tahini for breakfast. Pekmez is etymologically Oghuz Turkic in origin and it was called bekmes in the past. The oldest written account of the word is recorded in 1073 dictionary Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk by Mahmud al-Kashgari. Fruit molasses, defrutum, goes back to the classical period.

Pepeçura

Pepeçura

Pepeçura is a sort of pudding in the Turkish cuisine, especially of the eastern Black Sea Region, made of grape must mixed with flour and boiled until thick. It may also include almonds, walnuts, and other nuts. Grape must is the juice from pressed grapes before fermentation, and is often used as a sweetener in traditional bread recipes, as well as in the preparation of desserts and candy. This grape must pie is a favorite, especially popular at grape harvest season when the must is fresh.

Pişmaniye

Pişmaniye

Pişmaniye is a Turkish confection made by blending flour roasted in butter into pulled-sugar and then forming it into fine strands. It is sometimes garnished with ground pistachio nuts. Although it is sometimes compared to cotton candy, both the ingredients and method of preparation are significantly different. Until recently pişmaniye used to be made at home in most regions of Turkey, but this tradition is now rapidly disappearing. Today the manufacturing process is partially mechanised. There are many different Turkish names, used in different provinces, the most common being tel helva, çekme helva, tel tel, tepme helva and keten helva.

Pişmaniye kurabiye

Pişmaniye kurabiye

Coconut shortbread cookies

Profiteroles

Profiteroles

A profiterole , chou à la crème ( French: [ʃu a la kʁɛm]), also known alternatively as a cream puff (US), is a filled French choux pastry ball with a typically sweet and moist filling of whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, or ice cream. The puffs may be embellished or left plain or garnished with chocolate sauce, caramel, or a dusting of powdered sugar. Savory profiterole are also made, filled with pureed meats, cheese, and so on. These were formerly common garnishes for soups. The various names may be associated with particular variants of filling or sauce in different places. Choux pastry dough is piped through a pastry bag or dropped with a pair of spoons into small balls and baked to form largely hollow puffs. After cooling, the baked profiteroles are injected with filling using a pastry bag and narrow piping tip, or by slicing off the top, filling them, and reassembling. For sweet profiteroles, additional glazes or decorations may then be added.

Revani

Revani

Basbousa is a sweet, syrup-soaked semolina dessert that is typically associated with cuisines of Egyptian cuisine, Similar but slightly different dishes are also popular in the wider region. The semolina batter is baked in a sheet pan, then sweetened with sugar syrup and typically cut into diamond (lozenge) shapes or squares. The Oxford Companion to Food (3rd edition) suggests that basbousa might have developed from a dish called ma'mounia, which was created around the 10th century. Ma'mounia was made by cooking rice in fat and syrup. This recipe was later adapted to use semolina, with the batter being cooked first and then soaked in syrup. Another take on its origin suggests that basbousa was first made during the 16th century in the Ottoman Empire, likely in what is modern-day Turkey, to celebrate the conquest of Armenia.

Rosette

Rosette

Rosettes are thin, cookie-like fritters made with iron molds that are found in many cultures. They are crispy and characterized by their lacy pattern. The batter is a blend of wheat, flour, eggs, sugar, and whole milk. Rosette cookies are formed with a rosette iron. This specialized tool has a long handle and with a metal shape, commonly stars, flowers, snowflakes or Christmas trees. In Kerala, India, Rosette cookies known as Achappam are made using rice flour.

Şekerpare

Şekerpare

Şekerpare is one of the popular desserts in the Turkish cuisine. Mainly prepared by baking some soft balls of almond based pastry dipped in thick (optionally) lemon-flavored sugar syrup, şekerpare is pronounced "sheh-kehr-PAH-reh" in Turkish.

Şıllık

Şıllık

Şıllık is a Turkish dessert crepe that is a specialty of the southeastern Urfa province. It is a thin dough made of milk and flour, similar to a crepe, filled with ground walnuts and topped with simple syrup and chopped pistachio. Some versions of the filling may include a mix of walnut and pistachio. Butter or Turkish grape molasses may optionally be added to the simple syrup sauce. Traditionally, lamb tail fat was used to fry the crepes. In Turkish the word şıllık means slut or hussy, so some women in the conservative province of Urfa are not comfortable ordering the dessert by name, preferring instead to allow a male relative to order it for them or simply asking for "that dessert".

Strudel

Strudel

Strudel is a type of layered pastry with a filling that is usually sweet, but savoury fillings are also common. It became popular in the 18th century throughout the Habsburg Empire. Strudel is part of Austrian cuisine and German cuisine but is also common in other Central European cuisines. In Italy it is recognized as a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT) of South Tyrol. The oldest strudel recipes (a Millirahmstrudel and a turnip strudel) are from 1696, in a handwritten cookbook at the Wienbibliothek im Rathaus (formerly Wiener Stadtbibliothek). The pastry is probably descended from similar pastries such as börek and baklava.

Sümelek

Sümelek

Samanu , Samanak (Persian: سمنک / samanak), Sümelek (Kazakh: сүмелек / Turkmen: Sümelek / Syumelek), Sumanak (Tajik: суманак), Sumalak (Uzbek: sumalak [sʉmælˈæk]) or Sümölök (Kyrgyz: сүмөлөк [symœlˈœk]) is a sweet paste made from germinated wheat (young wheatgrass) and wheat flour, which is prepared especially for Nowruz (beginning of spring) in a large pot (like a kazan). This practice has been traced back to the pre-Islamic Sasanian Persian Empire. Although Samanu is prominent for "Haft-Sin" (the seven symbolic items traditionally displayed at Nowruz), the preparation "mela" (referring to a picnic) and eating it is traditional in Afghanistan. The wheat is soaked and prepared for days and so the entire process takes up to a week. Traditionally, the final cooking would take from evening until the daylight and was a party involving only women. This would be full of laughter and music and singing related songs. In Iranian tradition the whole gathering, mostly women, gather near the huge pot. They sit in a circle, sing songs, and have fun, each of them waiting for their turn to stir the sumalak. While stirring the samanak, wishes can be made. Also, whole walnuts are thrown in near the end of the preparation while making a wish. In the morning still warm sumalak is handed out to neighbors, relatives and friends. In Tajikistan and Afghanistan they sing: Samanak dar Jūsh u mā Kafcha zanēm – Dīgarān dar Khwāb u mā Dafcha zanēm. (meaning: "Samanak is boiling and we are stirring it, others are asleep and we are playing daf"). In modern times, making Samanu can be a family activity. Traditional Samanu is made entirely of germinated wheat and water (no other ingredients). Nowadays, it is common to add a bit of flour to speed up the thickening process, although this makes the paste taste somewhat bitter and less sweet.

Supangle

Supangle

Chocolate pudding that includes pieces of chocolate cake or cookies and topped with, for example, pistachios, coconut, chocolate chips

Sütlaç

Sütlaç

Muhallebi is a milk pudding commonly made with rice, sugar, milk and either rice flour, starch or semolina, popular as a dessert in the Middle East. While the dessert is called muhallebi in Turkey and Iraq, in the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine) and Egypt, it is called mahalabiyeh or mahalabia. Legend has it that muhallebi (Arabic: مهلبية) was introduced into Arab cuisine in the late seventh century by a Persian (Iranian) cook from what was then the Sasanian Empire (224–651), who served it to an Arab general by the name of Al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra. He liked it so much, he named it after himself. The earliest recipes, dating to the 10th century, featured three versions: milk thickened with ground rice, milk with rice grains and chicken, and an egg custard without rice. Early recipes for muhallabiyya include a work attributed to Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq of Baghdad and two 13th-century Arab cookbooks, one by al-Baghdadi and another from Al Andalus that have a spiced pudding variation made with mutton instead of chicken. In the Middle Ages, muhallebi and its European counterpart blancmange were made with shredded chicken. There are records from the Ottoman Empire for two versions of muhallebi: a version with shredded chicken (tavuk göğsü) served during the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror, and a later recipe dating to 1530 for a meatless version flavored with rose water.

Sütlü nuriye

Sütlü nuriye

Sütlü Nuriye is a Turkish dessert similar to baklava, but instead of syrup it contains milk, which gives a whitish look to the dessert. The name means Nuriye (Turkish female name) with milk. It is considered a speciality of Diyarbakir. The dessert is said to have origins in Ottoman cuisine. According to Süheyl Ünver who authored the foundational book of post-Ottoman Turkish cuisine called Tarihte 50 Türk Yemeği (50 historical Turkish foods), an 18th century recipe was recorded by a judge from the Ottoman city of İzmir. The dough for this dessert is made with egg whites and usually contains some acidic ingredient like lemon juice or vinegar and the finish dessert is layered various ways. The modern form of the dessert was created during the 1980 Turkish coup d'état during which a military officer purchased baklava and found the price to be too high. The officer complained to İsmail Hakki Akansel, who had been appointed Mayor of Istanbul in the aftermath of the coup. Akansel responded by setting a price ceiling on baklava, which was announced during Ramadan. The pastry shop was unable to make the traditional baklava recipe profitable under the new pricing rules. To lower the cost of making baklava, pastry chefs substituted hazelnuts for pistachios and added milk to increase the weight of each tray of baklava. The new recipe became known as Sütlü Nuriye.

Tahin pekmez

Tahin pekmez

A blend of tahini and grape must syrup that is used as a sweet dip for bread

Tavuk göğsü

Tavuk göğsü

Tavukgöğsü is a Turkish milk pudding made with shredded chicken breast. It was a delicacy served to Ottoman sultans in the Topkapı Palace, and is now a well-known dish in Turkey. It has long been believed that this chicken pudding had originated in the Roman recipe collection Apicius, and it was later on passed to Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) and subsequently to the Ottoman Empire. However, no surviving copies of Apicius include such a recipe. Similar Arab dishes from the tenth century exist. Considering the lack of evidence for the Roman connection, the possible introduction of tavukgöğsü into Turkish cuisine is likely of Arab origin. The traditional version uses white chicken breast meat. The meat is softened by boiling and separating the meat into very fine fibers or pounding until smooth. The meat is mixed with milk, sugar, cracked rice and other thickeners, and often some sort of flavoring such as cinnamon. The result is a thick pudding often shaped for presentation.

Tishpishti

Tishpishti

Syrupy semolina and almond or walnut sponge cake

Trilece

Trilece

Sponge cake topped with a milk topping and a caramel sauce, the milk topping was traditionally made with milk from goats, cows and buffalo, modern versions use cow milk, condensed milk and heavy cream

Tulumba

Tulumba

Tulumba or Bamiyeh is a deep-fried dessert found in Egypt, Turkey and the regional cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire. It is a fried batter soaked in syrup, similar to jalebis or churros. It is made from unleavened choux pastry dough (usually about 3 cm long) piped with a pastry bag using an open star or similar tip. It is first deep-fried to golden colour and then sugar-sweet syrup is poured over it when still hot. It is eaten cold. Tulumba literally means 'pump' in Turkish, deriving from the Italian tromba. The dessert is called pomba in Cypriot Greek and bombacık in Cypriot Turkish. In Armenian cuisine it may be called either pomp or tulumba (Armenian: թուլումբա). Tulumba features in Albanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek (Greek: τουλούμπα), Azeri (Azerbaijani: Ballıbadı) and Turkish cuisines. The sweet is also found in Persian cuisine as bamiyeh (Persian: باميه), after the vegetable of the same Persian name (okra), due to its shape. In Hejazi it is called ṭurumba (Arabic: طُرُمْبَة) directly from Italian: tromba, but in Egyptian and some Arab cuisines it is called balaḥ ash-Shām (Arabic: بلح الشام), literally "Syrian dates" or "Damascene dates," though the name may have come from "şambali", another Turkish dessert (the "Şam" in "şambali" corresponding to "Shām" in "balaḥ ash-Shām" and both referring to Damascus). In Iraqi cuisine it is known as datli (Arabic: داطلي), directly coming from Turkish word tatlı. It is made from a yogurt[citation needed] and starch based dough, which is fried before being dipped in syrup. It is a special sweet often enjoyed at Iftar in Ramadan. It is also commonly sold alongside jalebi, which is prepared in a similar way, but arranged in a web-like arrangement of strips of dough.

Un kurabiyesi

Un kurabiyesi

Shortbread cookies

Zerde

Zerde

Zerde is a traditional Iraqi, Mesopotamian dessert. The original rice pudding, infused with a generous amount of saffron giving it a vibrant yellow hue and a delicate floral flavour. This is a festive dish popular at weddings, births, and during holy festivities such as the first Sunday of the month of Sha'aban celebrating the birth of the prophet Zechariah, and the first ten days of the sacred month of Muharram. Zer, which means gold and or yellow, comes from Persian zard which means yellow. In some regions of Turkey, Zerdeçal Turmeric also added for a more intense colour. Zerde is very popular and has made its way to western Turkey with people immigrating to west at Eastern Thrace, which provides almost the half of country's rice production, zerde is a favored dessert. Flavoring ingredients of zerde vary slightly from region to region in Turkey depending on the local fruits.

Airag

Airag

Kumis , alternatively spelled coumis or kumyz,[a] also known as airag (/ˈaɪræɡ/ EYE-rag),[b] is a traditional fermented dairy product made from mare milk. The drink is important to the peoples of the Central and East Asian steppes, of Turkic and Mongolic origin: Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Kalmyks, Kyrgyz, Mongols, and Yakuts. Kumis was historically consumed by the Khitans, Jurchens, Magyars, and Han Chinese of North China as well.

Arabica coffee

Arabica coffee

Coffea arabica , also known as the Arabica coffee, is a species of flowering plant in the coffee and madder family Rubiaceae. It is believed to be the first species of coffee to have been cultivated and is the dominant cultivar, representing about 60% of global production. Coffee produced from the more acidic, more bitter, and more highly caffeinated robusta bean (C. canephora) makes up most of the remaining coffee production. The natural populations of Coffea arabica are restricted to the forests of South Ethiopia and Yemen.

Ayran

Ayran

Ayran[a] is a cold savory yogurt-based beverage that is consumed across Central Asia, and the Balkans, in Turkey and Iran. The principal ingredients are yogurt, water and salt. Herbs such as mint may be optionally added. Some varieties are carbonated. Ayran (cf. airag in Mongolian: 'mare milk', uyran (уйран) in Chuvash: 'buttermilk') is mentioned in Mahmud al-Kashgari's 11th century Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, although he did not give any information how ayran was made. The word is derived from the Old Turkic root adır- ("to separate"), cf. Turkish ayır- ("to separate").

Beyaz şarap

Beyaz şarap

Turkish wine is wine made in the transcontinental Eurasian country Turkey. The Caucasus region, where Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia are located, played a pivotal role in the early history of wine and is likely to have been one of the earliest wine-producing regions of the world. Ampelographers estimate that Turkey is home to between 600 and 1200 indigenous varieties of Vitis vinifera , though less than 60 of these are grown commercially. With over 8,120 square kilometres (2,010,000 acres) planted under vine, Turkey is the world's fourth-leading producer of grapes for wine production. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey's first president, established the country's first commercial winery in 1925. According to the OIV, the total wine production in 2005 was 28,700,000 litres.

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