What Makes Turkish Food Taste so Good?

In Istanbul, everywhere you look you can see baklavas – a dessert made, usually, with honey and walnuts –, Turkish delight – a gelatinous sweet confection traditionally made of syrup –, roasted chestnuts, freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, mussels stuffed with boiled rice, and Lahmacun – a round, thin piece of dough topped with minced meat, minced vegetables, and herbs.

5 ingredients you cannot miss on Turkish food

1. Sumac

The Spice Bazaar in Istanbul is a magical place, with magnificent colors and smells. That’s where I bought a wooden box with all kind of spices: cumin, black sesame seeds, turmeric, curcuma, oregano, and sumac powder.

Sumac is the dried and powdered fruit of a tree that grows in the Anatolian peninsula. When ground into a powder it has a lovely burgundy hue and gives foods a slightly tangy, lemony flavor. It’s used to bring a rich acidity to a dish that needs some bite. I usually use it in hummus, but in Turkish cuisine, it’s sprinkled on grilled meat, fish, dumplings with yogurt, kebabs, and some salads.

When eating Turkish food in authentic restaurants, small bowls of ground sumac are often placed on the table as the main condiment.

2. Yogurt

Yogurt is an essential ingredient of Turkish food, adding acidity, creaminess, and tartness to any dish. It is consumed plain or as a side dish. Any traditional Turkish meal must have a dish with yogurt as the main ingredient. If not, it’s almost mandatory to have some plain yogurt on the side.

Yogurt is used in soups, sweets, and to make their traditional drink, ayran. It’s a cold yogurt beverage mixed with salt and, sometimes, with mint. If you visit this amazing country, don’t miss it!

3. Mint

As I said, Turks use mint in ayran. But that’s just the beginning. Mint makes Turkish food better when added to lamb, mutton, poultry, and fish, but also to salads. It’s used both fresh and dried. Cacik is a refreshing companion for meat courses, and it’s made with yogurt, water, mint, and diced cucumbers.

4. Grape and pomegranate molasses

In Turkey, grapes are eaten both fresh, as well as dried into raisins. Before sugar became available, Turkish sweets were sweetened with grape molasses – called pekmez – or honey. For this reason, pekmez has been one of the most important sweets in their traditional diet and tastes for millennia.

Pekmez is a sweet and thick liquid made by boiling and concentrating fruit juice. It is most often made from grapes, but there are local forms of pekmez made from other ingredients including mulberries, plums, apples, pears, sugar beets, watermelon, sorghum, and pomegranates.

Pomegranate molasses is one of those precious ingredients in Turkish cuisine – it brings acidity and a hint of sweetness to any dish. You can use it to finish a slow braise of lamb, add it to stuffed vegetables, or use it to replace the vinegar in a salad dressing.

5. Tahini

Tahini is a condiment made from toasted, ground, and hulled sesame seeds. It’s used in many cuisines, like Lebanese, Armenian, Iranian, Greek, and Israeli.

In Turkey, tahini is mixed with pomegranate molasses to form a dish called “tahin-pekmez”. Because of its high-caloric number, it’s served for breakfast, as a spread or dip with Turkish or Arabic bread. But you can serve it with any type of bread. Tahin-pekmez is also served after meals as a dessert. Tahini is used in Turkish food in some doughs and pies recipes, in sauces, and fillings.

Turkish cuisine is a magnet for those who travel in search of food adventures. The variety of dishes and the history of each craft offer enough material for life-long study and enjoyment.

Come and visit Sahan Mezopotamian Street Food Restaurant in Auburn and experience the best-tasting Turkish Food!