Turkish Cuisine in Covid Times..To eat or not to eat!

During these hard times of Covid, and things getting tough, most of the countries are closing their borders for tourists.
Luckily, Turkey is one of the countries which are open, and due to the fact that Turkish cuisine is one of the finest and tastiest with extra spices, this would be your chance to try the very yummy Turkish food.
So, let me take you on a quick tour through the Turkish cuisine, and introduce you to the top Turkish dishes that you don’t wanna miss when in Turkey!

You will definitely not regret it if you start your day at one of the finest Turkish restaurants for having a Turkish kahvealti (Turkish breakfast), and my advice for you would be that you prepare yourself for a pretty unusual and quite long event which will be more than ” just a breakfast ” . Usually, Turks take Turkish breakfast as a chance for meeting up and having a good time, and undoubtedly good food. You will find yourself on your seat with up to 7 different kinds of dishes (sometimes even more) on your table! A proper Turkish kahvealti should have yumurta (eggs), sucuk (special spiced sausages), different kinds of peynir (cheese), green and black olives, butter, muhammara which is a very tasty hot pepper dip, tomatoes and cucumbers, jam, honey and kaymak (a special cream).

Well after a long day walking around the beautiful streets of Istanbul, smelling grilled kebab, it must be time for a nice Turkish lunch or dinner and I am pretty sure that it will be very hard for you to make a decision as the variety is crazy!
Well, I would like to start with my own favorite dishes:- On top of them all comes “Iskender Kebab” which consists of thin slices of grilled meat mixed with squishy bread which is already softened by tomato sauce and butter, and it is usually served with yogurt and some grilled vegetables.

My second favourite Turkish dish would definitely be “Manti” which consists of a special kind of pasta, stuffed with minced meat and served with yoghurt and tomato sauce.- Another special dish would be “Kumpir” or stuffed potato, and in turkey when I say “stuffed” that means that it is REALLY stuffed with so many toppings starting from chicken, mushrooms, sausages, corn to ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard.

– Well, in case you’re in a hurry and you need to grab something fast so you can have more time to visit other places, I recommend you the very traditional Turkish fast food, Doner, which is a wrap of grilled meat or chicken with A LOT OF SPICES! Yummy!-
Another option for fast food would be “Pide” or “Lahmacun” which is kinda a Turkish pizza! And I specially recommend Lahmacun for late-night gatherings with friends.
When in Turkey, you definitely don’t want to miss out on the Turkish desert, and I think, by far, you can tell that Turkey has a lot of variety, as well, when it comes to sweets.
- On top of the list comes the most traditional dessert in the country, Kunefe, which is made of shredded wheat mixed with nuts and sweet syrup.- Then comes the tastiest sweets you will ever try, and a very common souvenir brought by many tourists from turkey, and that would be Turkish Delight which is known in Turkish as “Lokum” and basically it is different kinds of nuts like pistachios bound by gel.

And now it is time for the strangest dessert you will ever hear about which is “Tavuk Gogsu” and that, ladies and gentlemen, means chicken breasts! No, you absolutely did not misunderstand. This dessert is basically made from chicken, milk, sugar and cinnamon. And if you go to Turkey, this would definitely be a must-try!-
This option is recommended for those who are really into sweetness, and that would be “Baklava” which is Turkey’s most common dessert. Baklava is made of pastry, pistachios and sweet syrup, and when walking around the streets of Turkey, you will literally see baklava everywhere! Starting from restaurants and coffee shops to bakeries.-
Last on my list but not least would be ice cream! Well, even though ice cream will never be a boring option, but when it comes to Turkish ice cream or “Dondurma” we should stand a minute of appreciation for this amazing invention of human history! Unlike any other country, Turkey is known for its finest ice cream with its so many different flavours and heavy structure and not-to-mention the vendors funny pranks while serving the ice cream. And that was a short tour through Turkish cuisine. I hope that you will have a wonderful trip to Turkey full of kebabs and baklavas! 