Turkish Cuisine

Turkey is a unique republic located on the eastern end of the Mediterranean and has always been the meeting point for European and Middle Eastern neighbors, becoming an important link between east and west. Consequently, her customs and cuisine are modern and at the same time historic. Turkish food is regarded as one of the world's great cuisines.

Centuries of Ottoman Empire rule helped to spread Turkish cuisine and ingredients into Eastern Europe and throughout the Middle East and today, many well-known recipes show an influence from Turkish cuisine: yogurt salads, fish in olive oil, stuffed vegetables and vine leaves, and syrupy filo dough desserts.

The beauty of Turkish cooking is in its use of fresh ingredients. Dishes are presented simply, not hidden under sauces, or excessive presentations.

Turkish cuisine has many specialties and variations: there are at least forty ways to prepare eggplant alone and more than three hundred “meze” dishes. Vegetarians and meat eaters will easily find much to choose from on the menu.

To dine on Turkish food is to dine on centuries old recipes.

One unique specialty of Turkish cuisine is the "zeytinyağlı" or olive oil course. Olive oil production is thousands of years old and part of the intrinsic Mediterranean culture. Foods such as beans, eggplants with peppers and tomatoes are slow cooked in olive oil and typically served at room temperature.

Dinners will most commonly start with mezeler, (singular, meze) or appetizers. Mezeler are Turkish specialties, like roasted pureed eggplant, fine chopped salads, etc.

All sweets are usually served with Turkish coffee. During the day the popular drink is tea, served in tulip shaped glasses.

These together are the key symbols of world famous Turkish hospitality.

An interesting fact: Yogurt is a Turkish word, her most famous contribution to world cuisine.

Come and visit us at Restaurant Su and enjoy the traditional Turkish Cuisine exquisitely prepared by Fisun Ercan.