Turkish food combines culinary traditions from the people’s nomadic past in Central Asia with influences of the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. Guests are usually able to go into a kitchen and choose from the pots if they cannot understand the names of the dishes. A wide range of international cuisine is also available in the major cities, and standard German and British dishes along the coasts.
Things to know: Turkey is a secular state and alcohol is widely enjoyed, although during Ramadan it is considered polite for visitors to avoid drinking alcohol in public.
Some local restaurants do not serve alcohol.
National specialties:
• Köfte (spicy sausage-shaped meatballs made of minced lamb).
• Shish kebab (pieces of meat threaded on a skewer and grilled).
• Pide (the Turkish equivalent of pizza topped with cheese and eggs).
• Dolma (vine leaves or vegetables stuffed with pine nuts and currants).
• Lokum (Turkish Delight - originally made from dates, honey, roses and jasmine bound by Arabic gum and designed to sweeten the breath after coffee).
National drinks:
• Raki (anisette), known as ’lion’s milk’, which clouds when water is added. Drinking
raki is a ritual and is traditionally accompanied by a variety of
meze (small savoury appetizers).
• Ayran (a refreshing yogurt drink).
• Çay (tea - usually drunk black and strong and served in small tulip-shaped glasses).
• Strong black Turkish coffee (traditionally brewed over hot coals and served very sweet).
• Turkish beer, red and white wines.
Legal drinking age: 18.
Tipping: A service charge is included in hotel and restaurant bills. It is customary to leave a small tip (10 to 15%) for barbers, hairdressers, Turkish Bath attendants and waiters in smarter establishments. In inexpensive cafes and restaurants a small gratuity is appreciated. When using taxis, passengers should just round up the fare.
NightlifeTurkey’s newfound economic prosperity and cultural shift to the West has stimulated many new
nightclubs to open for business in recent years. Istanbul has the largest variety with an abundance of clubs in the Taksim Square area that stay open until the early hours. Some clubs have a strong Turkish character, with live Turkish music, while others are fairly indistinguishable from those in western Europe and play anything from house and techno to heavy metal. Istanbul also has quite a few
jazz bars. Cover charges tend to be on the high side.
Belly dancing is a Turkish tradition but these days it tends to be put on mostly for the tourists. Shows are often staged at large hotels. The tradition is to tip the dancer by placing a folded note in an appropriate part of her costume.
Turks like to dine in
tavernas called
meyhane, where traditional food is accompanied by
folk music and dancing. Traditionally these were all-male, rather sleazy establishments but most modern-day
meyhane are comfortable places for foreign visitors of either sex to visit.
There are
theaters with concerts in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir and most towns have cinemas, although the recent advent of home DVD payers is now taking its toll.
Turkish baths (
hamam) are popular and a Turkish institution. Even the smallest town will generally have a
hamam and larger towns and cities usually have one for each individual neighborhood. Baths are either designated specifically for men or women, or a single
hamam will have separate opening times to accommodate males and females.
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