Turkish cuisine includes a lot of diverse dishes, so many tourists come to Turkey in order to eat its delicious food with a delicious flavor. One of the most important features of Turkish cuisine is its closeness to international cuisines.Turkish cuisine contains a lot of foods of different cuisines, whether Arabic, French or Greek, so the Turkish cuisine derived a lot of its foods from the Arab cuisine, and through our article today we will learn together about everything related to Turkish cuisine and the most famous Turkish foods and how close they are to Arab cuisine.

History of Turkish cuisine

• One of the things that many people wonder about is the history of Turkish cuisine. There have been different opinions about the origins of Turkish cuisine. There are those who assert that it dates back to Middle Eastern cuisine and Arab kitchens, as a result of the presence of the Ottomans among the Arabs for a long period of time.

• Some assert that Turkish cuisine goes back to its ancient historical roots. Turkish cuisine is one of the important Turkish legacies derived from the Ottoman era.

• There were Ottoman kitchens that were called "the palace kitchen" and the best food was prepared for the Ottoman sultans as soon as they returned from the battles.

• Many suggest that Turkish cuisine dates back to European origins as a result of the Ottoman conquests.

• Whatever the origins of Turkish cuisine, the culture of Turkish cuisine in general differs from one state to another. We find that the Ottoman traditions are clearly visible in Turkish cuisine in Istanbul, Bursa and Izmir.

• It also appeared that the Black Sea regions were influenced to a large extent by the culture of European cuisine, such as the city of Kastamonu, Duzce, and Zonguldak.

• While the culture of Arab cuisine appears clearly in the regions of southern Turkey, such as Gaziantep, Urfa, and Mardin.

Turkish cooking

• Breakfast in Turkey consists of bread, semolina, cheese, eggs, Turkish olives and pastrami, in addition to tomatoes with cucumber, jam and honey.

• Damlek tea is considered one of the main ingredients in Turkish breakfast.

• One of the most important features of Turkish cuisine in the breakfast meal is the presence of dough pieces that include cheese, meat, or vegetables, and are prepared either in the oven or in boiling oil.

• These pieces of dough are also found in the markets and are classified as one of the meals that are sold in the markets as fast food.

• It may be presented in more than one form, whether it is the rolled form, such as cigarettes, and it is called "sigara boregi".

• As for lunch, the Turks are interested in beef, lamb, chicken and fish, as they are the main meals that are served at lunch.

• Turkish cuisine mainly contains eggplant, green peppers, onions, garlic, lentils, rice and tomatoes.

• One of the customs followed by the Turks is to serve the soup meal at the beginning of the lunch meal in order to prepare the stomach in order to receive the basic food consisting of rice or pasta in addition to meat, chicken or fish.

• Knowing that meat in Turkey is prepared with tomato sauce or boiled in addition to vegetables.

• It is also possible to prepare meat easily on charcoal, and one of the customs followed by the Turks is to hold barbecue parties on various trips, in addition to home-made kebabs that are prepared at home and served with vegetables.

• One of the popular meals also in Turkey is kofta, and there are many types of it, whether Izmir kofte, Tekirdag kofte, or Urfa kofta.

• The Turkish pilaf is one of the basic foods that are prepared in Turkey. The methods of preparation vary, sometimes it is prepared with tomatoes, sometimes with rice, and sometimes with meat.

• Also, rice is prepared in more than one way. It can be prepared by mixing it with nuts, chickpeas, eggplant, or chicken pieces.

• As for the dinner meal, it is a mixture between breakfast and lunch. Some people prefer to eat eggs, cheese and the equivalent for breakfast.

• Others prefer to eat meat and its derivatives, and this is determined based on the desire of each individual.

• One of the most important Turkish foods is the cig kofta meal, which is one of the meals that is preferred to be eaten at dinner, because it is light on the stomach and delicious in taste.

• One of the foods that is eaten at any time of the day is kofta, and it is eaten with a drink of Ayran milk.

The most famous meals in Turkish cuisine

After we talked about everything related to Turkish cuisine, we will learn together the most famous foods that are prepared in the Turkish kitchen, and the following are those foods:

Turkish shawarma

• Turkish shawarma is one of the most popular foods in Turkey. It is made of meat or chicken and is prepared with Arabic bread, along with appetizers such as potatoes and vegetables.

• One of the most important features of Turkish cuisine is Turkish shawarma, with its distinctive flavor. It is prepared in many restaurants in Turkey.

Borek

• Borek is considered one of the best meals in Turkey, and it is presented in an exaggerated way in Turkish cuisine, and it is eaten throughout the day.

• Borek is the first official meal in Turkey, as no home in Turkey is devoid of Borek.

• It is a type of baked goods consisting of layers of dough prepared in a distinctive way, then it is stuffed with cheese, meat or vegetables, specifically spinach.

• It can be eaten as a main meal for breakfast or dinner, or as an appetizer for lunch.

Iskender Kebab

• Iskender Kebab is one of the famous Turkish dishes. It consists of meat grilled on charcoal, then bread is placed under the pieces of lamb meat in order for the meat fat to leak onto the bread.

• It is one of the delicious meals in Turkey, and there are many restaurants that have carried the name of that meal and made it an official name for the restaurant.

Dolma

• Dolma is considered one of the main meals that are prepared in abundance in gatherings in Turkey.

• Dolma is similar to grape leaves in the Arab countries.

• It may be prepared from rice in addition to minced meat with the addition of lemon juice with the rest of the Turkish spices, for example, saffron.

Common dishes between Arabic and Turkish cuisine

As we mentioned to you before, the Arabic cuisine is very close to the Turkish cuisine, and there are many common foods, including the following:

1. Lentil soup

• Lentil soup is one of the common foods between the Arab and Turkish cuisines, so the Turkish tables are not devoid of this meal throughout the year.

• As for the Arabs, they prefer to eat this soup in the winter, because it increases its feeling of warmth in light of the low temperature.

• Knowing that the method of cooking does not differ, and the taste between Turkish and Arabic cuisine is also similar.

2. Baklava

• Baklava is one of the most popular sweets in Arab and Turkish cuisine as well.

• The Arabs worked to add some changes to the baklava, but the taste in general is not much different.

3. Kunafa

• Kunafa is considered one of the most famous sweets, whether for Arabs or Turks, so it is called Kunafa Nabulsiyya by the Arabs, while the Turks call it the Istanbul Kunafa.

• They are characterized by having the same taste.