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Travel bucket list ideas:

Last updated: 11 January, 2023

From gozleme pancakes to filo meze, sweet baklava to fiery raki, we asked Turkish specialist Annabelle Thorpe to select the Turkish foods and flavours you must try while you’re in Turkey.

Table of Contents
Baklava
Experience

Baklava

Turkey

Sticky, nutty and sweet, baklava is the perfect way to end a Turkish meal; layers of filo pastry, drenched in honey and syrup and topped with pistachio

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Cig Borek
Experience

Cig Borek

Turkey

A popular hot meze dish, cig borek are rolls of filo pastry (shaped like a cigar), traditionally filled with feta cheese and parsley. Borek can also come in triangles, like a samosa, filled with minced meat and spices.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Traditional Turkish food gozleme with cheese and spinach. Turkish pancake gozleme concept on the dark background.
Experience

Gozleme

Turkey

Turkey’s favourite street food, gozleme are thin, crepe-like pancakes cooked on a flat hot stone, and filled with spiced potato, feta and herbs or minced meat.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Guvec
Experience

Guvec

Turkey

A hot, bubbling casserole often served on a hot plate and bubbling with cheese, guvec can be made with either meat (usually lamb or chicken) or seafood – a prawn guvec is arguably the best.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Imam Bayaldi
Experience

Imam Bayaldi

Turkey

The translation of this rich aubergine and tomato dish is ‘the priest fainted’ – presumably because it was so delicious. Aubergines are sliced lengthways and stuffed with tomatoes, onions, spices and pine nuts and poached in the oven.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Manti
Experience

Manti

Turkey

A classic Anatolian dish of tiny dumplings and minced meat (usually lamb) drenched in a thick yoghurt sauce. Top with chilli flakes and dried herbs to really boost the flavour.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Menemen
Experience

Menemen

Turkey

A tasty breakfast dish of eggs scrambled with slowly-sauteed peppers and tomatoes, served with hunks of freshly-made bread.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Pide
Experience

Pide

Turkey

The Turkish equivalent of pizza, a ‘pide salonu’ is a fast-food eaterie, serving up the elongated diamond-shaped flatbreads, filled with all manner of toppings – cheese, tomato and sucuk – a spicy sausage is a popular combination.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Turkish and Greek Traditional Dinning Table with Special Alcohol Drink Raki. Ouzo and Turkish Raki is a dry anise flavoured aperitif that is widely consumed in Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Lebanon
Experience

Raki

Turkey

The Turkish national drink, raki is a strong, aniseed-flavoured spirit, rather like ouzo. Traditionally drunk in a tall glass, half raki, half water, with plenty of ice, accompanied by strips of cucumber and chunks of feta cheese.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Turkish Breakfast
Experience

Turkish Breakfast

Turkey

A traditional Turkish breakfast is a great way to start the day; fresh bread, feta cheese, black olives, boiled eggs, cucumber, tomatoes and honey. Best accompanied by ayran, a traditional, salty yoghurt drink.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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