Veggie Guide to Turkey

Turkish cuisine is often mistaken as a meat based cuisine that is comprised of kebabs, doner sandwiches, and couscous eaten with stuffings made of beef or lamb. While there are a great many meat-based items, there are many more without it. In fact, most dishes are made with a vegetarian base, the meat being an additive in the last stage of cooking or served on the side. Turkish food is flavourful, spice-enriched and offers an exploration of the various possible tastes and textures. Most dishes come with a colourful assortment of sauces on the side that complement and enhance the main flavours.

Our plan to visit Turkey materialized in October 2015, but a month prior to that I was frantically researching the foods and flavours that I could experience while in Turkey. This was not my first visit to Turkey. As a child, I had traveled to Istanbul with my family in the mid-70s but had faint memories of that trip. This time, I did not want to miss out on what I believed was the most fabulous vegetarian food of the middle east.

In an unfamiliar place, the first three sentences that I commit to in the local tongue are the customary greetings, saying thanks and asking for vegetarian foods. I also usually take print of the last, just in case my pronunciation is way off (learnt from my struggle with Cantonese). In Turkey, it is acceptable to state that you prefer "no meat" (Turkish word : Etsiz – which means no meat). If you wish to make a little more conversation you can say : Ben bir vejetaryen - I am vegetarian. In a buffet, which is usually the case at restaurants you can ask : Et var mı - Is there meat or Etsiz yemek var mı - Is there food without meat?

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The Breads :

1. Gözleme : The equivalent of a “pancake” but hand-rolled and griddle cooked like a flat bread, the gozleme comes in variations stuffed with cheese, spinach or potato.

2. Simit : The omnipresent street food sold fro carts, its a twisted bread or a ring of bread covered in sesame seed that tastes best when freshly made with a hot beverage on the side. It becomes pretty hard to chew, if a few hours old.

3. Börek : A type of flaky pastry stuffed with vegetables and cheese.

4. Pide : Akin to a pizza bereft of tomato sauce, with cheese and an assortment of toppings served with a sprinkle of fragrant pul biber (red pepper). Ask for a Sebzeli pide for vegetarian toppings.

5. Lahmacun : Another pizza like bread eaten as rolls made with a thin and crispy bread. Most often the filling has spice laced ground meat, but a few vendors have vegetarian ones (you have to ask - Et var mı).

6. Kasharlı Tost : This is the classic kiosk fare of a grilled cheese toast.

7. Sigara Böregi : These are usually found in the breakfast platters (kahvaltı) and are fried breads shaped like cigars, with a filling of cheese.

8. Acma: Turkish styled soft bagel

The Mains :

1. Zeytinyaglı Enginar : Anywhere in the middle east "zeytun" refers to olives. This dish consists of the bottom of an artichoke (enginar), filled with vegetables and flavoured with olive oil, served cold. You can also try other vegetables flavoured with olive oil such as zeytinyaglı fasulye (green beans), zeytinyaglı barbunya (kidney beans), zeytinyaglı ıspanak (spinach) and zeytinyaglı bamya (okra).

2. Dolma : The classic stuffed wine leaves, this dish though vegetarian, when served hot its accompanied by meat. The safe bet is to ask for a cold dolma which is usually stuffed with zucchini, peppers and eggplant with pine nuts.

3. Bakla : This is very similar to the hummus and a widely available appetizer.

4. Çig Kofte : Often mistaken for spicy meatballs sold in lettuce wraps, these were originally made with raw meat. But after the government banned vending of raw meats, it is made with a mince of bulgur wheat, spices, herbs, shredded onion, pepper and tomato paste, kneaded together into a half moon shaped patty.

5. Saksuka : Sounds like the Greek Shakshuka but is bereft of eggs. It is made of cubed aubergine, zucchini (or potatoes) sautéed in a tomato-and-garlic sauce.

6. Menemen (Has Eggs): More like a scrambled spanish omelette, its a baked egg casserole with vegetables like onion, tomato, and green pepper that is served alongside the breads at the breakfast table.

7. Mercimek Corba or Ezo Gelin: These are versions of lentil soup made with tomato, garlic and onion and other combinations. However, in Turkey it is a practice use meat stock for soups, so you may want to make sure it is not made with meat stock.

8. Nohut or Kuru fasuliye : This is chickpeas or beans cooked in a tomato sauce to go with pilaf.

9. Peruhi : This a type of Turkish white pasta, with a stuffing of cheese and mint, cooked in milk and olive oil.

The Dips :

1. Acılı Ezme : This is a spicy salsa made of diced tomato, red pepper, garlic and parsley.

2. Cacik : Similar to a thick greek yoghurt dip or a flavoured lebne (lebanese yoghurt dip), it combines yoghurt and cucumber with a hint of mint, and garlic.

3. Patlıcan Ezmesi / Patlıcan Salatası : Similar to the Egyptian Baba Ghanoush, its a grilled eggplant puree flavoured with olive oil, vinegar and garlic. But there are many variants of this some with added tomato and parsley.

4. Muhammara : This is a favourite that combines walnuts and spicy peppers into a flavourful dip.

The Salads :

1. Kısır: This is the equivalent of the middle eastern Cous Cous - a crunchy herbed bulgur salad with onions, peppers and tomatoes.

2. Çoban Salatası : Simply a shepherd’s salad, it combines roughly cubed cucumber, tomatoes, green peppers, onions and parsley, with a lemon and olive oil dressing.

3. Gavurdag salatsi : A nice vegetable salad topped with Walnut and pomegranate molasses.

The Desserts :

1. Kaymak : A sweet dollop of honey flavoured clotted cream usually served at breakfast.

2. Lokum : The sweet cubes of cooked glutinous flour with nuts and dry fruits known better as the Turkish delight often consumed with Tea or Coffee.

3. Dondurma : The Turkish ice cream made of whipped cream, sugar, salep (extract from orchid tubers) and mastic (pine gum) often served with a variety of seasonal fruits, nuts and toppings.

4. Baklava : Famous around the world, a puff pastry layered with chopped pistachio filling, drenched in flavourful sweet syrup (made of sugar or honey). This delectable flaky sweet is crunchy yet melts in the mouth.

5. Sultac : This is traditional rice pudding flavoured with vanilla served with pistachios.

6. Kunefe : I have loved kunefe since I was a kid and never could enough of this delicate pastry made of layers of baked crisp stringy semolina with intermittent layers of cheese/custard and drenched in honey or sugar syrup.

7. Kadayif : This is like a cake version of Kunefe, made of semolina, stuffed with pistachios.

8. Katmer : Another fried pastry, stuffed with cheese drenched in sugar syrup topped with pistachios.

9. Cezerye : A dessert made of carrots combined with pistachios, walnuts or hazelnuts both soft and crunchy at the same time.

The Drinks:

1. Ayran : This is a form of frothy buttermilk served with salt and a hint of cumin, which is soothing to both the palate and the stomach.

2. Sahlep : Another frothy but sweet drink made of milk, gently flavored with orange blossom water usually sold by street vendors from carts.

3. Turk Kahvesi : Turkish Coffee is prepared from beans of Arabica, in special copper pot called a cezve, combining one cup of water with two teaspoons of coffee powder. Usually made with sugar in the pot, it is served searing hot with the coffee foam.

4. Cay : Turkish Tea is a black tea brewed in a caydanlik or two-tier pot served in small tulip shaped glasses with sugar on the side.

5. Apple tea : These seems to be touristy off shoot of the traditionally brewed floral and fruit teas. This comes as a sugary premix powder to which you had hot water.

6. Raki : This is strong alcohol or arack, a pungent but clear brandy flavored with anise that turns white when you add ice. Nicknamed Aslan Sutu (Lion's milk), for the unfamiliar this drink can feel like a burning hole in the gut .

7. Turkish Beer : While Efes Pilsen is the best selling Turkish beer, other international beers and more recently craft beers are popular.

The Streetfare :

1. Mısır : Every street corner in Istanbul has a cart selling boiled and baked corn with salt.

2. Kestane : Roasted chestnuts

3. Mucver (Has Eggs) : A yummy Zucchini fritter made of courgettes combined with feta cheese, mint and dil, dipped in an egg batter to fry.

4. Kumpir : Sold in Sultanahmet, it is a baked potato filled with couscous, corn, tomatoes, olives, mayo and topped with an assortment of seasonings and sauces. It is a one pot meal in itself and extremely satisfying.

References: http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN,99117/turkish-vegetarian-cooking.html