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Recipes

Amber spice drink topped with crushed walnuts in a tulip-shaped glass
Adana style

Adana-Style Herb Tea

A warm spice infusion with galangal, ginger, cinnamon and cloves, topped with walnuts. In Adana, kaynar is associated with visits celebrating a new baby. That cultural association does not establish a medical or lactation benefit; this is a culinary serving recipe.

Grilled minced-meat kebabs on flatbread with charred tomato, green pepper and sumac onions
Adana style

Adana-Style Lamb Skewers

Hand-chopped lamb and tail fat grilled on flat skewers, with warm flatbread, charred vegetables and sumac onions.

Lamb kavurma with flatbread, raw onion and parsley.
Aksaray style

Aksaray Kavurma

Lamb cooked with sheep tail fat, seasoned with kekik and pepper, served in flatbread with onion and parsley.

Baked lamb with tomatoes, green peppers and whole garlic in a metal tray, with flatbread.
Aksaray style

Aksaray Tava

Small pieces of lamb baked with tomatoes, green peppers and whole garlic in a rich tomato and pepper sauce, served with warm lavaş.

Smooth artichoke bottoms filled with carrot, potato and peas, finished with dill
İzmir style

Artichokes in Olive Oil

Tender artichoke bottoms filled with carrot, potato and peas in lemon and olive oil.

Coarsely chopped roasted eggplant with red and green peppers, tomato and parsley
Hatay style

Baba Ganoush

Coarsely chopped charred eggplant, peppers and tomato with garlic, olive oil and lemon.

Small baked dumplings with yogurt and red pepper butter, extra garlic yogurt, and herb condiments.
Bilecik style

Baked Lentil Dumplings (Home Version)

Small, closed lentil dumplings baked first until golden, then finished in hot water. Serve with garlic yogurt and red-pepper butter, with extra yogurt and herbs on the side.

Creamy rice pudding with irregular dark golden browned patches in a shallow terracotta bowl

Baked Rice Pudding

Creamy milk-and-rice pudding with an unevenly browned top, chilled in individual oven-safe bowls.

Whole roasted sea bream with potato slices, tomato, peppers and lemon

Baked Sea Bream

Whole sea bream roasted with thin potatoes, tomato, green pepper and lemon.

Shredded beef and golden onion half-moons over Baldo rice, with chickpeas at the base of a shared platter.
Isparta style

Beef and Chickpea Rice

Layers of shredded beef, caramelized onion, rice and chickpeas, cooked in broth and turned onto a platter.

Thin browned döner slices on pide with tomato, green pepper and an onion-herb side salad

Beef Döner

Thin layers of seasoned beef and mince, chilled into a roll, sliced and quickly browned in a skillet. This is a skillet adaptation of layered döner. A restaurant spit uses a different cooking process. Slice only when the roll is firm but safely cuttable; never force a knife through a solid frozen block.

Baked anchovy shell enclosing rice with currants and pine nuts, finished with dill
Artvin style

Black Sea Anchovy Rice

Spiced rice with currants, pine nuts and dill enclosed in a browned anchovy shell.

Ivory bone-broth soup in a deep green bowl, sprinkled with dried mint and red pepper flakes.

Bone Broth Soup

Slow-simmered beef-bone broth made silky with yogurt, egg yolk and lemon, with garlic and a light dried-mint finish. This terbiyeli version turns homemade beef-bone broth into a smooth, lightly tangy soup. A terbiye is the whisked yogurt, egg-yolk and lemon mixture added gradually to the hot broth; a little flour helps it hold together.

A golden syrup-soaked bread wedge topped with white clotted cream on a blue-patterned plate.
Afyon style

Bread Pudding with Clotted Cream

A porous, golden-brown bread absorbs plain sugar syrup and is served in wedges with buffalo-milk clotted cream. The bread is baked and dried before its final stovetop cooking.

Fine reddish bulgur salad with chopped parsley, mint and spring onions in a shallow ceramic bowl

Bulgur Salad

Fine bulgur coated with tomato and pepper pastes, lemon, pomegranate molasses and fresh herbs.

Grated carrot and walnut yogurt dip in a cream oval dish.

Carrot Yogurt Dip

Soft grated carrots, garlic yogurt and walnuts make a creamy meze with a gentle sweetness.

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