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.

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.

National specialities:
• Meze (starters brought to your table on trays or chosen from glass-fronted refrigerators).
• Shish kebab (pieces of meat threaded on a skewer and grilled).
• Doner kebab (pieces of lamb packed tightly round a revolving spit).
• Dolma (vine leaves or vegetables stuffed with pine nuts and currants).
• Turkish Delight (originally made from dates, honey, roses and jasmine bound by Arabic gum and designed to sweeten the breath after coffee).

Pide is a staple Turkish food and you'll find it all over the country. In touristy areas it's advertised as Turkish Pizza but that doesn't really do it justice. Pide is a long thin banana shaped bread, rolled with some skill from a small ball of dough. The bread is then covered with the topping of your choice and slammed into a large, solid fuel burning oven for about 10 minutes. The resulting pide is sliced up and served piping hot. The most common toppings are listed below. A normal sized pide should cost about £2.

Kasarli(kasharla) - a simple, yellow cheese topping, vegetarians can usually get tomatoes and green peppers added to this if they ask nicely.

Kiymali(kimarla) - lightly spiced mince lamb and tomato topping

Sucuklu(sujuklu} - slices of spicy Turkish sausage

Yumurtlu - egg, usually with a little cheese to keep it company

Karasik(karashuk} - all of the above in unpredictable proportions and scattered at random over the surface of the bready treat.

Kusbasili(kushbashala} - literally, birds heads, in reality small chunks of lamb in a spicy tomato type context

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.
• Ayran (a refreshing yoghurt drink).
• Tea.
• Strong black Turkish coffee.
• Turkish beer, red and white wines.

Legal drinking age: 18.

Turkish coffee tradition & coffee houses
Coffee has always played an essential part in Turkish lifestyle and culture ever since the Ottoman Empire. Although apparently you may find coffee everywhere in the world, its taste in Turkey is authentic.
Serving coffee has been a tradition here for ages, acquiring social, political and cultural values for the consumers, becoming a ritual that people cannot forget or give up, but only improve.
The history of Turkish coffee originates in the 16th century when coffee has been brought to Istanbul by the Syrian traders and it was only consumed by a small number of people, namely intellectuals. The fascinating drink gradually conquered the hearts of the Ottoman rulers during the next centuries and became part of all the major ceremonies. Coffee rituals involved the preparing and the drinking of the magical beverage and future wives were judged by their future husbands depending on their skills to prepare coffee.
Many political and social discussions used to take place around a cup of coffee. People socialized with each other over coffee, biscuits and sweets and a number of coffee houses were founded to satisfy men’s needs for political conversation, social interaction and backgammon games.
Even today, coffee houses are places to meet and talk being very popular with Turks and their foreign guests. According to their opinion, the best Turkish coffee may be found in Istanbul café-restaurants.
There are thousands of coffee houses in Turkey, usually divided into old and new style. The old ones stick to all the traditional rules of serving coffee while the new ones are modern places to go out with friends.
Let’s make a short insight into the secrets of Turkish coffee, so much praised by coffee addicts. It derives from the Arabica beans and cardamom spice is added to the beans during grounding. As to the sweetness, Turkish coffee has several levels of sweetness ranging from very sweet to bitter black. The majority of Turks drink coffee with no sugar that is why spoons are usually not needed when coffee is served.
According to the rule, the foam is compulsory on the face of the beverage and the coffee is served from a special pot called “cezve”. Though served with less ceremony today, Turkish coffee is still top of the list when it comes to Turkish cultural attractions, due to its rich tradition, good favors and recognition.
Turkish coffee has always been an important cultural means to unite people. That is why the Turks usually say: “a cup of coffee with someone may guarantee years of friendship”.
Do not hesitate to discover the power of Turkish coffee right here, in Turkey, the land of beauty and flavors.

Tipping: A service charge is included in hotel and restaurant bills. It is customary to leave a small tip (10 to 12%) for barbers, hairdressers and waiters