Turkish cuisine is the cuisine of the Turkish people who controlled the eastern Mediterranean Sea region and the Middle East during the reign of the Ottoman Empire from the 14th century to the end of the World War I.

Turkish cuisine is well-known, especially in Europe. Frequently used ingredients in Turkish dishes include eggplant, green pepper, onion, lentil, bean, tomato, garlic, and cucumber. Grape, apricot, cherry, melon, fig, lemon, pistachio, pine nut, almond, hazelnut, watermelon, and walnut are among the most abundantly used fruits and nuts. Preferred spices and herbs are parsley, cumin, pepper, paprika, mint, and thyme.

The best flavored white cheeses and yogurt are prepared from sheep milk. Although rice, which is named as pilav (pilaf), is the essential part of many foods, bulgur (prepared from wheat) can also used for the same purpose. Especially in the western parts of Turkey, where olive trees are grown abundantly, olive oil is the major type of oil used for cooking. The bread is prepared from wheat, barley or corn. Pide (broad, round and flat kind of bread made of wheat) and tandir ekmegi (baked on the inner walls of a round oven called tandir) are some examples for authentic types of bread in Turkish cuisine.

Meats
Meats (especially shish kebabs) are usually marinated and grilled over an open fire. Although every kind of halal meat is consumed, lamb from milk-fed lambs is especially favored. A famous beef delicacy is pastirma. Iskender kebap is a relatively recently invented type of döner kebap which is usually consumed in the northwestern parts of Turkey. Döner kebap has established itself as an alternative fast food in Western Europe countries like the Netherlands, Germany and Britain. Today, döner kebab is typically served as a kind of sandwich in pita (flat bread). This type of döner kebab has been available in Istanbul since about 1960. The döner kebab with salad and sauce served in pita, which is predominant in Germany and the rest of the world, was invented in Berlin-Kreuzberg in 1971, because the original preparation was not appealing enough to the German taste. Lahmacun is the turkish variant of the Pizza.

List of the types of Kebab

• Döner Kebab
  
• Iskender kebap
• Shish Kebab

• Adana Kebab
  
• Izmir Köfte
  
• Dürüm
  
• Urfa Kebab
  
• Tavuk Shish
  

Meze
Meze is the type of food served as the appetizer course with or without drinks or sometimes as the main course and consists olives, mature kashar cheese (similar to strong cheddar cheese in flavor) or white cheese, pickles, cacik (tzatziki), köfte (meatballs), pilaki (made of bean, garlic and olive oil), dolma (grape leaves, green pepper or eggplant stuffed with rice or meat), börek (very thin phyllo dough stuffed with cheese, meat or vegetables), hummus (prepared from sesame, chickpea, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice), seafood, and several other varieties.

Dolma, just one type of the Meze

Desserts
One of the best-known desserts in Turkish cuisine is baklava. Rice and starch puddings (muhallebi, sütlaç), helva (halvah), kadayif (kataifi), revani (made of semolina and starch) are among other varieties. Kaymak (clotted cream) is often served with sweet desserts to cut through the sweetness. Tea or thick Turkish coffee (with or without sugar) is usually served after dinner or more rarely together with desserts. Lokum (or Turkish Delight, in english) is another variant of Turkish well-known desserts.

A plate with pieces of different types of baklava

Beverages
Although the majority of Turkish profess the Islamic faith, alcoholic beverages are as widely available as in Europe. However, most of the Turks restrain from alcohol during the holy month of Ramadan. There are a few local brands of lager and a variety of local wines. Raki, an alcoholic beverage flavoured with anise, is the usual tipple with meze. The other favorite beverages include ayran, boza, and turnip juice.