Abi VS. Food: Turkey Edition

If you don’t know by now, when I travel I love to try a cultural dish or two. Turkey have a lot of traditional dishes to choose from. During my time in Cappadocia I indulged in all of the Turkish goodness. Here are some of the foods that I tried and I encourage you to try them and others!

(click on images to enlarge)

sac tava

Sac Tava , meaning convex pan, is a Turkish dish of different kinds of meat (I had beef) that comes sizzling on on a pan. The pan was very shallow so the meat is as much as it seems like. This dish was amazing from @Turkishraviolirestaurant

Price: 40 TL ($8)

Turkish pizza

Pide is Turkey’s take on pizza. it is very similar except its more of a french baguette choices of your own meats, vegetables, and cheese. I tried a chicken and mushroom pide, it was good, it tastes more like chicken and mushroom on a bread than a pizza. Nonetheless it was a win from Cappadocia Pide House.

Price: 15 TL ($3)

Street Food

The street food, which is food from a stand on the street, I was not a fan of. The Ayran drink was plain yogurt. The Turkish people indulge as if it’s water. I am not a fan of yogurt, especially if it is plain. It was a no for me. Next I tried some spicy soda called Salgam Suyu. I figured it wouldn’t be so bad. It was highly disgusting. It is beet/ carrot jucie and you can get it carbonated or not, either way it was gross. I gave the rest to a local back at my hotel and he was ecstatic. Lastly I tried Kokoreç , which is a sandwich filled with lamb intestine. I am an abventurous eater so this didn’t seem like anything far fetched. It was okay not nasty, but not like delightful taste. I think my sandwich was overpowered by the seasoning used. This is the only out of the three that I would give a second chance.

Price:

Salgam Suyu 5 TL (96 cents)

Ayran 1 TL (19 cents)

Kokoreç 15 TL (3 cents)

Sweets

I absolutely loveeee pastries of any kind. I’ve always had baklava never knowing it’s origin. I found out it was a Turkish dish (Greeks may argue this). It is a flaky layered pastry with, sweet chopped nuts that can range from cashews to pistachios. I was experimental with other desserts, sorry I didn’t know the names. I bought many of the pastries I had when I went into the town of Kayseri. The people don’t speak much English if any, I had to point and use hand gestures. Everything was cheaper when I went into Kayseri compared to Goreme.

Baklava

Kayseri Price: 25 TL ($5) for 1 kilo, about 16 piece pieces

Goreme Price: 25 TL ($5) for 4 pieces

(When I was in Barcelona one piece was 3 euros)

Pottery kebab

This was on the top of my list for Turkish “must try” dish. I was enthused and excited by the fiyahhhhh. This time I had beef mmm, I can still remember the tenderness. Some restaurants bring it out still flaming and some don’t/ Cooking in pottery and pottery in general is a Turkish traditional and I love it. It keeps the meat tender. This restaurant was called @OldCappadociaRestaurant.

Price: 40 Lira ($8) price varies on meat

Yunak Evleri

During my red tour, we stopped for lunch that was included. We had a scrumptious meal. We started with a light soup, then an appetizer of a cheese roll that was really good. For my entree I had lamb that was cooked in clay pot and OMG I think this is one of the best techniques to cook meat. The lamb was so tender and flavorful. This restaurant was great with exceptional service as well. See my Yelp review here.

Price: Included with Red Tour booked with Mithra Cave Hotel

Apple tea

If you watched my Turkey AbVenture (Abi + adventure) on my Instagram story (or highlights) you would notice my sudden love for apple tea. It is a Turkish touristic thing to be offered tea by a local. This was my first time ever having this kind of tea. I had my first cup on arrival and never turned down a cup after. I also tried Turkish coffee and it literally tasted like dirt (no offense), I mentioned this to a local and his response was “yea we know people may not like it that’s why we offer you guys apple tea”. =)

Price: FREE and unlimited with a local