Why do you live in Turkiye?

 

I often get asked this by curious Turks, bemused to see a Westerner poking around their village interviewing them about their local food,

 

But I must confess I was not always so excited about Turkish food. When my husband-to-be first enthused about the culinary delights of Turkiye, my first thought was: Really?!?

 

All that changed with my first trip to Turkiye. It didn’t take long to realise he was right. Real Turkish food bore little resemblance to the greasy doner kebabs joints of the West.

 

The richness of Anatolian cuisine, steeped in history and proud tradition is truly breathtaking.  Every region boasts their own food culture, often little known elsewhere even in within Turkey. So travelling Turkiye can be a sort of culinary treasure hunt.

 

Here I want to share with you some of the staples of Turkish home cooking, as well as some of the regional delights that make Turkiye’s cuisine so unique.