Turkish Traditional Breakfast
Bread, simit
Sliced cucumber & tomato
Homemade fruit jams
feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and other cheeses
All sorts of different types of eggs
Clotted Cream in Honey which you spread on your bread and is usually eaten as the last part of the breakfast or your last precious bite.
Street Foods
Cig Kofte - it is closely related to kibbeh nayyeh from Lebanese cuisine. It used to be raw meat with spices then wrapped in lettuce but because Turkey wants to join the EU the EU told the Turkish government to not allow vendors or restaurants to sell raw meat which is so ironic because a lot of European countries serve raw meat like beef tartar. Thus, all Cig Kofte you find in Istanbul is vegetarian.
Stuffed mussels - after washing the uncooked mussels, the chef would crack open the shell but keep the end attached stuff uncooked rice into the shell then close the shell. Drop the stuffed mussels into boiling water to be cooked, as the rice is being cooked, the starch will re-sill the shell so when the vendor is selling you the mussels, he/she has to crack it open again. When serving you, he will squeeze the lemon juice on it which makes the whole dish. When you go to these stuffed mussels vendors, you don’t tell them how much you want to eat, you just tell him to start, and then he will stop cracking open the mussels when you are full & satisfied and tell him to stop. No need to worry whether it is fresh or not because no matter what, it will be spoiled at the end of the day and not edible for the next day.
Stuffed Mussels.
Roasted Chestnuts in the winters, Roasted Corn in its season
Balik Durum (Fish sandwich/burrito) - grilled Mackerel fish, onions, tomato, lettuce, and pomegranate sauce then wrapped in flour tortilla-like flatbread then coat the wrap with more pomegranate sauce while being grilled more on both sides to make the sandwich more crispy.
*Pomegranate sauce - salads, on fish kebab
Doner Kebab
KABAK TATLISI “Pumpkin dessert” - made from pumpkin that’s candied in a simple sugar syrup, and then garnished with tahini sauce and walnuts. Peel the pumpkin skin then cut the pumpkin into the size and shape you want. Boil it with simple syrup and water until it is soft. When served, drizzle tahini sauce and sprinkle walnuts on top.
Ayva tatlısı “quince dessert” - Seasonal dessert in the winter. Remove the skin of the quince fruit, and boil it with simple syrup, water, and the seed of the quince until it is soft. The fruit turns pink because the seed gives the pink color when it is boiled. When it is served, you put a scoop of clotted cheese on top to balance out the sweetness of the fruit.