Turkish cuisine is the cuisine of Turkey and the Turkish diaspora. The cuisine took its current form after numerous cultural interactions throughout centuries, descending from earlier stages of Turkish cuisine, Ottoman cuisine and Seljuk cuisine. Turkish cuisine with traditional Turkic elements such as yogurt, ayran, kaymak, exerts and gains influences to and from Mediterranean, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Eastern European cuisines.
Tzatziki, also known as cacık or tarator, is a class of dip, soup, or sauce found in the cuisines of Southeastern Europe and West Asia. It is made of salted strained yogurt or diluted yogurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, red wine vinegar, sometimes with lemon juice, and herbs such as dill, mint, parsley and thyme. It is served as a cold appetiser (meze), a side dish, and as a sauce for souvlaki and gyros sandwiches and other foods.
Shashlik, or shashlyck, is a dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat, similar to or synonymous with shish kebab. It is known traditionally by various other names in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and from the 19th century became popular as shashlik across much of the Russian Empire and nowadays in former Soviet Union republics.
Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray, or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. It is usually made with ground beef, although ground lamb, pork, veal, venison, poultry, and seafood are also used, sometimes in combination. Vegetarian adaptations of meatloaf may use imitation meat or pulses.
Kebab, kebap, kabob, kebob, or (Kashmiri) kabab, is a variety of roasted meat dishes that originated in the Middle East.
Ćevapi or ćevapčići is a grilled dish of minced meat found traditionally in the countries of southeast Europe. It is considered a national dish of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, with Bosnia and Herzegovina taking steps in branding and placing them on the list of intangible heritage, with a nomination for inclusion on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Ćevapi are also common in Albania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Western Romania.
Iraqi cuisine is a Middle Eastern cuisine that has its origins in the ancient Near East culture of the fertile crescent. Tablets found in ancient ruins in Iraq show recipes prepared in the temples during religious festivals—the first cookbooks in the world. Ancient Iraq's cultural sophistication extended to the culinary arts.
Kofta is a family of meatball or meatloaf dishes found in South Asian, Central Asian, Balkan, Middle Eastern, North African, and South Caucasian cuisines. In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls of minced meat—usually beef, chicken, pork, lamb or mutton, or a mixture—mixed with spices and sometimes other ingredients. The earliest known recipes are found in early Arab cookbooks and call for ground lamb.
Seekh kebab is a type of kebab, native to the Indian subcontinent, made with Indian subcontinent spices, spiced minced or ground meat, usually lamb, beef, or chicken, formed into cylinders on skewers and grilled. It is typically cooked on a mangal or barbecue, or in a tandoor. Seekh kebabs are prepared in homes and restaurants throughout South Asia. It is a signature dish in Indian metro cities like Kolkata, Bhopal, Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow and in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Kabab koobideh is an Iranian type of kofta kabab made from ground lamb, often mixed with salt, ground black pepper and grated onions.
Shish kebab or shish kebap is a popular meal of skewered and grilled cubes of meat. It can be found in Mediterranean cuisine.
Çiğ köfte or chee kofta is a kofta dish that is a regional specialty of southeastern Anatolia in Urfa. The dish is served as an appetizer or meze, and it is closely related with kibbeh nayyeh from Levantine cuisine.
Many regional cuisines feature a mixed grill, a dish consisting of an assortment of grilled meats.
Smyrna meatballs, known as soutzoukakia Smyrneika or İzmir köfte (Turkish), is a Greek and Turkish dish of spicy oblong meatballs with cumin and garlic served in tomato sauce. This dish was brought to Greece by refugees from Asia Minor.
A meatball is ground meat (mince) rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many types of meatballs using different types of meats and spices. The term is sometimes extended to meatless versions based on legumes, vegetables, mushrooms, fish or other seafood.
Lula kebab is a type of kebab cooked on skewers. It is made from minced meat. It is a specialty of Armenian, Azerbaijani, and other cuisines of countries in South Caucasus, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
Burdur şiş, which is popular in and around Burdur, Turkey, is a type of kebab or köfte dish in Turkish cuisine. It is made differently than şiş köfte, as it does not contain any spice or herbs except salt and it is always eaten with a special type of pide. Burdur şiş obtained geographical indication from the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office in 2010.
