Turkish kitchen is recognized as one of the richest and versatile cuisines in the world. Ottoman Empire kitchen has successfully mastered best traditions of the Asian, European, Caucasian, Balcan, Mediterranean cuisines.

Turkish kitchen is mainly based on meat (mostly mutton), rice, olive oil, olives, eggplant, tomato, paprika, onion, lentil, bulgur, yogurt, white cheese (aka Beyaz peynir) etc.  Their most popular meat dish is Kebab, which varies a lot, like there are: Adana Kebab, Islim Kebab, Donner Kebab, Shish Kebab, etc. Usually, Turks prepare meat together with vegetables. For instance, they have an eggplant or paprika meal with minced meat filling; meatballs stewed with potatoes and paprika (Kofte) etc. They also love soups (Chorba), especially red lentil soup, yogurt soup, etc.

Fish and seafood meals are common in Turkey as the country is surrounded by four seas.  

It's impossible to avoid mentioning Turkish delights, like Baklava, Kadayif, Halva, Rahat locum, Sultac, etc. Desserts in Turkey are always made with dried fruits and nuts, like fig, apricot, date, raisin, hazelnut, walnut, pistachio, almond, peanut, cashew, etc.

Tea and coffee are major refreshments of the everyday Turkish life. Tasty and fragrant tea is consumed in special thin waist glasses, while aromatic coffee is made in copper Jezve.  Ayran - a popular Turkish beverage is made of yogurt and is a perfect thirst killer. Raki is a local most popular alcoholic beverage – vodka made of anise, which can be consumed with mixing water as well.

Versatility and ideal taste of the Turkish kitchen is partially a merit of spices as the local cooks never economy on cumin, pepper, savory, sumac, clove, cinnamon, saffron, basil, etc.