Turkish Taffy was only the beginning....
Of my love affair with Turkish food.
I had no idea what to expect when we arrived in Turkey. I knew halva, Turkish taffy (ha) and dried apricots. Maybe if pressed, I would have included meze, but not really knowing anything except they were something like tapas served at the beginning of a meal. So here is a primer of Turkish food.
Breakfast
A feast of cheeses (always at least three or four kinds from soft to hard), some plain, some in olive oil, some spiced.
No meats, thankfully.
Olives, black ones in oil that are delicious and this coming from someone who never would eat black olives. But then again, I never ate any olives until I had olives in the Alentejo in Spain. Sometimes green olives too.
Tomatoes, many times peeled but not always. I had no idea that Turkey is well known for their delicious tomatoes.
Cucumbers, again a bit different than ours, much crunchier and way less water and seeds.
Toast, simple breads, not much variety.
Hummus and cheese spreads and tzadiki, yes for breakfast.
Honey and honeycomb, they eat a lot of honey, including ones with pine or thyme.
Pomegranate molasses is delicious on crepe like pancakes. They put out a bowl next to a bowl of tahini and you mix the together for a sweet/savory taste combination.
Wherever you go, the exact same breakfast is served every day. Good thing we change accommodations every few days, as that is the only variety.
Lunch
We don't really eat lunch but I am pretty sure it is either just like breakfast, just like dinner or some combination, except where you can get a fresh grilled or fried fish sandwich on a boat.
Dinner
In the city, dinner can be anything with menus heavy with fish, seafood and lamb. In the country, like in Sogut, there are usually no menus at all. You arrive for dinner and pick your table, choosing the one closest to the water always, even if it is cool and the wind is blowing. You never sit inside and actually many places have no inside.
Then you go into the restaurant to the display case. There you look at all of the Mezes in large rectangular glass baking dishes. If your waiter speaks English, he can tell you what they are. If not, you just point to two or three and gesture for a small portion.
Then, in the same case or next to it, you look at all the fish. You pick the one you want, you say 'grilled', it gets weighed and sent to the chef. You sit down and watch the sea and the sunset until your delicious meal arrives.
After you eat, the check comes and each night it is a surprise. Why? Because if there are no menus, there are no prices. It is a matter of trust. Sometimes your 600 grams of fish is 20TL and sometimes it is 50TL. I am pretty sure they all pay more or less the same for the fish, which by the way are sold and delivered to each restaurant fresh daily on a motor scooter
but the price must be set based on ambience and service level, as we can't really see any other differences. Except maybe napkins. Throughout this entire country, I think we have had cloth napkins exactly once, at Nar in Istanbul. Most places give you none (like cafes) or a diner dispenser on the table. Usually if your fish is 50TL, you will get a real 7" square paper napkin.
Tea - everyone drinks tea, all the time, only in small hourglass shaped glass cups with saucers and sugar cubes. 
Men gather at tea houses and sit outside at rickety tables for hours over cups of tea. They sit in squares playing backgammon with no cups and tiny dice for hours drinking tea. Tea is delivered to workers, like when we went to the post office in Bozburun and the waiter from the cafe in the square came and took the dirty tea cups from the staff and brought fresh cups of tea. We have seen tea delivered to shopkeepers in Istanbul. And we have been offered free tea when shopping and buying gas. It is the beverage of choice in this culture.
Coffee - well.....let's just say I rarely see what I know as Turkish coffee and they seem to love Nescafé ( this is sold as single serving freeze dried packets, 2 in 1 which is single serving with coffeemate and 3 in 1, which is single serving with coffee mate and sugar). You can also get cappuccino and espresso, but it ain't like France.
Snacks
Dried fruit - this is the land of fig trees and everyone has a tree. When the figs are ripe, they pick them and lay them out in the sun in open crates to 'dry'. They are moist and sweet and delicious. They look nothing like the bags of dried figs we can buy. And yes, they definitely give you the runs if you eat too many. The wonderful dried apricots only give you gas.
Nuts
Another vital part of the diet. Who knew that Turkey grew tons of hazelnuts or that in the city they roast them and sell them by the 100 grams like we do chestnuts in the winter. I am not a fan of walnuts, but here I have had the biggest best walnuts ever. They are so big that only two fit your whole palm, and that is out of the shell.
Fruit
Pomegranates galore. I have not seen these often eaten as fruit but they make fresh squeezed Pomegranate juice everywhere. In Istanbul, there is a juice cart vendor every block with fresh squeezed juice!
Grapes are grown for eating and wine. They should stick to the eating grapes, they are the good ones.
Alcohol
There is alcohol everywhere. Beer is popular but Raki is the local spirits. Something like Ouzo, with an anise base, but not as viscous and not as sweet and NOT as smooth. You pour a bit in a glass, then cut it with water, plunk in a few ice cubes, and it is drinkable. Steve is sticking to beer, I have retreated to sparkling water. Even Pastis is better.
Candy
The confection shops in Istanbul are beautiful. Cases of halva and Turkish delight, those small jelly cubes dusted with powdered sugar - Steve cannot help but eat the whole bag.
And fig donar. We think of donar as meat on a spit but somehow they take dried figs and press them into the same shape, incorporate pistachios and other flavored bit of fruits, stick it on a spit and slice it off for tastings.
Turkey is truly a land of wonderful, simple cuisine. I guess I would eventually get tired of grilled fish and octopus, figs and goat cheese, but I would never get tired of the surprises restaurants give you.
Road Stop Restaurants
Today as we were driving our longest haul, from Sogut to Izmir, 4 1/2 hours, we were going through Cine (chi-nay) when lunch beckoned. The main road through was lined with what looked like drive-in restaurants. Upon closer inspection, as we whizzed by, I swore they were car washes but Steve said no. As we passed Mehmet Zengin'in the temptation was too great so we did a UB and pulled in. 
Mehmet spoke Turkish and fluent French and pretty good English too, here in the middle of nowhere. Again, no menu, no prices, just c'mon in and look in our case. They had sausage and kabobs and chicken and Steve said yes to all along with my salad.
Out came a feast along with heaps of freshly grilled sesame pita and........a free car wash! Apparently, unique to Cine, all the roadside restaurants wash your car while you eat. They scrub it, dry it and do the windows, completely gratis just so you come in to eat.
Our lunch of one huge order of super mix, salad, water, two Coke Zeros, bottles of water, tea and a car wash......32TL ($15) plus tip! So in addition to the food being delicious, you could afford to eat here forever.
So now, when you see me at home, you will completely understand where that extra ten pounds came from. I may not eat turkey, but I love to eat in Turkey.
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