Turkish cuisine varies across the country. The cooking of Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, and rest of the Asia Minor region inherits many elements of Ottoman court cuisine, with a lighter use of spices, a preference for rice over bulgur, koftes and a wider availability of vegetable stews (türlü), eggplant, stuffed dolmas, and fish. The cuisine of the Black Sea Region uses fish extensively, especially the Black Sea anchovy (hamsi), and includes maize dishes. The cuisine of the southeast is famous for its variety of kebabs, mezes and dough-based desserts such as baklava, şöbiyet, kadayıf, and künefe.
Especially in the western parts of Turkey, where olive trees grow abundantly, olive oil is the major type of oil used for cooking. The cuisines the Agean, Marmara, and Mediterranean regions are rich in vegetables, herbs, and fresh fish. Central Anatolia has many famous specialties, such as keşkek, mantı (especially from Kayseri), and gözleme. Food names directly cognate with mantı are found also in Chinese (or mantou or steamed bun) and Korean cuisine (mandu) In fact, the origin of Turkish mantı comes from Chinese mantou. Although meat-based foods such as kebabs are the mainstay in Turkish cuisine as presented in foreign countries, native Turkish meals largely center around rice, vegetables, and bread.
At the heart of Turkish cuisine are the barbecued meats and kabobs that hail all the way back to the roots of a culture that emigrated out of Central Asia as nomads. As the imperial home of the Ottoman Empire many different influences have built on top of this cultural core, and today Turkey is bordered by six different countries and its delicious cuisine reflects an influence of all of them.
Breakfast
Turks usually prefer a rich breakfast. A typical Turkish breakfast consists of cheese (beyaz peynir, kaşar), butter, olives, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, jam, honey, and kaymak, sucuk (a spicy Turkish food similar to sausages), pastırma, börek, simit, poğaça, and soups are eaten as a morning meal in Turkey. A specialty for breakfast is called menemen, which is prepared with tomatoes, green peppers, onion, olive oil, and eggs. Invariably, Turkish tea 
is served at breakfast. The Turkish word for breakfast, kahvaltı, means “before coffee”.
Restaurants
Although fast food is gaining popularity and many major foreign fast-food chains have opened all over Turkey, Turkish people still rely primarily on the rich and extensive dishes of Turkish cuisine. In addition, some traditional Turkish foods, especially köfte, döner, kokoreç, kumpir, midye tava, börek and gözleme, are often served as fast food in Turkey. Eating out has always been common in large commercial cities. Esnaf lokantası (meaning restaurants for shopkeepers and tradesmen) are widespread, serving traditional Turkish home cooking at affordable prices.
Istanbul, Turkey (September 2019)
