Guide
Turkish food glossary
What's gözleme? What's the difference between Adana and shish? A plain-English guide to the dishes on our catering menu.
Quick answer: Turkish catering menus use dish names like gözleme (filled flatbread), menemen (tomato scrambled eggs), Adana kebab (spiced minced-meat skewer), köfte (meatballs), mantı (dumplings), baklava and künefe (syrup-soaked desserts). Definitions for each are below.
Last updated · Cappa Catering, Darlinghurst
- Gözleme
- A thin hand-rolled Turkish flatbread folded around a filling such as spinach and feta, minced lamb, or chicken and mushroom, then cooked on a griddle.
- Menemen
- Turkish scrambled eggs cooked with tomatoes, green peppers and spices, served in a pan with bread.
- Çılbır
- Poached eggs on garlic yoghurt, finished with chilli butter.
- Kuymak
- A Black Sea dish of melted cheese stirred into cornmeal and butter, eaten with bread.
- Simit
- A ring-shaped Turkish bread crusted with sesame seeds, similar to a bagel; a breakfast staple.
- Sucuk
- A dry, spiced Turkish beef sausage, often grilled or fried with eggs at breakfast.
- Pastırma
- Air-dried, cured beef coated in a spice paste called çemen.
- Kahvaltı
- The Turkish word for breakfast; a spread of cheeses, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, honey, jams, eggs and bread.
- Mezze
- A selection of small dishes such as dips, salads and pickles, shared at the start of a meal.
- Haydari
- A thick strained-yoghurt dip with garlic, dill and mint.
- Babaganoush
- A dip of smoky roasted eggplant blended with tahini, garlic and lemon.
- Ezme
- A spicy dip or salad of finely chopped tomato, pepper, onion, parsley and pomegranate molasses.
- Adana kebab
- A hand-minced lamb or beef kebab spiced with red pepper, grilled on a wide skewer over charcoal; named after the city of Adana.
- Shish kebab
- Cubes of marinated lamb or chicken threaded on a skewer and grilled.
- Köfte
- Turkish meatballs or patties of seasoned minced meat, usually grilled.
- Ali Nazik
- Grilled meat served on a bed of smoky eggplant puréed with garlic yoghurt.
- Yağlama
- A layered dish of thin flatbreads with spiced minced meat and yoghurt, from Kayseri in central Turkey.
- Mantı
- Small Turkish dumplings filled with spiced meat, served with garlic yoghurt and chilli butter.
- Pide
- Turkish flatbread, also a boat-shaped baked bread with toppings.
- Börek
- Savoury pastry made from thin yufka layers filled with cheese, spinach or meat.
- Baklava
- Layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts (often pistachio) and soaked in syrup.
- Künefe
- A hot dessert of shredded kadayıf pastry around melted cheese, soaked in syrup and topped with pistachio.
- Trileçe
- A milk-soaked sponge cake topped with caramel, similar to tres leches.
- Sütlaç
- Turkish rice pudding, often baked to a browned top.
- Ayran
- A cold, salted yoghurt drink served with grilled meats.
- Turkish tea (çay)
- Black tea brewed in a double teapot and served in small tulip-shaped glasses.
- Ottoman sherbet (şerbet)
- A chilled sweet drink flavoured with fruit and spices, dating back to Ottoman palace kitchens.
- Halal
- Food prepared in accordance with Islamic dietary law.
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