WHAT TO EAT & DRINK
At guest houses: Delicious cig kofte (‘raw’ meatballs) are the indispensable delicacy of the ‘Sıra geceleri’. ‘Sıra geceleri’ were once “evenings-in-turn”, traditional communal meetings hosted in turn by members of the community. Today the term refers to commercial entertainments in which guests partake in the preparation and consumption of the cig kofte served with local kebabs and side dishes, accompanied with music in an ‘authentic’ atmosphere. Cig Kofte is traditionally accompanied by green salads, which include bostana (tomato, pepper, parsley, fresh mint, purslane and onion salsa), ezme (tomato, pepper, parsley and onion salsa, almost pureed), sarımsaklı cacık (grated cucumber pieces in garlic flavoured yoghurt), and çoban salata (chopped tomato, green pepper, onion, parsley salad occasionally topped with cheese cubes or walnuts). Other accompaniments include yaprak sarma (spicy rice filled fig-leave rolls) and peynirli helva (rice-flour, butter and sugar paste flavoured with melting cheese).

Local dishes: Local delicacies include Yumurtalıköfte (bulgur, onion, parsley, dried pepper, papper paste, tomato paste, spring onions, and mashed fried eggs), Bamya (okra in a tomato-onion-pepper-based meat sauce), boranı (turnip and dried black-eyed peas in a minced-meat, onion and tomato sauce), ekşili (pennyroyal, dried chick peas, cracked wheat, tomato and pepper paste), kazan kebabı (slashed aubergines filled with a spicy minced meat mix, boiled in a spicy tomato sauce), sac kebabı (lamb cubes fried and basted over a shallow pan flavoured with tomato and green peppers), çömlek (aubergines, tomatoes, lamb cubes, green peppers, onions, garlic, and butter baked in terracotta pots), içli köfte (spicy paste of cracked wheat and bulgur, rolled into egg-shaped shells filled with a spicy minced meat mix, served fried), ağzı yumuk, fried pastry rolls filled with minced meat and walnut paste), ağzı açık (fried flat dough bits with frilly edges topped with spicy minced lamb mix), söğülme (roasted aubergines and green peppers mashed and mixed with yoghurt flavoured with garlic and red pepper), lahmacun (pizza with spicy minced lamb and tomato), patlıcan (dried aubergines filled with spicy rice and minced lamb, boiled and served hot), and acur dolması (dried Armenian cucumbers filled with spicy rice, boiled and served cold).

Kebab (Grill) dishes: Grilled kebab specialities of the region include Kıyma kebabı (spicy minced lamb pasted, grilled on a skewer and served with a green salad), patlıcanlı (spicy minced lamb meat-balls, spaced with aubergines on a skewer, grilled and served with a green salad), domatesli (spicy minced lamb meat-balls, spaced with tomatoes on a skewer, grilled and served with a green salad), kuşbaşı (marinated lamb cubes, grilled on a skewer, served with parsley over flat bread), sade kebap (minced lamb meat-balls, spaced with tomatoes on a skewer, grilled and served with a green salad, and, according to taste, dried red-peppers known as isot), soğan kebabı (spicy minced lamb meat-balls, spaced with onions on a skewer, roasted and simmered until onions are soft, served with a green salad), ciğer kebabı (lamb liver cubes on a skewer, spaced with tail-fat bits, grilled on a flame, served with sliced onion, parsley salad spiced with sumac and dried red-pepper), sakatat, offal dishes (including tripe, trotters, kidney, intestines, head, brain, tongue, spleen, testicles, heart, and liver prepared in various ways).

Desserts: Dessert choices include sıllık (two leaves of flat bread baked on a hot plate, filled with walnut paste, and dumped into syrup), zingil (fried dough dipped in syrup), sade yağlı peynirli kadayıf (two layers of shredded filo pastry filled with cottage cheese baked in clarified butter, and doused with syrup), fıstıklı kadayıf (two layers of shredded filo pastry filled with crushed pistachio nuts baked in clarified butter, and doused with syrup), cevizli baklava (layers of thin filo pastry filled with crushed walnuts, baked and doused with syrup), fıstıklı baklava (layers of thin filo pastry filled with crushed pistachio nuts, baked and doused with syrup).

Beverages: Choose local beverages such as meyanbalı (liquorice syrup), mırra (bitter coffee spiced with cardamom), menengüç kahvesi (roasted drupes of terebinth (pistacia tebinthus) ground and boiled like Turkish coffee), and çay (tea).