Türkiye

Türkiye spans two continents: Thrace, its small European part, and Anatolia, the large peninsula in Asia. Its cuisine draws on both, from the meze and grilled fish of the coasts to the kebabs and breads of the interior, with tea and Turkish coffee everywhere in between.

The experiences in this guide are in Istanbul, the country’s largest city, on both banks of the Bosphorus. Four operators run food tours there. Two price in euros, 80 to 85.99 euros per person: Free Istanbul Tours, which crosses between the continents by ferry, and Secret Food Tours in Kadıköy. Two price in US dollars: Yummy Istanbul and Culinary Backstreets. None of them publishes a price in Turkish lira, the national currency.

Getting around

Istanbul has two international airports, Istanbul Airport on the European side and Sabiha Gökçen on the Asian side. Ankara, the capital, is linked to Istanbul by high-speed train.

Two shores, one ferry ride

The Bosphorus is only about 500 metres wide in places, and GoTürkiye, the national tourism board, notes that a local ferry from the harbour reaches the other continent in a few minutes. Some 360 Ottoman-era waterside mansions, the yalı, still stand on its banks. On the Asian side, Kadıköy is a short ferry ride from the historic sights, its streets around the ferry port lined with coffee shops, bars and casual restaurants, with the Moda neighbourhood to the south.

Markets of the old city

Between the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar lies Eminönü, which the tourism board calls the crossroads of commerce: a maze of alleys where the old city's last working markets sell everything from fish to furniture.

How Türkiye eats through the day

• Kahvaltı, the Turkish breakfast, takes its name from two words meaning "before coffee". It is a spread of small dishes rather than a single plate: cheeses, olives, eggs, tomatoes and cucumbers, bread, pastries, honey and jams, with black tea in tulip-shaped glasses refilled throughout.
• A lokanta serves quick, hearty home-style dishes for lunch, in many parts of Istanbul.
• Turkish coffee is brewed from powder-fine grounds in a cezve, a small long-handled pot, served in a fincan with a glass of water taken first and a piece of lokum. Reading the grounds left in the cup, tasseography, often follows.