5 Traditional Food Suggestions That Will Still Linger in Your Mouth

Antalya is well known for its giant sun, long and clean beaches, deep blue sea, Taurus Mountains, wide avenues, historical lands dating back to many different civilizations, palm trees, orange blossoms, interrupted and grooved minarets, as well as meatballs on skewers and piyaz (a kind of white bean salad). Catching the sun for 12 months a year, this bright Mediterranean city is a quite different paradise for the taste lovers. The first delicious foods that come to minds when speaking of Antalya cuisine are meatballs on skewers, served with piyaz with tahini and eggs, and pumpkin dessert with walnut and tahini. This area, meaning Pamphylia - i.e. "the country of races" -, supported Antalya in terms of cuisine culture, as well. Being a home to many races and ethnic origins, the city has developed a rich food archive in time. The Moralis and the Cretans, relocating to the city due to immigration or any other reasons, create the Antalya cuisine by combining the herbs and vegetables, brought along by the Thessalonians, with the local repertory. Having a rich culture in traditional foods, Antalya cuisine has an extensive variety of foods, to make the taste lovers happy, such as local foods, mezzes, local soups and milk products as the product of the Yuruk culture. Here are some food advices from Antalya cuisine, which can serve as guidance for visitors of Antalya: burnt ice-cream made with goat's milk and sesame oil (tahini), aubergine and sour orange marmalade and Arabian Kataif 

Piyaz with Tahini

Antalya-style piyaz with tahini, either served with meatballs on skewers peculiar to Antalya or enjoyed alone, is such a delicious alternative that it might cause addiction. Mix boiled dried beans, finely-chopped onions, diced tomatoes, minced parsley and chopped hard-boiled egg, and pour the nut and garlic sauce, prepared with boiled and mashed dried beans, tahini, vinegar, lemon juice, pounded garlics and spices, on the mixture. Serving as a highly nutritious and delicious accompaniment, piyaz with tahini can be enjoyed at nearly all restaurants in Antalya. Here is an advice from us: Order your piyaz with eggs and plenty of tahini sauce.

Fried Topak

Fried Topak, the well-known meal of Antalya, is actually a stew. Fried Topak, which is a highly satisfying and traditional meal for stew lovers, is made with big pieces of meat, fried and cooked with onions and tomato paste, and chopped potatoes. Making one's mouth water with its oily and bright look, fried topak is one of the top-ranking meals of the traditional food quote of Antalya.

Sheep’s Head and Foot Soup with Chickpea

This special meal which is the version of the sheep's head and foot soup, one of the first choices of the offal lovers, enriched with chickpea and which is one of the meals peculiar to Antalya cuisine, is cooked with sheep's head and foot meats, onion, garlic, flour and boiled chickpeas. It is a wonderful taste for its lovers.

Cive

Being not only a light but filling but also a delicious meal with summer tomato, green pepper, onion and bulgur, Cive is prepared by cooking onions, green peppers and watery tomatoes in oil, and then adding bulgur.  Cive, a literally summer meal, ranks at the top places in the traditional foods list of Antalya thanks to its easy-to-cook and healthy feature.

Pumpkin Dessert with Tahini

Crowning the cooked pumpkin with a plenty of tahini sauce and walnuts, this amazing taste is also a delicious desert that comes to mind when speaking of Antalya. Especially the ones, who come to Antalya for holiday or visiting purposes, should experience the pumpkin desert with tahini after having the meatballs on skewers and piyaz. Tahini used for a great variety of foods, both sweet and salty, in Antalya cuisine brings an extra rich flavor and excellence to all foods. Of course, the above-given list is not an exhaustive list of Antalya style delicious food recipes, but the list of top-ranking traditional foods might provide an insight to you.