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For Turkish families, no week is complete without a trip to our local bazaar (pazar) to stock up on our fresh fruit and vegetables for the week ahead.  We’ve been doing this since Ottoman times, and our bazaars stock so much more than food – cleaning products,...

Visitors to Turkey are often surprised that kebabs are generally not served wrapped in bread and with cheese and a range of sauces as they often are in Western countries.  They are also surprised at the range of kebabs available. Each region in Turkey will generally have their...

1. Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival – this festival is held in July every year in Edirne and draws crowds of thousands.  The wrestlers (known as pehlivan in Turkish) wear traditional trousers made from cowhide (called kisbet) and wrestle, covered in olive oil.  This event...

1.  Raki – Ask most Turkish people what the national alcoholic drink of Turkey is and most will tell you it is Raki.   It is an aniseed-flavoured distilled alcoholic drink made from grapes, figs and plums. Thought to have been in existence for around 300 years, its origins...

1.  Baklava – Consisting of paper-thin layers of phyllo pastry filled with a spicy, sugary mixture of nuts such as walnuts and pistachios, topped with melted shortening, then drizzled in a sweet syrup of honey and cinnamon, baklava was considered a dessert only for the...

Once discovered by the Ottomans, Turkish coffee became such an important feature of palace life, that a position of Chief Coffee Maker (kahvecibasi) was created by the palace. The tradition of Turkish coffee is believed to date back to 1555 when it was introduced to the palace in...