The Turkish cuisine is considered to be one of the best in the world due to the abundance of home grown vegetables and spices, and variety of recipes with individual tastes.

So many types of vegetables and fruit are grown in Turkey, consequently they are fresh and very low priced, unlike many of the European countries where the majority of vegetables and fruit are imported and therefore not really fresh and also expensive to cover the cost of importing. 

There are many types of Dolma (stuffed) dishes, vegetable dishes such as aubergine, green and red peppers and tomatoes to name but a few, stuffed with seasoned rice and served hot or cold. Fresh vine leaves are stuffed in the same way and rolled and served hot or cold. Many pulses are used as staple food, beans cooked in a fresh tomato sauce with chilli or fresh green beans cooked in a tomato sauce.  Oil oil is one of the most frequently used ingredients, and can be purchased from those who pressed the olives, olive trees are abundant in the area surrounding Kalkan.

Cheese is a popular staple. There are many different sort of white cheeses and it is served at breakfast with tomatoes, fresh bread, honey and green or black olives and eggs.  Tea (Cay) is the traditional breakfast beverage.

Fish is abundant and there are approximately 100 types in the clear waters of the Mediterranean. Fish is rarely served with a sauce, but may be stuffed with rice and fresh vegetables, but it is mainly fried in olive oil with a wedge of lemon and always served with fresh bread and salad. Take a trip to Fethiye fish market where you can choose your fish, ie. sardines, swordfish, seabream and numerous others and have it cooked for you at one of the surrounding cafes.

Start your meal with a Turkish meze. These are Turkish ‘starters’. There will be cheese, fried courgettes and aubergines, salad, fish, deep fried liver, Boreks ( filo pastry filled with either cheese, meat, spicy sausage, and seasoning such as parsley and garlic and fried in olive oil. There are many different kinds of mezes depending on the area.

For dessert try baklava, layers of filo pastry, walnuts and syrup baked and sprinked with crushed pistachio nuts, or halvah, a sweet made from sesame oil or Turkish yoghurt with pine honey, all delicious.

Turkish coffee is drunk after every meal and is ‘cooked’. The coffee is stirred in cold water in a cezve (pot with a handle) and boiled until it produces a foam, you decide how sweet in advance. A wonderful end to a fresh and appetising meal.