Eating and drinking

• If you fancy a snack, consider a tasty Turkish pizza (pide) or a börek, a wafer thin, flaky pastry with a meat or cheese filling.
• One of the delights of Turkish meals are the meze or starters, which are served hot or cold and come in an astonishing variety. Aubergines stuffed with onions and garlic, vine leaves with rice, nuts and raisins, haricot beans in tomato sauce, succulent roast peppers, cold dips with bread… the choice is so vast, you could make a whole meal out of meze alone. Which is useful for vegetarians, as they are not otherwise well catered for.
• Another popular starter is soup. Look out for the delicious red lentil soup kirmizi mercimek.

• Turkish meat dishes are usually grilled, roasted or barbecued and lamb is the most common ingredient. Döner kebabs and shish kebabs need no introduction - except that what you taste here is infinitely superior to anything you’ve ever had at home. A cheaper alternative for meat-lovers is köfte, grilled, spicy meatballs.
• Turkey is famous for its mouthwatering, sticky desserts. The best known is baklava, a nutty pastry drenched in syrup. Milk-based desserts are also popular, such as the sweet rice pudding sütlaç.
• Turkish Delight, known as lokum, comes in a range of flavours. You can sometimes taste a selection before buying.
• Tea (çay) is the Turkish national drink, and is served without milk in tiny tulip-shaped glasses with sugar cubes on the saucer.
• Turkish coffee is strong, thick and sweet. If you want it without sugar, you must say so.
• Other non-alcoholic drinks worth sampling include freshly- squeezed fruit juices, available in a range of flavours, and ayran, a drink made from yoghurt and water, seasoned with salt and mint.
• Alcoholic drinks are readily available in tourist areas, although you may have to abstain if you wander off the beaten track. Beer comes in two main brands - the locally brewed Efes Pilsen and Tuborg. Turkish wines are cheap and surprisingly good. One of the best is Çankaya, which is matured in wood.
• The Turkish national aperitif is raki, an aniseed-flavoured spirit which clouds when water is added. It is stronger than it looks, and it is no coincidence that its nickname is Lion’s Milk.