Disinfecting Bread in Turkey

Loaves of white crusty bread are commonly sold on the streets, in the markets and in the stores of Turkey.  These loaves of bread are often seen being handled unwrapped by multiple people, laid on counters, and dropped in plastics bags; seemingly without care of the bread getting dirty or harbouring germs.   However, many Turks counteract this potential hygiene issue by rolling the loaf of bread across the gas flame of the stove.  This is referred to as "disinfecting" the bread.  Be careful not to toast the bread, you merely want to touch the surface area of the crust quickly with the flame of the burner in order to kill any unwanted bacteria that may be hiding.

Where to Find Pork in Ankara

Pork can be a difficult thing to find in Ankara, but not impossible.  Your local grocery stores, including the larger ones such as Migros, will not carry it.  Any "jambon" products are made with beef. 

However, the exception to this rule is that in some wealthy areas or foreigner populated areas you have a chance of locating it in an imported food store or hipermarket.  Two places to find pork products include: 

Panora Mall in Oran:  There is an imported food stand on the lower level of this mall that imports bacon and sausage.  One package of small pork sausage breakfast links will cost approximately 15 TL.  To get to the mall, take a dolmus from Guven Park in Kizilay that says "Oran/Panora" on it.  It will be a 30 minute ride and the driver will know the word Panora if you need help. 

Migros in Bilkent:  The Migros and shops in Bilkent cater to a large foreign population that is there. 

Grape Molasses: Uzum Pekmezi

Grape molasses is a food stuff that can be found in many, if not most, Turkish homes.  Many foreigners refer to it as grape molasses, but it has the consistency more along the lines of syrup. 

It is eaten mixed with or drizzled over tahini and eaten on bread.  Also, many people eat one or two spoonfuls as a cold remedy or to boost iron intake.  It is seen as a very healthy food and can be found in the jam section of grocery stores.

Produce in Turkey

The produce in Turkey, including Ankara, is beautiful, fresh, cheap and plentiful. However, it is important not to assume that the produce is in anyway more natural than produce you would get in other countries. Pesticides and fertilizers are heavily used in Turkey; sometimes even more so depending on the produce. Also, it is important to realize that most of the produce in Turkey is genetically modified. Genetically modified produce is a topic of debate in Turkey, however for the time being is very much a reality. So, make sure you wash your produce very well and be aware of any possible health risks that you feel may be tied to genetically modified foods.

Ordering Take-out Food and/or Groceries

Turkey has some great delivery services. The best service for ordering food in is: http://ankara.yemeksepeti.com/
This website has hundreds of restaurants in Ankara listed, complete with menus. You can order directly online without speaking to anyone and choose when you want the food to arrive. When you first register, they will call you to confirm your account and speak some English. After that, your account is activated.

For groceries, Migros has a large delivery service in Ankara. You can order online at www.migros.com.tr. Once you enter the website, click on "sanal market" and then choose your city. There is an English version of the online market, although the food names and ingredients are often not translated.

Apple Tea

Apple tea is sold in tourist haunts around Turkey and is referred to by locals as "tourist tea". It is not widely drunk in Turkey. But, if you like apple tea, don't let that discourage you from enjoying it!

Foods that are Different in Turkey

Lemon Juice: If you buy a bottle of lemon juice, it will be slightly sweetened and made from a mix. You will notice that it does not mix with olive oil no matter how much you shake. You are better off to buy fresh lemons.

Flour: Self rising flour is not available in Turkey

White cheese: Although white cheese is essentially the same as greek "feta" cheese, it is much wetter and often milder.

Eggs: The eggs in Turkey tend to be smaller, and the yolk is much brighter. This is not a problem. Also, they do not refridgerate their eggs, which is common in a lot of countries and does not affect the freshness of the egg.

Pickles: Pickles here are soaked in a salted water instead of vinegar and therefore have a different taste; although it is still a savoury one and they are very good. Try the pickled cabbage.

Cheese: cheeses in Turkey are sometimes made from sheep's milk rather than cow. The widely eaten kasar cheese has a similar texture to cheddar, but a much different taste. For some people, the cheese in Turkey tastes "off", but you will soon get used to the flavour of the sheep's milk and love it.

Black olives: black olives are pruny here, because they are dried before they are cured. There are still amazing!

Peanut butter: is hard to find, but when found is very very sweet and has a different texture to peanut butter elsewhere. More popular is a nut spread made of hazelnuts, or a chocolate spread.

Grapes: seedless grapes are not common

Using the Foods Available

As you begin to desert your favorite western recipes due to the expense or lack of ingredients, you begin to wonder what dishes you can make with the most prevalent and cheapest foods found in Turkish supermarkets: tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, white cheese, kasar cheese, sausages, oil, pasta, rice, lentils and meat.

Begin to rely on:

White cheese with pasta-a staple that is easily adapted to all ingredients
Pilaf with vegetables and roasted meats
Salads with white cheese and olive oil dressing
Cucumber and tomato salad with oil and lemon
Parsley as a garnish or salad ingredient
Roasted potatoes
Stir fry (soy sauce is readily available)
Bread with dinner; margarine always available
Stews
Lentil soup
Filo pastry (readily available fresh at all stores)
Eggs
Spinach fillings in chicken and pastries
Yogurt with cucumber and dill for sauces
Yogurt and melted butter for sauces
Meatballs (ready made kofte always available)
Homemade tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes

Words for Spices and Herbs

black pepper: karabiber

cayenne pepper: aci biber

cinnamon: tarCin

cloves: karanfIl

coconut: hindistan cevizi

salt: tuz

saffron: safran

sesame: susam

vanilla: vanilya

curry: kOri

ginger: zencefIl

thyme: kekik

oregano: yabani mercankOSk

basil: feslegen

bay leaves: defne yapraGI

dill: dereotu

parsley: maydanoz

mint: nane

Words for Vegetables

Vegetables: Sebze

spinach: Ispanak

carrot: havuC

onion: soGan

mushroom: mantar

lettuce: yesil salata

potato: patates

tomato: domates

beans: fasulye

cabbage: lahana

cucumber: salatalIk

green pepper: yesil biber

garlic: sarImsak

Words for Fruits

Fruit: meyve

sour cherry: visne

plum: erik

pomegranate: nar

peach: Seftali

pear: armut

apple: elma

banana: muz

cherry: kiraz

fig: incir

grape: UzUm

melon: kavun

orange: portakal

pineapple: ananas

raspberry: ahududu

Words for the Meat Counter and Butcher

beef: sigir etI

breast: gOgUs or filet

salami: salam

sausage: sosis

wing: kanat

lamb chop: pirzola

steak: biftek

lamb: kuzu eti

garlic sausage: sucuk

please take off the fat: lutfen, yagini cIkartInIz

please grind/mince the meat: kiymak lUtfen

Turkish Words for Types of Shops

Bakkal: convenience store

Supermarket: medium sized grocery store

Hipermarket: largest size of grocery store; some bulk items

Bakery: fIrIn

Fruits and Vegs: manav

Stationary/Office Supply: Kirtasiye

Toys: oyuncakCI

Florist: CiCekCi

Cakes and Sweets: pastane

Butcher: kasap

Bookstore: kitabevi

Fish: balikCI

Alcohol: teke bayii

Milk in Turkey

A very large percentage of the milk available in supermarkets and grocery stores is irradiated milk. This means that the milk has been exposed to ultraviolet light, thereby allowing it to have a shelf life of years rather than days. This type of milk can be found in North America and Europe as well, but is less common and did not really catch on as a useful way to store milk for everyday use. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this milk, and it is available in all fat percentages. Lactose free milk is fairly common in most supermarkets as well. Soy milk is less common but can be found. Once opened, the milk does spoil within a couple of weeks, its shelf life only applies when it is still vacuum packed. If you live in a rural area or small village, fresh milk and dairy products will definately be available!

Hard Foods to Find in Ankara

The foods that are difficult, but not impossible, to find are:
Chocolate chips

Basil (not at Sok)

Coconut Milk (try MacroMarket)

Peanut Butter (try Ankara Pazaar in Guvenpark)

Parmesan Cheese (Migros)

Pre-made Pasta Sauces (Migros)

The foods that impossible to find are:

Marshmallows

Imported peanut butter

Real cheddar cheese

Loose brown sugar

White vinegar

Fresh basil

Celery

Nutmeg

The Supermarkets in Ankara

There are large supermarkets in the malls and in the city outskirts. These supermarkets have large selections of food and also have clothing, cosmetics, and appliance sections. They are not cheaper, but if you live close to one they might be more convenient. A well know supermarket is "Migros". Migros denotes the size of their stores by the number "M"s. Two Ms is a small store, only food, and limited selections. 5M stores are the largest, and are a cross between a grocery store and a department store. In terms of food, these large supermarkets do carry some different foods from the smaller ones in the city. These foods include: parmesan cheese, spices, and packaged foods such as Lipton's Side Dishes. If you are looking for a large imported foods section, you won't find it. For the most part, the selection is the same when compared with the smaller city stores, but bigger.

Coffee in Turkey

Your easiest choices for coffee are Nescafe Instant coffee or Turk coffee (recipe in separate post), but filtered coffee and specialty coffees are available.

Filtered coffee: filtered coffee makers are easy to get in Ankara. The only problem is that it is difficult to get ground coffee that is sized properly for the filtered coffee machines and so the coffee tends to be muddy. If you choose to buy a filtered coffee maker, you may have to also buy a coffee grinder as well.

Nescafe: Nescafe is sold in small one cup packages that include the sugar, milk or both. It is sold in larger packages as regular instant coffee. It is much more expensive than Turk coffee, but gives more of the effect of filtered coffee if that is what you are looking for. Try Nescafe Gold instead of Nescafe classic.

Specialty Coffee: Is readily available in Ankara. Espresso makers and milk frothers can be bought in kitchen stores, appliance stores and malls. Gloria Jean's Coffee and Starbucks also have a full range of specialty coffee but beware the prices, especially at Gloria Jean's Coffee. There are tons of coffee shops and dessert shops in Ankara where coffee is abundant.

Buying Meat

Meat can be purchased at both the butcher or a grocery store. In both places, meat is sold by weight and you often are forced to order it from a counter; meaning you have to have some basic Turkish meat related words under your belt. Bring your dictionary. If you want ground/minced beef, ask for the beef you just bought to be "Kiyma" and the butcher or employee will grind it for you. Look for the signs on the wall behind the counter--often they have pictures of different cuts of meat and their Turkish names which is very helpful. If you are unsure about how much meat to buy by weight, I have found that 250 grams is 1-2 people and 500 grams is 2-4 people. To ask for meat, point or name the meat (try to speak Turkish, it is more polite!) and ask for: 500 grams (Elli yuz gram) or 250 grams (Iki yuz elli gram). Pork is not available outside of rare specialty stores or Istanbul. There is one store in Ankara that has imported pork products but I am not sure of its exact location.

How to Buy Fruits and Vegetables

A few tips:

1. In Ankara/Turkey, you always have to have your bag of produce weighed and stickered BEFORE going to the cashier. There will be a person there to weigh it for you.

2. Sometimes, there will be employees in the produce section. If this is the case, ask them for what you want and they will get it for you. If there are bags easily accessible, then grab them and serve yourself.

3. Fruits and vegetables are purchased by weight. A kilogram is a lot, often you will be needing 500 grams or 250 grams instead. The word "grams" translates well.

4. 500 in Turkish is Elli Yuz (gram)

5. 250 in Turkish is Iki Yuz Elli (gram)

Water Delivery

You can order the large jugs of water from companies over the phone. They will deliver the jug with the hour, and take away your old container. If it is your first time, they will also bring you a pump to put on the top. A jug in Ankara is about 5.60TL. Also, for non-Turkish speakers, these places tend to specialize in water delivery. If you can get your address across, they will probably understand and show up with water! Here are some numbers to try: Alo Su: 481 1255 Siparis Hatti: 444 7252 Elmas Su: 428 4636 Korusu: 440 1519