Lebanese vs Turkish food & cuisine

Unlike in Southern Europe, Turkish breakfast is a real social custom of family gathering that sometimes goes beyond a dinner. Fresh bread is at the center, followed by cheeses, olives, eggs, jams, sometimes sausages, and dried cured beef pastirma.

Lunch is often the main cooked meal of the day, consisting of a starter such as a lentil or yogurt-based soup, followed by bean dishes with bulgur or rice pilaf, fresh bread, stews, and salad. It is common to prepare a few staple dishes in bulk to be on hand at home for family meals.

In the afternoon, it’s usual to have a small snack, with tea or coffee, which, interestingly, both are integral to Turkish culture. This black sweet tea is served in small tulip-shaped glasses, consumed throughout the day, and is a part of Turkish hospitality. Turkish coffee is strong, finely ground, and brewed with water and sugar in a special pot called a cezve.

Dinner is also an extensive meal in Turkey; it consists of meze – small appetizer dishes meant for sharing, grilled vegetables or meat, casseroles, pilafs, yogurt dishes, and bread. Meals often end with sweet desserts.

Rice pairs with meat, poultry, or lentils,  fills vegetables and grape leaves, and anchors stews. Vermicelli rice pilafs are everyday staples. All other grains, although they may have had some importance historically, play a minor role today.

Lebanon is part of the Fertile Crescent, a region where lentils and chickpeas likely originated, so they are very important both historically and in current cuisine as staple, affordable sources of nutrition. Lentils, chickpeas, and beans are widely consumed in the form of mujaddarah (lentil and rice pilaf), hummus (chickpea dip), and balila (boiled chickpeas).

For thousands of years of traditions, bread has been the most repetitive component of every meal – eaten even if not particularly suited for the meal. Turkish people eat the most bread in the world, 199.6 kilo per person per year (source).  Somun ekmek (fluffy and golden loaf bread), bazlama ekmek (leavened circular bread), yufka ekmek (phyllo bread), pide (pita bread with rich toppings), lavas (flatbread, thicker than yufka, but thinner than pide), misir ekmegi (cornbread), simit (circular bread encrusted with sesame seeds, quintessential street food) are prevailing types of bread.

Chewy, nutty bulgur is the most-eaten wheat product in Turkey’s mainland, commonly used to make pilaf, added to soups, or mixed with meat for dolma (stuffed) and sarma (filled) veggies.

The Eastern part of Turkey near the Black Sea is not so well suited for wheat due to heavy rains. This led to corn and cornflower meals, known as mısır in Turkish. While corn is not native to Turkey and wasn’t part of traditional cuisine, it has been integrated into bread, pilafs (mısır pilavı), soups (mısır çorbası), puddings (mısır helvası). 

Rice is a primary companion in stuffed meat and vegetable dishes. Still, most frequently, it is served in the form of pilaf, for which people have very high standards. While making a Turkish pilaf, use medium to long grain rice, sauté in butter or oil with onion and garlic, spice with cumin, cinnamon, and allspice, and then cook with broth. Pilafs often come plain as a side but can also be enriched with chickpeas, nuts, dried fruits, and sometimes meat for a standalone dish.

No Lebanese table is complete without pickles. Everything from turnips to wild cucumbers can find a way into brine. Pickles add a tangy kick to wraps and pair well with flatbreads or falafel.

Fruits are often consumed in their fresh form, towards the end of the meal. Other than that, smoothies and juices are prevalent. Dried figs, apricots, dates, and raisins are often paired with nuts for a snack.

Turkish specialty is stuffed vegetables:  dolma or sarma. Both stuffed with a mix of rice, minced meat, herbs, and spices. Dolma is more generic and refers to any stuffed vegetable – bell pepper, zucchini, eggplant, or tomatoes. Sarma, specifically, is a roll of grapevine leaves. All sarma can be considered dolma, but not all dolma are sarma.

Artichokes, broad beans, and eggplants are extremely popular. Salads vary from the simplistic watercress in yogurt to a salad of garlic-infused smoked eggplant. Grilled sivri biber – long, green pepper of mild heat will likely add a smoky flavor to kebabs and grilled meats. It is common to meet grilled sivri biber and sumac-flavored onions on the same kebab plate.

Tursu – pickled vegetables in garlicky brine is a traditional appetizer. In some families, no meal is considered complete without a bowl of tursu on the table (source).

Potatoes are indeed used in Turkish cuisine, but they are not as central as bread, rice, and bulgur. Turkish cuisine loves stuffed vegetables, so it comes as no surprise that the famous potato dish also comes stuffed – kumpir, baked potatoes with toppings. While in Western countries, it is expected to have boiled, fried, or baked potatoes as a side dish, it is not as common here. Turkish cooks creatively incorporate potatoes in a salad (with olive oil and lemon or vinegar-based dressing and includes pickles, red peppers, and parsley), mashed and in combination with eggplant in dishes like hünkar beğendi (eggplant puree with mashed potatoes) or musakka (sliced potatoes, layered with eggplant, ground meat, and a tomato-based sauce).

Fruits are local, plentiful, and cheap, eaten after meals to refresh the palate (cubes of watermelon, for instance) and as a dessert.  What differs in fruit consumption from Western cuisines is that Turkish cuisine generously incorporates dried apricots, figs, grapes, dates, mulberries into everyday diet. During weddings, engagements, or religious celebrations, offering guests various dried fruits is a must. Also, during the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, dates, a natural nutritious sweet, are often consumed to break the fast. Dried fruits feature savory dishes, like ayva dolması – stuffed quince, çağla aşi – a fresh almond dish with lamb, fruit, yogurt, garlic, yeni dünya kebab – lamb stuffed loquat fruit.

As a Mediterranean country, Turkey produces lots of grapes, and they are either eaten fresh, dried to raisins or made into Turkish special grape molasses, called pekmez. Before sugar became widely available, honey and pekmez were used to sweeten the traditional Turkish ration.

Kebabs are quintessential, especially when there is an open flame to grill the meat, and if there is none, Turkish people will find a way to get it done. Over time, different regions within Turkey developed their unique styles of kebabs. Kebabs refer to a food group of well-seasoned, marinated, grilled, or roasted meat served on skewers with vegetables and bread. Traditionally, kebabs would have been done with lamb, but with evolving tastes and regionalities, meats have extended to beef, chicken, offals, fish, and vegetables. The serving may also differ – on a plate, in a sandwich, or in lavash. There are close to a hundred varieties of kebabs, for the most widespread in Turkey, visit our iconic dishes section.

Other than kebabs, koftes are also popular; it refers to seasoned patties or meatballs from minced or ground meat, mixed with onions, garlic, and herbs; shaped into balls, patties, or elongated forms and can be cooked in different ways, including grilling, frying, or baking.

Offals have a special place in Turkish cuisine as they are cheaper than other animal parts and also very nutritious. Most offal dishes have thyme, chili, and garlic flavoring and are served with bread as a rich and hearty meal. Offal dishes in Turkey include brain salad, fried brains, grilled spleen, liver, kidney, sheep intestines, tripe soup, trotter soup, etc. – there are even restaurants that specialize in serving these dishes!

In Beirut and the coastal towns, the tradition is to grill or fry the daily catch – fishes like red mullet, sea bream, or sardines – simply dressed with olive oil, lemon, and herbs. You’ll also see seafood mezze: fried calamari, shrimp sautéed in garlic and lemon, or octopus salads. A classic is sayadieh, a fragrant fish-and-rice dish cooked with caramelized onions and warm spices, finished with pine nuts, samke harra, a whole baked fish covered with a sauce of tahini, lemon juice, garlic, chili or hot pepper, and fish kibbeh.

The coastline areas, though, do have their beloved underwater ingredients: the Black Sea areas are famous for their anchovies, which are a beloved fried; horse mackerel is caught from the Marmara Sea; sardines of the Dardanelles and sea bream from the Aegean Sea are preferred fishes. Fish preparations will most frequently be grilled fish balık, seafood mezes, and stuffed mussels midye dolma. Balık ekmek, a grilled fish sandwich, is a popular street food along the coasts.

Milk is rare in its raw form, but cultured milk products are trendy. Laban, a yogurt made from fermented milk from cows, sheep, goats, or a combination, is a staple, often accompanied by strained yogurt labneh. Ayran, a refreshing yogurt drink diluted with water, is also a popular beverage.

Kishk, jameed, or yogurt stone, is a traditional Eastern Mediterranean method for preserving milk. Milk or yogurt is mixed with bulgur, then naturally fermented and dried. It can later give a tangy kick when grated on salad, blended into soups, or used as a seasoning.

Cheese is also a part of dairy products. Most Lebanese cheeses feature sheep or goat milk, either exclusively or in combination with cow’s milk, and are brined, which means they’re soaked in salty water after the cheese is formed. Halloumi and akkawi are examples of local brined cheeses. Shanklish is another type of fermented cheese rolled in a mixture of spices, such as Aleppo pepper or thyme.

Clarified butter (samneh) and rendered lamb fat (awarma) were important animal fats for cooking and preservation, especially in mountain villages. Today, however, olive oil is the backbone fat in Lebanese kitchens, with vegetable oils also common.

Turkish yogurt is rich, creamy, usually plain, strained yogurt (straining is a process when whey is removed from yogurt, resulting in a creamy and dense texture). Strained Turkish yogurt and strained Greek yogurt are pretty similar, both are known for thick and creamy textures. However, the straining duration and methods may vary, leading to slight differences in texture. Some people claim that Turkish yogurt has a milder taste compared to its Greek counterpart. The taste may vary based on the specific bacterial cultures used and the source of the milk.

Cheese in Turkish daily practice is not as popular as in Greek, Italian, or Spanish cuisines. Distinctively from Western tradition, Turks like to add herbs and other flavorings to the cheese. Some local Turkish cheeses include beyaz peynir, white brined, crumbly cheese, kaşar, semi-hard, similar to cheddar, used in borek, pide, tulum cheese, a unique variety aged in animal skin, giving it a distinctive flavor, otlu peynir, herbed cheese.

Lots of vegetable oils are used in Turkish cooking. Olive oil is a major component of many dishes in the western part of the country, where olive trees grow. There is actually a whole group of foods in Turkish cuisine named zeytinyağlılar, which translates to olive oil dishes.

Lebanese desserts blend fragrance, texture, and tradition. One of the first things you notice is the aroma of rose water, orange blossom water, and sometimes mastic. Another feature is the balance between nuts, pastry, and syrup. Almonds, pistachios, and walnuts are layered between thin sheets of phyllo or folded into semolina-based sweets. Instead of heavy frostings or creams, the desserts are finished with a sugar syrup known as ater.

Lebanese sweets are also often made in small, shareable portions, good for pairing with coffee or tea. Many of these desserts are tied to religious and seasonal celebrations.

A defining feature is the layering of textures. From the crisp phyllo dough of baklava to the delicate, chewy strands of kadayıf, Turkish sweets often play on the contrast between crunchy exteriors and soft fillings. Cheese, especially in desserts like künefe, adds a savory layer and a unique salty-sweet experience. Spices and aromatics – rosewater, orange blossom, mastic –  give Turkish desserts a floral and fragrant dimension rarely seen in European desserts.