TG Gourmet

Çağla Erik: Turkey's Sour Green Plum Habit

Çağla erik are unripe green plums eaten hard, crunchy and mouth-puckeringly sour, dipped in coarse salt from carts and crates each spring in Turkey. This guide covers the season, the taste, how they are sold, and why green almonds share the name.

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Balık Ekmek: Istanbul's Fish Sandwich, Explained

Balık ekmek is Istanbul's grilled mackerel sandwich, sold along the water at Eminönü and Karaköy. Here is what goes in it, why lemon and salt are enough, what to drink...

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Midye Dolma: Istanbul's Stuffed Mussels Explained

Guide to midye dolma, Istanbul's iconic street-food stuffed mussels: what the dish is, the midyeci vendor culture, the iç pilav filling (baldo rice, currants, pine nuts, cinnamon, allspice), the lemon-and-shell-spoon...

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Kokoreç: Turkey's Boldest Street Food Explained

Culture explainer on kokoreç: what it is (lamb intestines on a horizontal charcoal spit), İzmir vs Istanbul serving styles, the early-2000s EU "kokoreç ban" debate that never became a ban,...

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Tantuni: Mersin's Sizzling Beef Wrap Explained

Tantuni is Mersin's signature street food: fine-chopped beef flash-cooked in cottonseed oil on a domed griddle, rolled in lavash with sumac onions and parsley. Here is how it works and...

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