Antakya - Cuisine

Cuisine

The cuisine of Antakya is renowned. Its cuisine is considered levantine rather than Turkish. The cuisine offers plenty of meals, where beef and lambs are mainly used. Popular dishes include the typical Turkish kebab, served with spices and onions in flat unleavened bread, with yoghurt as ali nazik kebab, oruk, kaytaz böreği and katıklı ekmek . Hot spicy food is a feature of this part of Turkey, along with Turkish coffee and local specialities. Here are some savour:

• İçli köfte and other oruk varieties: varieties of the Arabic kibbeh, deep-fried balls of bulgur wheat stuffed with minced meat; or baked in ovens in cylinder-cone shape. Saç oruğu is made of the same ingredients, however in circular shape.
• Kaytaz Böreği: It is patty that is made of wheat, beef, tomato and onion.
• Katıklı Ekmek: Ingredients in Katıklı Ekmek usually consist of wheat, traditional pepper (paste), spices such as sesame and theme, çökelek or cheese. It looks like an ancestor of pizza. Not a lot of restaurants serve it, however it can be found in old-market that is located in the centre and Harbiye.
• Pomegranate syrup, used as a salad dressing, called debes ramman, a traditional Levantine Arabic dressing.
• Semirsek, a thin bread with hot pepper, minced meat or spinach filling
• Spicy chicken, a specialty of Harbiye
• Za'atar (Zahter) a traditional Levantine Arabic paste of spiced thyme, oregano, and sesame seeds, mixed with olive oil, spread on flat (called pide or in English pita) bread.
• Fresh chick peas, munched as a snack.
• Hirise, boiled and pounded wheat meal.
• Aşur, meat mixed with crushed wheat, chickpea, cumin, onion, pepper and walnut

Meze

• Hummus - the chick-pea dip
• pureed fava beans
• Patlıcan Salatası: Patlıcan salatası or babaganoush, made of baked and sliced aubergines that mixed

with pepper and tomato. It is usually served with pomegranate syrup.

• Taratur: Known also as Tarator, made of walnuts, 'tahin', yogurt and garlic.
• Süzme Yoğurt: A type of yogurt that its water content is removed with traditional methods.
• Ezme Biber: It is made of pepper and walnuts.
• Surke - the spicy sun-dried cheese
• Çökelek - dried curds served in spicy olive oil
• Eels from the Orontes, spiced and fried in olive oil

Sweets/Deserts

• Künefe - a hot cheese, kadaif-based sweet. Antakya is Turkey's künefe' capital; the pastry shops in the centre compete to claim being kings Turkish: kral of the pastry. The secret is in the light yellow cheese which they use.
• Müşebbek - rings of deep fried pastry.
• Peynirli İrmik Helvası - Peynirli İrmik Helvası is a desert that is made of traditional cheese, which is the same as used in Künefe, and semolina. It is served warm, especially in restaurants rather than künefe shops that are located in the centre. Restaurants that serve 'Peynirli İrmik Helvası' can be easily found in Harbiye.