taste

Girabolu

Girabolu is a green, round lentil-sized fruit, somewhat like a grape. Each cluster has around 30-40 fruits. The girabolu starts to turn red towards the autumn; in October, it is collected, washed and stored in vats. Water is added and the fruit is stored in a dim and cool place. The fruit has properties that promote pain relief and the expulsion of kidney stones.

Kayseri Pastırma

Pastırma is a cured meat product made with beef or buffalo meat. The meat is salted, rinsed, dried, and cured with a paste of fenugreek seeds and other spices.

Kayseri Mantı

Mantı is a tiny, dumpling-like pasta product. The dough is made with flour, water, egg and salt, rolled and cut into squares. Each square is filled with minced meat. Although mantı is mainly associated with the Kayseri province of Türkiye, its history is very old.

Aside

Aside is a type of halva produced in various places in Anatolia. It is also known as asdiye and asidiye and originates from medieval Arab cuisine. Usually, flour or rice is cooked into a thick slurry, and molasses or honey, along with walnut, peanuts, ghee, etc. are added.

Bayram Stew

This dish is commonly eaten on the first day of religious holidays. Mutton meat is sautéed and stewed with onion and chickpeas, tomato paste and various spices.

Bulamaç Soup

This soup is made with flour, oil and yogurt. In Mahmud Al-Kashgari’s “Compedium of the Languages of the Turks (Divan-ü Lügati’t Türk)”, “bula” means to cook. The slurry, called ‘bulgama’ in the compendium, was considered peasant food during the Ottoman period. In the Ottoman cuisine, it is made with flour, butter or cheese, and sometimes with sugar.

Çemen

This delicious and appetizing natural product is made by mixing various spices, tomato paste, garlic, salt and water in certain proportions. It is sold in bowls and quite popular in the region.

Çerkes Mantı

Çerkes Mantı is a type of mantı (dumpling) in which the dough is cut into triangles instead of the classic mantı shape, then filled with potatoes sautéed with onions and boiled. It is served drizzled with red peppered butter.

Tepsi Mantı

The mantı dough, which is cut into squares, is stacked on a tray with oil. (Hence the name tepsi/tray).  It is then baked in the oven or on the stove, turning the tray. After this process, minced meat sauce is added. The dish is served with garlic yoghurt. This type of mantı is also prepared by placing the dough on a tray with a minced meat filling and cooking them together, adding sauce and yogurt when served.