Thread by @edsavaseri

This ALL ABOUT TURKISH BREAKFAST thread is inspired by @DizzyForDizi and my love for breakfast as a Turkish girl. I hope you enjoy this and sorry if this makes you hungry, be sure to prepare some snacks before you read this! #TurkishBreakfast ++

++ The name breakfast translates to KAHVALTI in Turkish which comes from Kahve-altı (under coffee) because the Ottomans in 18th century had the habit of eating smth before moving on to the 1st coffee of the day. Usually this would be soup or cheese, jam, bread or some pastry. ++

++ Since the Seljuk Empire Turks ate two meals a day. The first would be kahvaltı and they would eat it in "kuşluk" (mid-morning) time which starts 45 mins after the sun rises and ends 20 minutes before noon. The last meal would be a dinner they ate before sunset.++

++ The famous Turkish tea was added to kahvaltı in the 19th century and in 20th century Turkish people started eating 3 meals a day and breakfast became an important part of their day. This was greatly inspired by the engagement with western culture. ++

++ Turkey has 7 geographic regions. Each region has a different climate and culture so what they eat for breakfast changes. But before exploring dishes from regions, let's look at the standard breakfast and what we eat. ++

++ I know that in dizi breakfasts look incredibly rich but at the home of a middle class Turkish person, there is no cook or ablas in the kitchen and we also have to go to work. What we do is a quicker breakfast. We set the table with these: eggs, cheese, olives, jam, bread ++

++ tomatoes, cucumber and of course tea! The first thing we do is to brew the tea and while it's getting ready we set the table. Of course we also have weekend breakfast or bayram breakfast or vacation breakfast which are more special and richer. ++

++ Let's break down the minimal breakfast first and then move to special things like meats, sweets and pastries. In the last decade the breakfast culture has expanded and a lot of restaurants have started to serve breakfast. This has allowed breakfasting to become an activity. ++

++ CHEESE is a must have on the kahvaltı table and most of the time there has to be at least 2 types of cheese. Beyaz peynir (feta cheese) and kaşar peyniri (Kasseri) are probably the most popular. We'll get to more cheese types later but first the other must haves. ++

++ A breakfast without zeytin? Unacceptable! Black and green olives are served with olive oil, lemon, red pepper flakes and thyme. ++

++ Something sweet is not a must but welcome on the daily table. This can be a jam (strawberries, cherries, orange and many more) bought or home made. We also love honey or a bit of pekmez. But honey and pekmez need their companions and I'll get to that.++

++ These days some type of spread like a olive paste or peanut butter is welcome too! If you have kids or are a woman Nutella could also bracing your table. Traditionally there are also spreads like "muhammara" that you can make at home or buy in the shops as "acuka". ++

++ What's in acuka spread you ask? Tomato paste, red pepper paste, walnuts, nuts, garlic, olive oil and some spices. It's the perfect bread spread if you ask me! ++

++ So how do we eat eggs? You can always boil them hard or soft. We call the soft boiled eggs rafadan or kayısı (means apricot). But the best way to make them is in the pan as "iki göz" (2 eyes)! You can also always go for a quick omelette. ++

++ Bread is the heart of the breakfast and for some (my mom) it's unthinkable to have breakfast without it. You can get it from the fırın (bakery) in your mahalle or from your bakkal (grocery). ++

++ Now that we covered the essentials, let's get to the meatier stuff, literally! The first one on the list is sucuk (sujuk)! It's basically a dry sausage made from beef. We eat it mainly with eggs as sucuklu yumurta (sausage with eggs). ++

++ Sosis (sausage) is thinner and softer sausages made from calf. We usually cook it with a tomato sauce. ++

++ Salam (salami) is another type of sausage. My favorite is the kind with pistachios. ++

++ As I said on weekends kahvaltı becomes more special and since we have more time and we get up a bit more late, we prepare a more refined breakfast. Or we go out to many of the breakfast places that kind of have become popular in the last twenty years. ++

++ For example we buy simit (bagels), kaymak (clotted cream) to accompany honey, poğaça (a savory pastry) or börek (baked filled pastries). ++

++ Since we have more time on a weekend to prepare dishes for breakfast we may cook a menemen too. It's a traditional dish that contains eggs, tomato, green pepper, onions and spices. If it doesn't have onions, it's not menemen. ++

++ We also do love a mean french toast which we call "yumurtalı ekmek" that we make with older bread. Turkish bread is best when eaten fresh so yumurtalı ekmek comes to the rescue to use the old bread up. ++

++ Pişi is another specialty that acquires some time. It's basically fried dough. You have to know, you should never come between me and my pişi. ++

++ Patatesli yumurta is eggs with potatoes and as SÇK's Eda says patatoes can really change and bring out the best in other ingredients.😂 You first fry the eggs and then you put the eggs in! Voila! This can also be eaten alone as a dish but I love it for breakfast. ++

Bookmark this tweet since I still have to add regional breakfast specialties later! Hope you enjoyed it so far! Let me know what are your favorites! What are you most curious to try? What are the similar things you found?

++ Let's continue the breakfast thread with cheese! I love cheese and in Turkey every region has one or more types of cheese. It is the most important part of kahvaltı but also served as a starter or meze at dinner tables. ++

++Ezine white cheese belongs to Çanakkale region and it's the most eaten white cheese in Turkey which is also a great companion to rakı table with melon. This quality white cheese is made of sheep, goat or cow's milk based on the season. It tastes a bit like salted cream. 😋++

++ The city of Kars, in the northeast of Turkey, is famous for Turkey's ​best-aged kashar cheese, also called as Kars gruyere. It's usually made with pure cow's milk. We mostly eat it for breakfast but it can also be used in food and is a favorite of cheese plates. ++

++ Tulum cheese varies from region to region but the most famous Turkish tulum is a produce of Erzincan which is a city in eastern Turkey. It's a soft and crumbly white cheese. Other than the breakfast table you can see it being served as an appetizer in kebap restaurants. ++

++ My favorite kind of tulum is the ones they make with walnuts, pistachios or both! You must try it! I could eat it as a whole meal with some fresh bread and some butter! Yum! ++

++ Van Otlu Cheese is a specialty of Van in eastern Turkey which also is home to the widest lake in Turkey. It is a herbed cheese. It's not my favorite because it's quite salty but some people love it. The herbs are various but mostly wild thyme and mint.++

++ Black Sea golot cheese is one of the main ingredients of "kuymak". Kuymak is made from corn flour, butter and cheese. As you can see golot cheese melts very easily. Kuymak is served hot, very hot, like it'll burn your mouth but you will love it. It's mostly a breakfast dish ++

++ İsli peynir is smoked cheese is produced mostly by Circassian families in Adapazarı and Düzce in northwestern Turkey. One of my favorites for breakfast and also perfect with red wine. ++

++ Plaited cheese is produced mostly in Diyarbakır which is southeastern region. It's hard and salty and great for breakfast as well as appetizers. ++

++ Enough about cheese for now and let's skip to some sweet things! "Pekmez" is a grape syrup which we mostly eat mixed with tahini for breakfast. You can adjust the amount of tahini for it to more or less sweet. It's heaven and a healthy alternative to nutella! ++

++ Bal kaymak is another great duo! Bal as you know is honey. Kaymak is clotted cream made from cow milk. They are usually served together. When we can't find fresh kaymak we use butter instead. A generous spreading of kaymak topped with honey is the best way to die young. ++

++ Tahini halva or helva is another sweet we eat for breakfast. It can be plain, with cocoa or with pistachios. You can see my favorite in the photo. I have to admit, I don't only eat it at breakfast, it makes a great 5 o'clock tea snack as well. ++

Katmer is a delicacy of Gaziantep which is in southeast Turkey and also where I was born. In Gaziantep this dessert is served for breakfast preferably accompanied by a a glass of milk. It is made of clotted cream, sugar and as you can see, lots and lots of pistachios. Yummy!

It's a layered bread which then gets fried on a pan.

++ Another personal favorite of mine is tahinli çörek (tahini roll). It's a sweet pastry made of dough that includes sugar and oil. It tastes a bit like bread. The tahini and cinnamon taste is to die for! If you like sweets with cinnamon this is for you! ++

++ Enough about sweets! Here's another specialty of the Black Sea region, Kaygana! It's basically a crêpe with herbs. I love eggs & this is a very healthy breakfast and something you can eat for lunch or dinner as well. It has dill and onions other than the usual ingredients.++

++A specialty of Diyarbakır, again another city in the southeast, is Nergizleme. It's made up of hard boiled eggs, spring onions, onions and parsley. Add some black pepper and crushed red pepper too. Very fresh and light alternative for those who want to stay healthy. ++

++ Finishing up on the meats, let's not forget pastırma. Pastırma is a seasoned air dried cured beef which is known as a specialty of Kayseri, a city in central Anatolia. In breakfast pastırma can be eaten alone or with eggs. ++

++ Kavurma is preserved fried meat usually made of lamb and/or beef. It's heated before eating. Again like pastırma, it can be eaten alone or with eggs for breakfast. It can also be used as an ingredient in many different dishes as a meat alternative.++

++ We are close to finishing this thread. Brace yourselves for "börek" chapter tomorrow and do prepare snacks. Here's a sneak peek. Good night! Stay hungry! 😂😉😘 ++

++ It's always #TurkishBreakfast time for me and let's continue this thread with one of my favorite things: #Börek. Börek is the general name we give to pastries made with thin flaky dough. For most types we use phyllo dough which can be bought easily for home use as well.++

++ The one we make the most often in my house is #sigaraböreği. The name comes from its shape that looks like cigars.😂 It's very easy to make. You just cut the phyllo dough in big triangles and fill each one up with herbs and cheese and roll them up. Then you fry them. ++

++ Another favorite of mine is #tepsiböreği which is very easy to make. We usually put cheese or minced meat in it. You just place the layers of phyllo dough and keep spreading the filling of your choice. In between the layers you add a mixture of milk, egg and olive oil. ++

++ #SuBöreği is the fluffiest and softest one and dare I say one of my favorites to order from outside. Not so easy to make at home. The sheets of dough are boiled first (hence the name "water"). In between the layers it has cheese that melts. ++