Appetizers - Eating a traditional Turkish meal will require two things from you. You will need a lot of time, and a craving for meat. It is typical for Turks to spend three hours eating and conversing at a restaurant as they slowly devour the large variety of mezes (appetizers) spread before them. Traditional appetizers include white cheese, melon, several kinds of dishes of eggplant puree, vegetables often cooked in olive oil, pepper dishes, dolma (stuffed grape leaves), and the ever present freshly baked bread. This first course of appetizers often will be accompanied with Raki, the national licorice-based drink of Turkey.

Dinner After the appetizers are finished, a main course will be brought to the table which will consist of some kind of meat, often being roasted, usually a salad or vegetable dish, and more bread. Although pork is only offered at five-star hotels, chicken, beef, and lamb are widely available in restaurants. Along the sea and in Istanbul, seafood is also a popular main course dish.

After dinner Tea or Turkish coffee follows dinner. Turkish Coffee is best described as a thick, sweet caffeine drink that comes in a tiny cup. It carries a "punch" five times as strong as an espresso! Drinker beware.

Turkish sweets are generally small in portion and extremely sweet. Lots of nuts, such as pistachios, and honey are used. Although there are many kinds of sweet dishes, the most beloved are Turkish Delights and baklava.

Breakfast and Lunch Breakfast in Turkey always starts with the obligatory cup or two of tea. Freshly baked bread, olives, sliced tomatos and cucumber, white cheese and a boiled egg comprise a traditional breakfast. For those on the run, many breakfast shops sell borek and pocas, which are types of pastries stuffed with such ingredients as minced meat, cheese, and olives. A typical "fast food" lunch for a Turk is a doner sandwich. Huge chunks of lamb or chicken are roasted on a vertical rotisserie and sliced off and put into a freshly baked bread. These sandwiches are quick, tasty, and very cheap.

Snack Time Turkish Delights may be the food Turkey is most famous for, but with-in the country it is the snack of simit that you will see everywhere. Simit is best described as a bagel/pretzel combination that is covered in baked sesame seeds. It is delicious and extremely cheap. All over Turkey you will see "Simitci", simit sellers, carrying huge trays of simit on top of their heads.

Gozleme is another popular snack. This is always made by village women, usually sitting on the floor. It is is a rolled dough that is stuffed with ingredients such as cheese, spinach, or minced meat. After the dough has been properly rolled out, it is then fried over a hot grill that is heated by a wood fire.Lahmacun, another quick snack, is a flat bread that is covered with minced meat and spices and baked in a clay oven. It resembles a western version of pizza.

During your tour, all your meals will be provided at your hotel or at specially chosen restaurants. Encounter tours will provide a wide range of choices for those that may not enjoy the Turkish cuisine.