The Mediterranean Diet in Turkish Cuisine: Meze and Aegean Herbs

Turkish cuisine is naturally healthy and highly seasonal, with most dishes built on an abundance of fresh local produce, quality olive oil and spices.

What defines Mediterranean cooking

The fertile land produces an excellent range of vegetables, olive oil and spices, and the spices and olive oil vary from city to city. Many of the flavours and spices used in Turkish cuisine also have antioxidant properties. Alongside a rich choice of fish and meat, Türkiye offers numerous vegetable dishes based on produce from the Aegean and Mediterranean coastlines.

Meze: the Turkish starters

Meze is the collective name for these starters and side dishes. Traditionally arranged in the middle of the table, they are enjoyed slowly, sometimes with rakı, the favourite local drink. Well-known examples include:

• Grilled aubergine salad (patlıcan salatası)
• Stuffed vine leaves (dolma)
• Spicy pepper paste (acılı ezme)
• Artichokes (enginar)
• Yoghurt with spices (haydari)

Healing herbs of the Aegean

Anatolia is home to herbs with distinctive tastes that are widely used in Aegean cooking. Some are traditionally credited with health benefits.

Ebegümeci (mallow)

Growing naturally throughout Türkiye and the Aegean, mallow belongs to the same plant family as cotton, okra and hibiscus. It is often cooked in olive oil, and its leaves are traditionally used as a poultice to reduce inflammation.

Arapsaçı (fennel)

It looks like dill but tastes quite different. The seeds, leaves and stems are usually sautéed with olive oil and onions, cooked with lamb or used in börek.

Turp otu (radish leaves)

Full of flavour and high in vitamins and antioxidants, radish leaves are eaten lightly cooked in a salad with garlic and yoghurt, or cooked with eggs. Locals believe they support kidney and liver function.

Deniz börülcesi (samphire)

Found along the Turkish coast, this sea vegetable is best as a meze, cooked simply in olive oil with fresh lemon juice. It is high in iodine.

Şevketi bostan (blessed thistle)

Also known as spotted thistle, it is typically found in January. It is used in salads or cooked in olive oil, and lamb with blessed thistle is a dish made throughout Türkiye.

Kuzu kulağı (green sorrel)

A sour, potent herb high in vitamins A and C, calcium, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus. The leaves are traditionally steeped as a tea.

Radika (dandelion)

The leaves can be eaten raw, cooked, dried or steeped. Young leaves and buds are slightly bitter but add flavour to soups and salads; the leaves and stalks are high in vitamins A and C, iron, calcium and potassium.

Isırgan (nettle)

One of the oldest known herbs, also called dalağan or dalan, nettle has been used for centuries in cooking and folk remedies. Wear gloves when handling it, as the leaves have tiny spikes. A tea brewed from the leaves is popular.