18-02-2023 -
Food & Drink
Unique Cuisine of Cappadocia: What to Eat in Cappadocia
Cappadocia is an amazing place full of wonders! Travelers from all over the world come to see this amazing place, and while they are around they love to try the amazing food of Cappadocia. This cuisine is a compilation of the regional specialties of Central Anatolia in Cappadocia, in addition to the regional cuisines that immigrants from Turkey and other countries who have lived here have established. For tourists, the quantity of Turkish and international cuisine available in Cappadocia's restaurants comes as a delightful surprise.
Foods like wheat, dry cracked wheat, noodles, and manti, as well as legumes like beans, chickpeas, and lentils, and the pita-like variant of regional bread, have played a significant role in the culinary history of Cappadocia. So in this article, we have listed the best foods you must try while you are around. Where to eat these delicacies? Check out here the best restaurants around the Cappadocia region.
But before we dig in, check out Cappadocia Travel Pass® and the 35+ great attractions included in this pass. With long years of experience in tourism, Cappadocia Travel Pass is created to make your Cappadocia trip an unforgettable journey. Especially if you have less than a week here, you don’t want to deal with arranging attractions, tickets, or long lines.
The Famous Pottery Kebab
For sure, the most instagrammable dish in Cappadocia is Pottery Kebab. Although this kebab is cooked basically all across Turkey, Cappadocia delivers the greatest. If you have a pot at home, it is a pretty simple dish. Add the tomatoes, garlic, green pepper, salt, black pepper, lamb or beef, and some chile to it before sealing it with dough. Since you won't be eating the dough, you don't need to be particularly careful. It serves solely to preserve the steam inside the pot and enhance flavor. You will be able to enjoy the most tender and delectable steak of your life after five hours.
Mantı: Not ravioli but beyond
Mantı is generally described as Turkish ravioli but it is not simply a filled-dough but also the yogurt and tomato sauce put on it makes mantı something else. The ingredients for the dough are identical. Cutting them into such tiny pieces and adding the minced meat that contains onion, black pepper, and red pepper is the most difficult portion. Mantı preparations are time-consuming, so if you consider the time it took to prepare the dough, cut the ingredients, and assemble the mantı, one spoonful could have taken as long as five minutes. It is served with filtered yogurt that has been seasoned with butter and tomatoes that have been cooked in a pan to intensify the flavor. It is advised to add the finishing touches of sumac and mint before diving into your meal.
Made from amazing grapes of the region: Koftur
The region's favorite dessert, koftur, and grape molasses are prepared from the grapes gathered in Cappadocia's vineyards during the month of October. Think of it as a grape molasses-flavored Turkish treat. It was also referred to as a Turkish jellybean. Koftur is prepared from grape juice, flour, and starch and is essentially dehydrated grape molasses. Since it contains no sugar, it is regarded as a low-calorie, nutritious treat. It's wonderful to bring some samples with you when you're exploring Cappadocia. It might not be served at a Cappadocian restaurant, but it is a delicacy that is frequently seen in markets.
Totally unique to Derinkuyu: Dried Cream
There is nothing like this cream you have ever tasted before. It resembles a milk wafer. If you've ever tasted kaymak (cream), which is sometimes served with honey for breakfast in Turkey, you've definitely noticed that it's creamy yet still hard enough to spread on bread. However, the dried cream, or kuru kaymak, is not as soft. It takes five days to boil milk, let it cool, and then dry the cream. The cream is solely produced in Kaymakli, a village in Derinkuyu, and it keeps for around ten to fifteen days in the refrigerator. It's worth the journey, at least to try a slice, because dried cream is one of the village's distinctive flavors. It is available in the majority of Derinkuyu markets. In the same way that cream is typically used in Turkey, you can either eat it with jam or with honey.
Aside: Try it warm if available!
The sweetest dessert in Cappadocia is also the easiest to make. It is made with flour, water, and grape molasses and is cooked gently in a skillet. My favorite way to eat it is hot! Although it can be eaten cold as well, the hotter the better. If you ever plan to visit the region, reserve a table at a tiny restaurant in Goreme that serves the best food outside of the Cappadocia region, they substitute maple syrup for grape molasses, which might not be readily accessible where you live.
Bonus: Gozleme
Gozleme is a tasty Turkish stuffed pastry. Although gözleme can also be created from yeast dough, the typical dough is made just with flour, salt, and water. After being thinly rolled, the dough is filled with a variety of toppings, sealed, and fried on a griddle. Sometimes, premade hand-rolled yufka dough leaves are used to make gozleme. Try this handmade goodie in Tik Tik Women Co-Op Eatery and you’ll get a tea treat for free with Cappadocia Travel Pass®. Tik Tik is a special place founded by women to support women so you can also give a hand to a great cause while eating delicious food!
