Successful use of Turkish spices in cooking

What you need:

• Usual spices
• Sumac
• Black cumin

Seasoning in Turkish cuisine

Some typical Turkish spices and their uses:

• Basil (fesleğen / Reyhan): We mainly use it with tomatoes and mozzarella and is typical of Italian cuisine. But it is an integral part of Turkish cuisine and is becoming too meat, also used to Köfte.
• Cumin - cumin (kimyon): It belongs in the sausage and minced meat dishes. Also the falafel (balls made from pureed Beans or chickpeas that are deep-fried) is seasoned with ground cumin.
• Garden rocket (roka): Use it to season grilled meat and fish.
• Garlic (Sarımsak): This is one of the most important Turkish spices. Use fresh whenever possible.


Refine the peas with spices

Peas can be used in many ways in the kitchen. The spices are just as varied ...

• Paprika powder (Kırmızı Toz Biber): From mild to hot. Do not use these spices until they are browned, because fried paprika powder does not taste good. It becomes bitter and loses its typical taste.
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• Parsley (maydanoz): Parsley is also a typical part of Turkish cuisine. Use them with salads, Sauces, Soups and vegetables.
• Pepper (karabiber): Mainly the black pepper is often used freshly ground in almost all dishes.
• Peppermint (Nane): You probably only know peppermint as tea, the use of spices is rather unknown to us. Use them in soups, with mutton or as a salad spice. Buy Turkish mint because it contains less menthol.
• Pine nuts (Dolmalık Fıstık): Pine nuts are also a spice in Turkey. They are used in fillings of vegetables (dolma) and too rice used.
• Saffron: You can use this to color rice dishes such as pilaf, but it is also used in fish dishes. If you like the Turkish pudding To prepare earth you must have saffron in the spices.
• Sesame (Susam): Sesame not only belongs to the Simit (sesame rings), but is also the main component of the tahini seasoning paste.
• Black cumin (Çörekotu): Has nothing to do with caraway. Sprinkle it on flatbreads or salads before baking.
• Sumagh (Sumak): Again one of the typical Turkish spices. It is made from the fruits of the vinegar tree and belongs in every kebab salad and in yogurt. This spice is almost only known in Turkey.
• Cinnamon (tarçın): A typical use of the spice cinnamon is in hearty meat dishes, but also, like ours, with compotes or desserts.
• Onion (Soğan): Just like garlic, onions are part of Turkish cuisine, especially the mild vegetable onion is often used raw in salads.

Use of spices in Turkey

• It will surprise you, but most Turkish dishes contain very few spices. It is typical that they cook with very little salt and prefer to add salt at the table. Due to the low-salt preparation, the taste of the food comes out better, and spices also develop their own flavor better.
• Another secret of Turkish cuisine is that with little water is cooked, most dishes are based on fried or steamed vegetables, the juice the vegetables make the dishes tasty, less the use of spices. Even the spiciness of the dishes is often caused by the use of braised paprika.

Strictly speaking, there are no Turkish spices, because all spices are used in other kitchens.