How do you start your day? You wake up, go to the bathroom, have a shower… Prepare BREAKFAST and eat! Then you probably just go to work or do chores at home or... whatever.

Breakfast differs from country to country, from one town to another. In some places, people eat vegetables, in others meat. In some places, they drink tea, in some other coffee or orange juice. Tastes are different and so are people's habits.

Today I want to talk about Turkish breakfast. What’s on the table, what time is it served, how long it takes to be prepared .

First of all, breakfast in Turkey varies from place to place, from district to district. Generally, it’s a colourful buffet style breakfast, with boiled or eggs Benedict, vegetables and fruit, special bread, jams, cheeses, etc .

Let me explain!

There is 81 province in Turkey and each and every has its own “traditional” breakfast. Unfortunately, I can’t write about all 81, instead, I’ll cover the most popular ones.

First things first!

There is no breakfast in Turkey that doesn’t include cay (tea)!

You may think the favourite drink of Turkish people is coffee, but you can’t be more wrong! Although Turkey is famous for its coffee, special black tea mix is what people drink 80% of the time. When you enter a cafe, for example, and ask for ‘cay’ ( literal translation: tea), black tea mix is what you are going to be served . ‘Cay’ is always boiled on 100 degrees and served ( extremely ) hot.

How is it made?

While water is boiling in the kettle, black tea mix is poured in a smaller kettle, washed and placed over the boiling water ( in order to warm up) . After few minutes, boiling water is mixed with black tea mix from the upper kettle and everything is left to boil for at least 10 min .

How is it served?

The main way of serving ‘cay’ is to pour ½ glass ‘cay’, ½ glass boiled water (there is special ‘cay bardagi’- tea glass, in smaller and bigger size) . Of course, tastes differ. Some people prefer stronger ‘cay’- ‘demli cay’ (also referred as ‘koyu cay’- dark tea), which consists od 2/3 glass cay and 1/3 glass boiled water or ‘acik cay’- light ‘cay’ that consists of 1/3 glass cay and 2/3 glass boiled water .

Please, keep in mind ‘cay’ is very strong mix and it may irritate your stomach. If you decide to try it anyway, I suggest you try ‘acik cay’, the light version of it. It’s easier to consume and irritates stomach much less.

Now on to the breakfast!

If you choose to stay in a hotel/ B&B or somewhere similar, breakfast offered in these places is generally rich buffet style: Many different kinds of cheese, bread, salami, olives, cereals, butter, jams, honey… And much more . For a drink, you can choose between juices, coffee (usually Turkish coffee) and ‘cay’. It is worth mentioning that juices are, most of the time, 90% sugar, 10% flavour. It’s kinda obvious ‘at first sip’.

All in all, there is something for everyone. It doesn’t matter how cheap or expensive your room was, breakfast will be good!

Feeling adventures?

In case that you are willing to try something different or breakfast is not included (AirBnB, for example), I suggest you pick from a variety of local breakfasts .

MENU

Good Morning Van!

Van is a city in eastern Turkey, also known as ‘Pearl of the East’. Van is not only famous for the beauty of its surrounding landscape and Van cat (breed native to this city, noted for its white fur and differently coloured eyes), but also for its breakfast !

Murtuga

Three tablespoons of butter, one glass of flour, bit salt, 2 eggs and most famous Van breakfast is ready! In case you prefer sweet breakfast, don’t rule out Murtuga just yet. By adding two or three tablespoons of honey, instead of salty you get sweet Murtuga. Afiyet olsun!

Kavut

Sweet Murtuga doesn’t sound like your ‘cup of tea’? Maybe you should try Kavut instead! Two glasses of roasted flour, one ‘cay’ glass of olive oil and one cup of jam or honey. Your sweet breakfast is made in minutes! I wish you to eat it as fast, too. 🙂

Good Morning Antep!

Van didn’t meet your expectations? Let’s try with its neighbour, Antep. It’s actually Gaziantep. No one has time to pronounce that. Closest to the Syrian border, situated in South-East Turkey, Antep is the sixth most populous city in Turkey . Not impressed? It’s, also, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world! Because of its rich history, the city is known for its museums (Gaziantep Museum of Archaeology, Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Hasan Suzer Ethnography Museum, etc.) and completely unique cuisine (due to Oguz Turk influence and culinary traditions of nearby Aleppo) . More on Antep cuisine can be found here and here.

Antep durumu/ boregi

Do you like vegetables? If your answer is yes then this is the right breakfast for you! Durum filled with tomatoes, fresh greenery and Antep cheese melts in the mouth like the best chocolate !

Semsek boregi

Maybe this is the best time for me to tell you how famous Antep cheese actually is! Well, in Turkey, more famous than Swiss cheese in the rest of the world! Add parsley, purslane and few other in the mix with Antep cheese, put it inside the pastry, bake and there is your Semsek!

Sekerli Borek

Thinking how pastry is really well loved in Turkey? We’re not done with it yet! Do you know how they call pistachio in Turkey? Antep fistigi- Antep nut! Make a sweet filling for your pastry by adding Antep nut, sugar and Antep cheese mix into it! Don’t worry, it’s neither too sweet or too salty. Just right!

Chickpea salad

Can you believe a salad found its way to this breakfast list? Believe it or not, it did! Chickpea is famously added to a large number of dishes, so it’s no surprise it made its way to breakfast, too. To be honest, there is no wrong or right way of making this salad. Any veggies and spices that you like, plus well-cooked chickpea. So simple!

Katmer

‘Yufka’ is the thinnest pastry and like any other pastry, it can be filled . In this case, it’s filled with ‘kaymak’, Antep nut and sugar mix. It may sound weird, but it tastes ‘like heaven’! Mmmm!

Van and Antep breakfasts sound too middle eastern for you? Let’s go a bit north then!

Good Morning Erzurum!

Erzurum is a city in North-Eastern Turkey, situated 1757 meters (5766 feet) above sea level. Erzurum is the best known for its winter sports facilities and its… You guest, cuisine! Although you could make a weekly meal plan including only typically Erzurum dishes, we’ll focus on breakfast here (you can find more info on Erzurum kitchen on Lunch and Dinner pages) .

Icli Kete

Two glasses of milk, one glass olive oil, half glass lukewarm water, 40g yeast, one and a half tablespoon salt and 6 glasses of flour . Result? High-quality pastry!

I, personally , don’t like empty pastry. That’s why Icli Kete has a filling!

How it tastes is hard to describe, so you will have to try it out yourself. 🙂