Turkish Culinary Culture

Nutrition is a central fact of existence for all living things, it is something we must achieve in order to remain alive. We may approach the subject of nutrition in Turkey, and Turkish cuisine, from a variety of standpoints.

Different societies have different cultures, and among these cultural differences is the element of eating habits. All people must eat to live. But what a person eats depends on both geographical conditions, and upon his culture.

Throughout our country, eating habits exhibit variety according to history, region, and even among various sections of society such as urban or village dwellers. In addition, we can speak of common features despite these differences.

With a long history, the Turks have a rich culinary culture. This wealth is evident in the rich variety of foods. 

In generally, we observe the following characteristics in Turkish foods:

• Nomadism and the agricultural economic structure have affected Turkish food.
• Foods exhibit variety according to our country’s geographical regions.
• Foods generally exhibit differentiation according to families’ socioeconomic level.
• The variety of foods is indicative of reciprocal influence with other cultures.
• Our cuisine is influenced by our religious structure, norms and values.
• Eating habits display a certain degree of differentiation according to gender.