If you pick up a travel guide to Turkey and turn to the food section you’ll read gushing reviews full of phrases like “best cuisine”, “internationally recognised”, and “delicious and varied”. But ask a vegetarian what they think of Turkish food and their answer will usually be negative.

I’m not sure how to explain this disparity of experience. It’s true that the land of the doner kebab is unashamedly carnivorous, and chances are an innocent looking soup or stew is made with a meat stock. But as in Greece, Turkey’s meaty machissimo belies a fondness for vegetable dishes.

Most Lokantras (a cheap Turkish restaurant) offer a selection of cold mezzes (dips and more substantial dishes), salads, main dishes and desserts. The mezze dishes are often on display in the window so you can check to see if they have meat lurking in them.

The mezzes are similar to Greece, except they are usually served cold and use slightly different spice combinations. In both countries many vegetable mezzes (”zeytinyagli”)  are cooked in olive oil and made early in the morning, set aside, and then served later in the day. Typical Turkish vegetarian mezze dishes include:

Stuffed capsicums, tomatoes or eggplant (usually with rice, allspice, cinnamon, pine nuts and currants).

Imam bayildi (eggplant stuffed with tomato, onion and garlic).

Eggplant cooked in tomato sauce and oil.

White beans in tomato sauce (although minus the dill, unlike in Greece).

Green beans cooked in tomato and olive oil.

Spinach and rice, or just spinach mixed with garlic.

A very Turkish vegetarian mezze is borek - a cigar shaped filo pastry roll filled with white cheese and parsley.

There are usually one or two salads on Turkish menus, using ingredients like fresh carrot, tomato, cucumber and red cabbage. These are one of the few sources of fresh food so don’t be shy about ordering them.

A nice touch is that you can often dress the salads yourself with lemon juice and oil. Although there is not the variety you find in Greece, they are usually cheese free, which is good news for vegans and anyone with more than a passing interest in their cholestorol levels.

Vegetarians will probably be wasting their time by looking at the mains - although you do get the occasional vegetarian plate. But that’s fine because there are enough mezzes to make a main course redundant. Restaurants that see a lot of tourist trade may also have pide, gozleme or pizza options, which can often be vegetarian if you want a change from mezze standards.

The Turks have turned dessert and sweet food into an art form. Most restaurants will offer a selection including baklava, rice pudding and fresh fruit, but there are also specialised sweet stores and bakeries if you change your mind on the way home.

OK, so Turkey doesn’t exactly wear a vegetarian badge of pride, and vegetable dishes sans oil are as rare as hen’s teeth. But vegetarians won’t starve - in fact, they might even enjoy themselves!

Share This