It's a wonder tables don't break constantly in Turkey _ they tend to be so laden with breakfast dishes, I wouldn't expect them to be able to bear the weight.
While weekdays tend to start with tea and simple fare at home, weekend breakfast is an all-out feast of the country's freshest produce, expertly cured meats and a few unique bites that help define Turkish breakfast as a meal that should never be missed.
Known in Turkish as kahvalti _ literally "before coffee" _ Turkish breakfast finds its joy in the bounty of choices. As Turkish tour operator Murat Ozguc told me during a trip last year, "First, your eyes should be satisfied _ then your stomach."
Gather tomatoes, olives, cheese and honey to re-create a version of this spread at home for a fun, yet leisurely brunch option _ and a bit of armchair travel especially distracting during the COVID-19 shutdown. A typical spread will be accompanied by many tulip-shaped glasses of steaming hot black tea, but thick, chocolatey Turkish coffee _ which requires a ritual all its own _ is often served separately from the morning meal.
Here is a Turkish breakfast roll call of delights to display at your table:
A plate of sliced cucumbers and ripe tomatoes _ from the garden or farmers market when in season.
Olives of all colors: Explore a Middle Eastern market and look for grilled olives, a unique choice, or buttery castelvetranos.
Fresh and aged cheeses: Turkey has dozens of native and local cheeses _ from beyaz peynir, a brined white cheese similar to feta, to mozzarella-like string cheese, to tulum and aged kashkaval. Breakfast is a great time to show off a selection.
Yogurt: Plain or fruit-flavored _ or try ayran, the popular, lightly salted yogurt beverage.
A rainbow of chunky fruit preserves made from cherries, apricots, figs or rose petals. You'll also need honey, preferably still dripping from its comb.
Kaymak, a wondrous, spreadable clotted cream often made from water buffalo milk. It makes butter seem obsolete (although top-quality butter is a great addition).
Grape molasses: Pekmez is made from grapes and must be boiled gently to create a sweet syrup. For breakfast, it is typically served in ramekins next to pots of toasted sesame tahini. When spread together on bread, they make for the best PB&J you've never had.
Hazelnut spread: Serve a plain hazelnut butter or a decadent one that contains cocoa, like Nutella.
Acuka, a flavorful spread of walnut and roasted red pepper.
Fresh fruit like figs, apples and grapes, or whatever is in season at the market.
And bread. Oh! The bread. Stacks of warm pide and other flatbreads; simit, the sesame seed-encrusted bagel sold on every Istanbul street corner; country loaves; and savory breakfast pastries like flaky pogaca, layered borek, acma _ a soft, ring-shaped bun topped with poppy seeds; and crisp gozleme filled with cheese, lamb or potatoes.
Then come the egg-and-meat dishes like sucuklu yumurta, which boasts sunny side-up eggs fried in a crock with sizzling sucuk, a mouthwatering beef salami spiced with fenugreek and cumin. Another popular dish features eggs scrambled with dry-cured, jerky-like meat called basturma. And then there's the classic menemen, a satisfying shakshuka-like scramble of eggs and aromatic vegetables, often seasoned with a bit of Turkish red pepper.
A tradition that crosses cultural and geographic borders, kahvalti is taken daily at home, but is frequently enjoyed with friends or family at a restaurant _ like American brunch, it has become a Sunday ritual. Dining outside is common in good weather, and Istanbul hotels like the luxurious Raffles put out a particularly copious spread _ Raffles includes a local cook preparing gozleme to order.
The recipes below offer a couple of homemade Turkish pastry options and an easy recipe for menemen, the ubiquitous egg dish presented in a cast-iron pan. Make it the centerpiece of a relaxing weekend meal, or introduce the basics to your table _ along with plenty of hot tea.
