Turkish cuisine, having a six hundred year splendid flavor inheritance, is considered as the third richest cuisine in the world. It got enriched with immigrant and minority cultures during Roman, Byzantium and Ottoman period.

Turkish cuisine varies across the country. The cooking of Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, and rest of the Aegean region inherits many elements of Ottoman court cuisine, with a lighter use of spices, a preference for rice over bulgur, koftes and a wider availability of vegetable stews (türlü), eggplant (patlıcan), stuffed dolmas and fish.

The cuisine of the Black Sea Region uses fish extensively, especially the Black Sea anchovy (hamsi) and includes maize dishes.

The cuisine of the southeast – Urfa, Gaziantep and Adana – is famous for its variety of kebabs, mezes and dough – based desserts such as baklava, şöbiyet, kadayıf and künefe.

Especially in the western parts of Turkey, where olive trees grow abundantly, olive oil is the major type of oil used for cooking.

The cuisines of the Aegean, Marmara and Mediterranean regions are rich in vegetables, herbs, and fish.

Central Anatolia has many famous specialties, such as keşkek, mantı (especially from Kayseri) and gözleme.