Turkish cuisine has Mediterranean, Caucasian, and Arabic influences but gradually it is assimilating many other different tastes including Asian, European, which are allowing to make of the traditional cuisine a few more varied.

The diet in turkey consist basically of few simple staples (rice, vegetables, grilled or roasted meat and fish, seafood and salads), flavoured with a handful of herbs (garlic, oregano, cumin, dill and sage), and plenty of thick Turkish yoghurt. Two ingredients in particular dominate Turkish meals; aubergine (patlican) and lamb (kuzu).

Most Turkish meals begin with a meze that is a mixture of appetizers featuring olives, cheese, pickles and a wide variety of small dishes. Turks typically drink raki, an anise-flavored spirit accompanying the meze. The main dish is usually beef, lamb is also common. A typical dish in Turkey is kebab (kebap) that consist in grilled meat in various forms including the famous döner kebap (meat shaved from a giant rotating spit) and siskebab (skewered meat), and a lot more others.

Fish and seafood are popular, there are a great variety of dishes to try, including trout (alabahk), turbot (kalka) and swordfish (kiliç), usually accompanied by a selection of vegetables, a traditional Turkish salad of tomatoes, cucumber, hot peppers and olives and a platter of fresh bread.

The final dish usually is sweet dessert such as halva (a sort of sesame seed cake) or a platter of fruit - watermelon is very popular - followed by a small cup of thick strong Turkish coffee (kahve).

Despite, Turkey has predominantly a Muslim population, the fact of being a secular republic allows to the country arrange alcoholic drinks. Raki is the most popular Turkish spirit and Turkey's national drink. Another of the most consumed drinks is the beer, being Efes Pilsen the most popular and cheapest, but in addition there are other labels available.

Turkish wines, although they are not so popular among turks, they are surprisingly palatable and pleasingly inexpensive. Kavaklidere and Doluca, the best known brands, produce a selection of both red and white wines.

Tea (çay), the national hot drink of Turkey, and the Turkish coffee are very popular, with thousands of places offering both traditional Turkish çay, and a number of fruit flavoured variations especially apple tea or 'elma çay' that is very popular among the tourist.

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