Along with grains, vegetables are consumed in large quantities in the Turkish diet.
The simplest and most basic type of vegetable dish is prepared by slicing a main vegetable such as zucchini or eggplant, combining it with tomatoes, green peppers, and onions, and cooking it slowly in butter and its own juices. Since the vegetables cultivated in Türkiye are truly delicious, a simple dish like this, eaten with a generous chunk of fresh bread, is a satisfying meal for many in itself.
A whole class of vegetables is cooked in olive oil. These dishes would be third in a five-course meal, following the soup and a main course such as rice or börek with a vegetable-and-meat dish, and before dessert and fruit. Practically all vegetables—fresh string beans, artichokes, celery root, eggplant, pinto beans, or zucchini—can be cooked in olive oil and are typically served at room temperature. They are a staple part of the menu, with variations depending on the season.
Then there are the fried vegetables—eggplant, peppers, or zucchini—served with a tomato or yogurt sauce.
Dolma is the generic term for stuffed vegetables, derived from the Turkish verb “doldurmak” (“to fill”)—it literally means “stuffed.” There are two categories: those filled with a seasoned meat mixture, and those filled with a rice mixture. The rice-stuffed versions are cooked in olive oil and eaten at room temperature. The meat dolma is a main-course dish served with a yogurt sauce, and a very common one in the average household.
Any vegetable that can be hollowed out or wrapped around a filling can be used in a dolma, including zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, cabbage, and grapevine leaves. However, the green pepper dolma with rice stuffing has to be the queen of all dolmas—a feast for both the eye and the palate.
When talking about vegetables, it is important to know that the eggplant (or aubergine) holds a special place in Turkish cuisine. This handsome vegetable—with its brown-green cap, velvety purple skin, and firm, slim body—has a richer flavor than its relatives found elsewhere. At a party, a frustrating question to ask a Turk would be: “How do you usually cook your eggplant?” A proper answer would take hours.
Here, it will have to suffice to mention two eggplant dishes that are a must to taste. The first is karnıyarık—eggplant split lengthwise and filled with a seasoned meat mixture. This is a common summer dish, eaten with white rice pilaf. The second is hünkar beğendi (“Sultan’s Delight”), a refined formal dish that is not easy to make but well worth the effort. It features lamb stew served atop a creamy roasted eggplant purée enriched with béchamel sauce. The dish is said to have been created in honor of Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III, during her visit to Sultan Abdülaziz in 1869.
To taste these dishes, look for a lokanta—borrowed from the Italian “locanda,” this is the type of establishment where traditional home-style cooking is prepared, most often for those who work nearby. The tables are covered with white linen, and the menu includes soups, traditional main dishes, desserts, and fresh fruit. Businesspeople and politicians frequently visit these places for lunch. Well-known lokantas include Borsa, Hacı Salih, and Konyalı in Istanbul, and Liman and Çiftlik in Ankara.