Turkish cuisine gives us plenty of reasons why it’s so appreciated all over the world. Details such as the combinations of ingredients used in cooking, cooking techniques and indispensable cooking sauce make Turkish dishes are everyone’s favourite. However, the most magical parts of Turkish cuisine are the hidden spices. It is the secret herbs and spices that make up the rich flavours and exquisite taste. Aside from enticing us with a wonderful aroma, these condiments give us plenty of health benefits. The following are the most popular herbs and spices you might recognise in Turkish cuisine.
Red Pepper Flakes
Among the most popular spices that easily adds a delicious aroma is red pepper flakes. You might get a slightly bitter taste from this spice. The spice is made by drying hot and sweet fresh peppers in the sun before they are crushed up. Some chilli flakes are not roasted before being crushed, depending on each region of the country. From soups to juicy hotpot dishes and casseroles to stir-fries, red pepper flakes are used in all types of cooking. Also known to be a natural painkiller, red pepper flakes are believed to strengthen your immune system because it is enriched with vitamin C.
Mint
Thanks to its intense essence and refreshing flavours, mint is a favourite herb used in, generally healthy foods like salads, cold juices, stuffed vegetables (dolma) and yoghurt dishes. Mint also helps with your respiratory tract.
Cumin
Cumin has this intense aromatic flavour. That’s why it’s an indispensable spice in Turkish cuisine. Cumin grown in Anatolia is even used to suppress the smell of meat, precisely because of its intense aroma. It’s used a lot in the popular dishes of köfte (meatballs) and meat dishes like sucuk (spicy sausages). Turkish locals prefer their cumin in powder form. Cumin is hardly ever used in its seed form. Among the many health benefits, it is reportedly very good for asthma, increases immunity, facilitates digestion, delays cell ageing and is excellent for anaemia.
Sumac
Used in a lot of Turkish dishes, sumac is a spice known to be as tart and tangy as a lemon. Sumac is collected from dwarf trees and grown in southeast Türkiye. The leaves are dried and ground into powder. Not only is it used in Türkiye’s most famous kebab dishes, it’s also pretty common in onion salads, raw meatballs (Turkish version of steak tartar), fish and Turkish ravioli. In terms of health benefits, this spice is also good to facilitate digestion and balance the body’s sugar levels.
Clove
The clove spice is obtained by drying the dark small nail-shaped buds of the clove flower. It plays an integral role in Turkish cuisine. Thanks to its intense taste and dominant smell, it is especially used in sherbets and compotes. Also used in the production of cakes and desserts, cloves are included in herbal teas like black tea. And Turks do love their black teas, so cloves are pretty much everywhere. As far as health benefits can go, cloves have been one of the strongest known natural antiseptics used in the medical industry for centuries. They are good for throat and stomach ailments. Thanks to their dominant smell, they are good for tooth and gum pain as well. They also refresh breath. If you eat onions and garlic, many people in Türkiye pop one of these in their mouths afterwards to eliminate bad breath. Many restaurants offer cloves with the bill. See if you can identify these spices the next time you order Turkish cuisine. Head to
Sahan Mezopotamian Street Food for authentic Turkish dining experience.
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