Aegean Turkish

Imam Bayıldı ("the imam fainted" — eggplant stuffed with onion and tomato in olive oil, served cold), Şakşuka (fried eggplant + zucchini + bell pepper layered with garlic-yogurt), Karnıyarık (eggplant-and-ground-beef cousin to Imam Bayıldı, served warm). Zeytinyağlı Enginar (artichokes braised in olive oil with carrot, dill, lemon — the cold-served Aegean specialty). Iskender Kebab (Bursa's invention — sliced döner over flatbread, tomato sauce, browned butter, yogurt). Menemen for breakfast (eggs scrambled with tomato and green pepper). Dolma grape leaves stuffed cold.

Within Turkish cuisine, the Aegean and Mediterranean coast cooks lighter. Olive oil is the cooking fat (zeytinyağlı = olive-oil-cooked, a whole dish category). Eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomato, and the Mediterranean fish (sea bream, sea bass, octopus) shape the table. Greek-Anatolian overlap is unmistakable — the pre-1923 population exchange means Aegean Turkish and Aegean Greek cooking share much of the same vocabulary. Lighter than Anatolian plateau lamb, less spice-heavy than Southeast Antep, more vegetable-centric.