Southeast Turkish

Adana Kebab — minced lamb (with lamb fat) bound with Marash chili and pressed onto a flat skewer, grilled hot — comes with grilled tomato, pul biber, sumac onions, and bulgur pilav. Çiğ Köfte — the Antep raw meatball (now usually all-vegetarian using bulgur, hot-pepper paste, walnut, and onion) — kneaded for an hour by hand, served on lettuce with lemon. Lahmacun (paper-thin meat-topped flatbread) wraps around parsley and lemon. Künefe — shredded kataifi pastry around stretchy Hatay cheese, soaked in light syrup, topped with pistachio. Antep baklava with green pistachio is the regional pride. Beyran soup (lamb-rice-garlic-chili) for breakfast.

Within Turkish cuisine, Gaziantep and the southeast (Antep, Şanlıurfa, Adana, Hatay) is the spice capital. UNESCO declared Gaziantep a Creative City of Gastronomy in 2015 — the only Turkish city so designated. Bulgur, chili (Maraş, Urfa, Antep), pomegranate molasses (nar ekşisi), pistachio (Antep is Turkey's pistachio center), and lamb-and-yogurt drive the table. The neighbouring Levant influence (Aleppo cooking just across the border) is unmistakable. Hotter than Anatolia, drier than the Black Sea, more chili-driven than the Aegean's olive-oil restraint.