MAIN INGREDIENTS
This internationally popular, beige-colored spread is traditionally made with mashed chickpeas, tahini sesame paste, lemon juice, and garlic. People across the world love hummus for its tangy flavor and the fact that it is filled with nutrients.
When served, it is typically dressed with a drizzle of olive oil, and is then used as a dip for vegetables or a flavorful filling for flatbreads such as pita. Even today, not much is known about its origins, although the earliest mention of hummus dates back to 13th-century Egypt.
VARIATIONS OF Hummus
MOST ICONIC Hummus
A staple breakfast dish in Turkey, bal kaymak is a delicious combination of kaymak - a traditional dairy product produced from water buffalo milk, very similar to clotted cream - that is generously doused with honey. The dish is served as a spread or a sweet dip alongside tea or a variety of other traditional breakfast dishes and is typically paired with bread.
Rarely, it is served as a dessert and it sometimes comes garnished with ground, chopped, or whole walnuts.
MOST ICONIC Bal kaymak
View moreMenemen is a traditional spread consisting of tomatoes, eggs, peppers, and various spices. There are many version of menemen, so it can also contain garlic, cheese, spinach, sausage pieces, or onions (when menemen is served as a main dish). It is usually sold at breakfast or brunch places in Turkey, and most restaurants serve it in metal pans, with a big basket filled with bread as an accompaniment.
Most people don’t use forks, as they opt for bread as the utensil of choice, scooping up this flavorful spread in the process.
MOST ICONIC Menemen
View moreFound in various forms throughout cuisines of Southeast Europe and the Middle East, cacık is a refreshing Turkish dip made with strained or diluted yogurt mixed with finely chopped cucumbers and minced garlic. It is traditionally flavored with olive oil, dill weed, mint, either lemon juice or vinegar, and sometimes even oregano, thyme, sumac, and paprika.
Cacık is served chilled and it is used for virtually everything from various appetizers to main dishes. It pairs especially well with classic Turkish meat fare such as köfte and kebabs of all kinds. As a side dish, cacık is typically enjoyed in place of a salad, diluted with water and eaten with a spoon, like soup.
MOST ICONIC Cacık
Creamy texture and mild flavor are the main attributes of labneh; a traditional Middle Eastern strained yogurt that is prepared with yogurt and salt. No strict guidelines are used to produce it; plain full-fat yogurt is mixed with salt and left to strain for twelve to twenty-four hours.
During straining, the yogurt whey separates, and what is left is a thick and firm cheese-like product. Its texture can vary from creamy to dense, but it always has a relatively mild and slightly salty flavor. The name labneh is native to the Middle East, but strained yogurt varieties are found in numerous other countries and regions such as Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Central Asia, the United States, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 5 Turkish Spreads” list until April 15, 2025, 2,850 ratings were recorded, of which 1,503 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.