Local Specialities of Izmir Famous Beyond The City’s Boundaries

Besides a great variety of green vegetables flavoured with olive oil and recipes of fish as fresh as a daisy, the cuisine of İzmir is, in fact, intertwined with specialities of street cooking due to the roots of nomad life in the city’s cultural fabric. For this reason, one can see here everywhere boyoz and Turkish bagel, here called gevrek, kumru that is the snack mostly preferred by people, çöp şiş, namely small pieces of meat on skewers, and counters that offer lokma, a type of doughnut, at every corner.

The local specialities specific to İzmir are, however, not limited to these. We have compiled some of the delightful delicacies that add flavour to the tables of the people in Izmir:

Boyoz

In İstanbul, Ankara or other cities, you can observe people going to work early in the morning eating a bagel, a poğaça, a kind of Turkish pastry, or an açma, a kind of bun in the hand… However, in İzmir there is only one possibility, and it is boyoz! While some people eat it at home accompanied with a boiled egg, some eat it on the way to work.

I would say ‘’rumour has it’’, but no; I will now tell you real story of boyoz based on historical facts all historians agree upon: The Sephardic Jews were evicted from Spain in 1492 and settled in Ottoman cities, particularly in İzmir among others. This pastry is based on the pieces of doughs remaining after cooking and formed into boyoz not to waste them. This is the real story of the birth of boyoz that has been characterised with İzmir for centuries now. 

Asparagus Roast

Asparagus that usually grows seasonally in May is very good for one’s health. That is perhaps the reason why the people of İzmir do add it in breakfast menu as well. They are generally eaten roasted flavoured with spices.

Kumru

This is a kind of sandwich totally specific to İzmir , but it is well renowned across Turkey as well. The name of this sandwich derives from its bread, the form of which is similar to kumru, namely a dove. The bread is baked in a procedure specific to this speciality. The originality of the bread lies in the sesames on it. It is usually coated with condiments such as sausage, salami, kashar cheese, tomatoes, pepper, and particularly tulum cheese, namely a kind of bryndza, mayonnaise and ketchup.

İzmir Tulum Cheese

Originally from Bergama, a borough in the province of İzmir, it is produced solely from sheep’s milk. This hard, but very delicious cheese is a feast for the palate, especially at breakfast. It can also be used to flavour salads.

Şevketibostan / Milk Thistle

I swear that the recipe based on this plant causes addiction in the real sense of the word. It is popular as stew cooked with sheep meat, but it can also be eaten boiled and roasted… With leaves with needle-like spines all over, it is in no way easy to wash and cook, but this is of no importance for the people of İzmir, as long as they have a piece of milk thistle on their table!

Arapsaçi / Baby’s Tears Plant

The baby’s tears plant that can be wonderfully used in snack recipes is in fact a plant growing all across the country, but it certainly owes its popularity to İzmir! This speciality that is prepared from the parts of the plants over the ground has numerous nutritious benefits!

Pabucaki / Zucchini Filled with Cheese

This wonderful speciality that is also named as boat trip can also be prepared with meat or minced meat. The rumour has it that it is a heritage of the Cretan cuisine.

İzmir Meatballs

Is it possible to come to İzmir and not to eat İzmir meatballs under the poplars of İzmir? No, because it is a delicacy about which songs were composed. This dish composed of meatballs roasted and further processed in oven enriches our tables. With the potatoes and peppers particularly, it is a feast for the palate!

Şambali Desert

This is the most famous desert that enriches the streets of İzmir! Everybody saves money to buy it in its season, it is such a popular desert here… Mr. Ali Remzi Eslek keeps this tradition alive in a nostalgic selling cart in the district of Alsancak. Mark my word and have your photo taken in front of his nostalgic cart.

Red Mullets Wrapped In Vine Leaves

As a matter of fact, fish in İzmir as food from the sea as a fertile source are generally cooked in several recipes with green vegetables. Besides chard plant and spinach, they can also be presented wrapped in vine leaves, the most popular recipe in this respect. People from İzmir who cook red mullets in a special sauce in oven are all gourmets in the real sense of the word!