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Republic of Turkey is located in the Northern Hemisphere and has a surface area of 780,043 km2, 97% of which lies in Asia Minor (Anatolia) with the remaining 3% in Europe (Thrace). Its shoreline stretches for 8,210 km along the Mediterranean Sea in the south, the Aegean Sea in the west, and the Black Sea in the north. In the northwest, there is the inland sea of Marmara between the straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. Turkey’s population was recorded as 82 million in 2019. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Turkey is among the few self-sufficient countries in the world in terms of food production, including apricots, cherries, chestnuts, chickpeas, chillies, cucumbers, figs, grapes, green beans, hazelnuts, honey, melons, leeks, lentils, peppers, pistachios, raisins, spices, strawberries, vetches, walnuts and watermelons. In addition to that, Turkey is one of the world’s richest countries with regard to diversity of plant species, hosting 167 families, 1,320 genera and 9,996 species, and supports very different vegetation types, of which about 32% are endemics. The long history of agriculture and diverse ecosystems in Turkey have allowed adaptation of fruit species to specific regions. About 75 fruit species, including 16 subtropical and 59 temperate zone fruit species, and 60 vegetable species are commercially grown in the country. Around 4000 BCE, olive cultivation also originated somewhere in the Anatolia (FAO, 2018; Noroozi et al., 2019).
The Turkish culture is diverse and fascinating with 47 ethnic groups represented in the country (Mutlu, 1996). All groups in Turkey are interrelated because they have been living in this region for centuries. Their eating habits, food choices and folklore are similar. Most people would, in general and often, think of Turkish cuisine as not being vegetarian due to popular meat dishes. However, vegetarianism is on the rise in Turkey (Dogan News Agency, 2019), and Turkish cooking provides healthy and balanced diets for vegetarian and non-vegetarian people with a broad range of vegetables, fruits and herbs. The Turkish eating habits vary from place to place, and each region has its own food culture. For instance, the central, eastern and southeastern parts of Turkey are famous for oily and spicy dishes with grains and legumes; the Black Sea region is known for dishes made with fish, corn and endemic plants; and in the Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean regions, vegetable-, herb and olive oil-based dishes are commonly consumed (Yüksel, 2011; Batu & Batu, 2018; Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2019a and b).
A survey conducted in thirty-one districts of Turkey in 2017 showed that meat consumption, especially red meat, is at very low levels among Turks. The lowest income group consumes only 279 grams of meat per capita on a weekly basis, whereas this amount is 645 grams of meat per capita on a weekly basis in the highest income group. More interestingly, the survey revealed that the most-cooked and preferred courses were described as vegetable, white bean, soup, pasta, and rice dishes (Hürriyet Daily News, 2018).
The essence of Turkish cuisine reveals itself in ceremonial food and food folklore, including weddings, burial ceremonies, some religious celebration like Ramadan and mevlit, circumcisions, migrations, journeys, hosting guests and welcoming newborns, each symbolizing different meanings, and having its own rituals. On these occasions, Turks prepare the best and most loved ceremonial foods to eat together. Remarkably, the prepared foods are mostly vegetarian-friendly ones. This attitude is, in general, due to the dependence of the Turks on biodiversity and ecosystems for thousands of years. That is to say, there has always been an interaction between the Turkish society and the physical environment through collecting herbs, mushrooms, medicinal and aromatic plants from nature to treat not only their own diseases, but also those of their animals (Dark, 2016; FAO, 2018).