Q 01/05

Ottoman sultans staged a yearly 'Baklava Procession' to present trays of the pastry to which elite troops?

A) The Mamluks

B) The Janissaries

C) The Sipahis

D) The Cossacks

Answer · why

B) The Janissaries

The Janissaries, the sultan's elite infantry, collected trays baked in the palace kitchens in a public pageant that survived until the corps itself wa...

Q 02/05

Hamsi, a staple of Black Sea cooking in Turkey, is what kind of fish?

A) Sardine

B) Anchovy

C) Mackerel

D) Turbot

Answer · why

B) Anchovy

Anchovy: in the winter hamsi season, Black Sea cooks fry the little fish in corn flour, bake them into pilaf and even work them into bread.

Q 03/05

Mantı, the small stuffed dumplings, are especially associated with which Central Anatolian city?

A) Kayseri

B) Konya

C) Sivas

D) Ankara

Answer · why

A) Kayseri

Kayseri: tradition there holds that a bride-to-be should fold her mantı so small that forty of them fit on a single spoon.

Q 04/05

Urfa kebap is the mild version of Turkey's hand-minced lamb kebab; which city names the fiery, chilli-laced one?

A) Ankara

B) Adana

C) Antalya

D) Samsun

Answer · why

B) Adana

Adana is protective of it: the city's Chamber of Commerce has registered Adana kebabı as a geographically protected product.

Q 05/05

The Turkish word for breakfast, kahvaltı, literally means what?

A) First bread

B) Morning coffee

C) Before coffee

D) Early table

Answer · why

C) Before coffee

Before coffee: kahve-altı is literally 'under coffee', the food eaten ahead of the day's cup. The cup has since lost out, because a Turkish breakfast ...