Let's talk about kebaps

We should start with the basics. Kebaps are available just about everywhere and one useful definition I have heard is 'a dish cooked without water'. Kebaps don't have to be all about meat but they usually are. The 3 most frequently encountered variants are Doner, Kofte and Shish and we'll have a look at each of these as well as some others that youill probably come across.

Doner is the big turning spit of lamb or chicken from which slices of meat are cut. This is usually served in a half loaf (Yarim doner)with raw onions and tomato and makes a cheap lunch. If you're sitting down to eat it may be served with rice, chips (usually both cold) and bread.

Shish is cubes of meat (which may be lamb, beef or chicken) grilled on wooden skewers and served in the same way as doner. Very cheap as street food and really shouldn't cost more than a couple of quid even somewhere that fancies itself.
Cop kebab is a variety of shish where smaller pieces of lamb are used and typically a portion of Cop is 4 or 5 skewers of meat bits.

Kofte are meatballs, predominantly lamb, and there is a rich variety of kofte recipes within Turkey though you probably need to be a connoisseur to tell some of them apart. They come in different shapes and sizes but are usually grilled. The kofteci is usually the last guy on the street to stop cooking and in larger towns you'll find kofte vans on the busier streets 'til the early hours of the morning.

Variations on a theme

In addition to the 3 types above, which you may be familiar with anyway, we'll have a look at some of the more interesting variations that you'll encounter.

Iskender is a strong contender for King of Kebaps, you'll find specialist Iskender restaurants all over Turkey and they can be great places to eat. Basically Iskender is slices of doner, served on a base of sliced flat bread and covered with a rich tomato sauce. It will be served with yoghurt and should have a hot butter sauce poured over the top. Good Iskender restaurants pride themselves on the quality of the meat they use and even the best are very reasonably priced.

Adana kebap is also common, a spiced (hot) minced meat pattie cooked on a flat metal spit over a grill and served with bread and salad. Adana can be very spicy and a general rule of thumb is that the further East you are the hotter the food will get.

Testi kebap is an Anatolian speciality. Small pieces of lamb or chicken cooked in a mushroomy, oniony sauce. The twist is that it's cooked in a sealed clay pot which will be broken open at the table so that you can eat the contents. This can be a little crunchy but it's worth it for the spectacle.

Beyti is a variety of durum or rolled kebap. Served as a snack or a full meal you'll receive an Adana type spiced meat pattie, rolled in a thin bread and then sliced. Often served with a high garlic content, bulgar (cracked wheat) and yoghurt.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of kebapy type foods. I've covered the basics but the more you travel the more variations you'll find.