Pide - Turkish Pizza

Pide is a staple Turkish food and you'll find it all over the country. In touristy areas it's advertised as Turkish Pizza but that doesn't really do it justice. Pide is a long thin banana shaped bread, rolled with some skill from a small ball of dough. The bread is then covered with the topping of your choice and slammed into a large, solid fuel burning oven for about 10 minutes. The resulting pide is sliced up and served piping hot. The most common toppings are listed below. A normal sized pide should cost about $2.

Kasarli(kasharla) - a simple, yellow cheese topping, vegetarians can usually get tomatoes and green peppers added to this if they ask nicely.

Kiymali(kimarla) - lightly spiced mince lamb and tomato topping

Sucuklu(sujuklu} - slices of spicy Turkish sausage

Yumurtlu - egg, usually with a little cheese to keep it company

Karasik(karashuk} - all of the above in unpredictable proportions and scattered at random over the surface of the bready treat.

Kusbasili(kushbashala} - literally, birds heads, in reality small chunks of lamb in a spicy tomato type context

Pick & Mix - although this concept may be new to the proprietor of the establishment in which you find yourself you can certainly ask for non standard combinations of the above topping to be used. I'd recommend kusbasili and kasarli with a fair portion of pul biber or crushed chilies.

Variations on a theme

Only a couple of options to worry about here

Kapili(kapulur) - Some pide places will offer you the option of having a secret, surprise pide where the sides are folded over to make a kind of toasted sandwich. This is kapili or covered pide.

Lahmacun(laamaajun) - A smaller, thinner, rounder thing cooked in the same sort of oven and usually available wherever pide is cooked. A spiced minced meat and tomato topping (or sometimes chicken). Usually the cheapest thing you can eat for lunch.