Turkish breakfast (Kahvaltı)
Photo: Daderot · CC0

History

Kahvaltı means literally before-coffee, the meal that precedes the morning Turkish coffee. The modern serpme (spread) version, with thirty small plates, became standard in Istanbul after the 1980s as breakfast houses turned the village meal into a city institution. Cihangir's Van Kahvaltı Evi codified the Eastern Anatolian template with Van otlu cheese, kaymak with honeycomb and menemen. The meal is meant to be shared, lingered over, and run straight into the lunch hour.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, Nuts

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 25 minTotal 35 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 200g white cheese (beyaz peynir or feta)
  • 100g Turkish kaşar or mild cheddar
  • 100g pitted green and black olives
  • 4 eggs
  • 150g sucuk (Turkish cured beef sausage), sliced
  • 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
  • 1 cucumber, sliced
  • 100g clotted cream (kaymak) or thick double cream
  • Honey, a jar of strawberry jam, walnuts
  • Fresh bread or simit
  • Strong-brewed Turkish tea, to serve

Method

  1. Lay out the spread on small plates: cheeses, olives, tomato, cucumber, walnuts, honey, jam and kaymak.
  2. Fry the sucuk slices in a dry pan until the fat renders, then crack the eggs into the same pan and cook sucuklu yumurta until the whites are set.
  3. Brew strong Turkish çay in a double-pot çaydanlık so each cup is poured weak with hot water from the lower pot.
  4. Serve everything together, with bread cut at the table, and let everyone build their own bites.

Tip from the editors. Do not slice the bread until the table is set; a fresh slice and a warm tomato make the difference between a buffet and a kahvaltı.

Where to eat turkish breakfast (kahvaltı)

Turkish breakfast (Kahvaltı) in Istanbul

Van Kahvaltı Evi ★ 4.5

₺₺ ₺350-500BrunchEastern Turkish serpme breakfastCihangir

Van Kahvaltı Evi in Cihangir, the dense Eastern-Anatolian serpme spread of herb cheese, kaymak and clotted-cream eggs that defines a Sunday Turkish breakfast.

OrderOtlu peynir, kaymak with honey and clotted-cream eggs

Directions

Privato Cafe ★ 4.3

₺₺ ₺400-650BrunchAll-day Turkish breakfastBeyoğlu

Privato Cafe in Galata, a brick-walled brunch hall with all-day Turkish kahvaltı, mini gözleme and a side terrace that runs out the side of the Galata Tower.

OrderSpinach gözleme and the full serpme breakfast spread

Directions

Sade Kahve ★ 4.4

₺₺ ₺500-800BrunchBosphorus terrace serpme kahvaltıSarıyer

Sade Kahve at Rumeli Hisarı, an all-day breakfast house under the fortress walls, the serpme board served on the water-facing terrace until 02:00.

OrderFull kahvaltı board with sucuklu yumurta

Directions

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