🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Turks

Turks live in Anatolia, one of the oldest dairy regions in the world: traces of milk processing have been found here on pottery more than eight thousand years old. Dairy is everywhere in Turkish cuisine.

Yogurt is the basis of many dishes: it dresses soups, sauces and meat and is served with pilaf and mantı. Ayran — yogurt diluted with water, with salt — is drunk at any time, especially in summer, and is considered almost a national drink. Strained yogurt becomes süzme, and a dried mix of yogurt and grain becomes tarhana for winter soup. Popular foods include white brined cheese, kaymak with honey for breakfast, and kaşar and other cheeses.

Turkey is one of the world’s largest producers of sheep’s milk. Scientists study Turkish fermented milk products, including as an example of a local “microbial terroir”.