So… we’ve had a lovely evening the night before in Kalkan: great food washed down with good wine and Efes. It’s now mid morning and we’re feeling peckish. What better way to relax and while away a few hours with friends than with a traditional Turkish breakfast.

We walk into town to burn off some calories in preparation.

Breakfast, or kahvalti (literally translated as ‘before coffee’), is a truly social event in Turkiye, a time to enjoy each other’s company, grazing on food to be savoured, shared and lingered over. As it’s Sunday the bakers in Kalkan’s main street is buzzing with Turkish families and friends sitting at tables laden with small dishes of a seemingly endless variety of sweet and savoury food. 

We choose a table outside to enjoy the late morning sunshine, and take in the lazy chatter from the other tables, and the intoxicating smell of freshly baked bread wafting our way. No two Turkish breakfasts are the same – and it can be a meal of epic proportions. So from past experience, we order the smaller, set breakfast. It doesn’t disappoint.

First out comes the unlimited black tea (cay) in tulip shaped glasses, refreshing but weak enough not to need milk, followed by my all time favourite, a pan of menemen, a delicious form of scrambled egg mixed with tomatoes, green peppers and spices. Then the basket of bread and simit arrives, freshly baked that morning. To top it off, the waiter brings out a tempting mixture of colourful small dishes including three different types of cheese, walnuts and dried apricots, cold meats, olives, seasonal vegetables of tomato, cucumber, rocket, parsley, fruit preserves and jam, tahini, creamy butter, and honey with kaymak, a surprisingly delicious whipped cream made from buffalo milk. 

In Turkiye, breakfast is all about presentation and fresh ingredients sourced locally. It’s a nutritious meal of taste, textures and colour. It will often include seasonal fruits, cake, borek, grape molasses… But whatever dishes arrive, you certainly won’t leave the table hungry!

Make time to enjoy at least one breakfast on your visit. It’s a meal you’ll remember with relish and delight. And it’s what Turkiye, and Kalkan, is all about.