Turkey's Gastronomy Routes: Gaziantep, Hatay and Adana Food Tour Guide

If you've eaten Turkish food in Europe and thought it was good, wait until you eat it here. Gaziantep, Hatay and Adana are not just famous for their food within Turkey — they are internationally recognised as three of the world's outstanding food cities. Gaziantep holds a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy designation. Hatay's cuisine is a living bridge between Turkish and Arab culinary traditions. Adana is the home of one of the world's most copied kebabs — and the original is incomparably better than any version you've eaten elsewhere.

These three cities form a natural gastronomy arc across southern Turkey. Here is what each one delivers — and how to visit all three. Our Southeastern Anatolia Tour passes through this region →

Gaziantep — Turkey's Culinary Capital

Location: Southeastern Turkey | UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy

Gaziantep — known locally simply as Antep — has maintained unbroken culinary traditions going back centuries. The city's food is defined by three things: the Antep pistachio, the use of red pepper paste (biber salçası), and a kebab culture that is significantly more varied and sophisticated than what most visitors associate with Turkish food.

The Antep Pistachio

The pistachio grown in and around Gaziantep is categorically different from what's available in European supermarkets:

• Smaller than commercial varieties
• More intensely coloured — a deeper, more vivid green
• Richer and sweeter — the flavour is noticeably more complex

This pistachio is the foundation of Gaziantep's most famous contribution to world food: baklava. Gaziantep baklava is lighter, less sweet and considerably more nuanced than versions made elsewhere. The baklava district of Gaziantep — specialist shops clustered around Düztepe — produces pastry that is worth travelling to eat.

Dishes You Must Try in Gaziantep

• Beyran — a soup of rice, lamb and spices, eaten for breakfast; rich, deeply flavoured, unlike any soup you've had before
• Ali Nazik — kebab served on smoked aubergine purée with yoghurt; one of the great combinations in Turkish cooking
• Katmer — a flaky breakfast pastry filled with kaymak (clotted cream) and crushed pistachio; technically breakfast, actually extraordinary
• Oruk — bulgur casing filled with spiced minced meat, shaped like a torpedo and fried; street food at its most satisfying
• Lahmacun — thinner, spicier and more intensely flavoured than Istanbul versions

Where to Eat in Gaziantep

• Imam Çağdaş — the most famous baklava shop in the city, operating since 1887
• Zekeriya Usta — the reference point for beyran in Gaziantep
• Güllüoğlu — another historic baklava institution
• The streets around Zincirli Bedesten for authentic working-day food

Hatay (Antakya) — Where Turkey Meets the Arab World

Location: Southern Turkey, on the Syrian border

Hatay's cuisine is one of the most distinct in Turkey — not fully Turkish, not fully Arab, but a living hybrid that reflects the province's complex history (it was part of French Syria until 1939 and has a significant Arab-speaking population).

What Makes Hatay's Cuisine Different

• Muhammara — walnut and red pepper paste, served with bread; deep, slightly smoky, addictive
• Humus — not the supermarket variety; made with chickpeas slow-cooked to order, with cumin, tahini and olive oil
• Künefe — the finest künefe in Turkey comes from Hatay; shredded wheat pastry layered with local stretchy cheese, soaked in syrup and served with ice cream; the version here is incomparably better than any other region
• Oruk — similar to the Gaziantep version but with Hatay spice combinations
• Zingilfili kebab — a local preparation with walnut and pomegranate, found almost nowhere else

The Hatay Food Culture

In Hatay, food is eaten communally from shared dishes in the centre of the table — a different ritual from most Turkish eating. Meals are long. Tea comes at the end in Arabic-style small glasses, not the Turkish tulip shape. The pace is unhurried.

The Hatay bazaar — one of the most atmospheric in southern Turkey — is where to buy local spices, dried herbs and pomegranate molasses to take home.

This region is covered in our Southeastern Anatolia Tour →

Adana — The Kebab That Defines a City

Location: Southern Turkey, on the Seyhan River

Adana kebab is one of the world's most imitated dishes. The original is a long, flat kebab of minced lamb mixed with tail fat and red pepper, hand-kneaded and grilled over charcoal on wide flat skewers. The characteristic of a genuine Adana kebab is the texture — firm but yielding, slightly charred on the outside, juicy within — and the spice level, which is significantly hotter than most Turkish food.

What to Eat in Adana

• Adana kebab — the original; order it at a specialist ocakbaşı (grill restaurant) not a tourist menu
• Şalgam suyu — a fermented turnip juice, slightly sour and naturally carbonated; the traditional accompaniment to kebab in Adana
• Bıçak arası — "between the knives"; a sandwich-style preparation with very fine minced lamb between flatbread
• Tantuni — minced meat and vegetables stir-fried in a wok-like pan, wrapped in thin flatbread; fast food at a high level

The Adana Food Scene

Adana's best eating is in the working-class ocakbaşı restaurants in the city centre, not in hotel dining rooms. The best Adana kebab costs significantly less than its equivalent in Istanbul and tastes significantly better.

Adana bazaar is also worth visiting — the spice market and the traditional covered bazaar predate the city's modern growth and retain a working character.

Planning a Southern Turkey Gastronomy Tour

Practical route:

Getting there from Germany:

• Frankfurt/Munich → Gaziantep via Istanbul: approximately 5 hours total
• Alternatively fly to Adana (return) and work the route east to west

Best time: April–June and September–October — the summer heat in this region reaches 40°C+ in July and August; this is not pleasant for extended outdoor eating and bazaar exploration.

Ready to plan a Turkish gastronomy tour?
Our Southeastern Anatolia Tour passes through Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa and the wider region — expert guides who know where the locals actually eat, not where tourists are sent.

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