Essay: Why Turkish cuisine is popular?

Introduction
Turkish cuisine is one of the greatest cuisine surviving for over 1,300 years due to favorable location and Mediterranean climate. The position of the country from Far East and the Mediterranean Sea helped the Turks to gain control of trade routes, gave an ideal environment which benefited plants and animals to flourish and also helped to develop and sustain a lasting influence on the regional cuisine.
Why Turkish cuisine is popular?
Think about it: the Ottoman Empire covered three continents for 600 years. They controlled the spice trade. Ottoman rule extended from Budapest to Baghdad and much of the Mediterranean basin. Turkish nomads had been moving through central Asia toward the Middle East for a few thousand years. Then, at the end of the 13th century, one group the Ottomans set up permanent camp in what was then Constantinople, now Istanbul. By then, there had been culinary cross-fertilization from Asia, the Islamic world and bits of Europe. Talk about fusion cuisine, it is the eclectic, habit-forming cuisine of Turkey. In other words, the Turkish Cuisine has the extra privilege of being at the cross-roads of the Far-East and the Mediterranean, which mirrors a long and complex history of Turkish migration from the steppes of Central Asia (where they mingled with the Chinese) to Europe (where they exerted influence all the way to Vienna).
This led to a Cuisine that is open to improvisation through development of regional styles while retaining its deep structure. The Cuisine is also an integral aspect of culture. It is a part of the rituals of everyday life events. It reflects spirituality, in forms that are specific to it, through symbolism and practice.
In contemporary times, the Turkish cuisine has also become popular with the representation of whirling dervishes, a physically active meditation which originated among Sufis, and which is still practiced by the Sufi Dervishes.
Historical conditions that make up Turkish cuisine as we know today:
Similar to other grand Cuisines of the world, it is a result of the combination of three key elements. A nurturing environment is irreplaceable. Turkey is known for an abundance and diversity of foodstuff due to its rich flora, fauna and regional differentiation. And the legacy of an Imperial Kitchen is inescapable. Hundreds of cooks specializing in different types of dishes, all eager to please the royal palate, no doubt had their influence in perfecting the Cuisine as we know it today. The Palace Kitchen, supported by a complex social organization, a vibrant urban life, specialization of labor, trade, and total control of the Spice Road, reflected the culmination of wealth and the flourishing of culture in the capital of a mighty Empire.
Diversity in Turkish Cuisine
Diversity and the full flavour makes the Turkish cuisine worldwide famous which draws influences from its rich history and each region in the country today praises its own specialities. The richness of Turkish cuisine is based on several factors: Variety of products cultivated on the lands of Asia and Anatolia, numerous cultural interactions in history, the palace kitchens of Seljuk and Ottoman empires and geographical conditions that shaped the character of Turkish Culinary culture.
The Turkish art of cooking has a long and deep-rooted past and its cuisine varies across the country. The culinary culture of Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir region inherits many elements of vast Ottoman cuisine. The Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean cuisines are rich in vegetables, fresh herbs and fish. Olive oil is most widely used. Black sea region’s cuisine uses fish extensively, especially the Black Sea anchovy (hamsi),. Its influenced by Balkan and Slavic cuisine and includes maize dishes. The cuisine of the southeast – Urfa Gaziantep and Adana – is famous for its kebabs and dough-based desserts such as baklava, kadyif and Kunefe. Central Anatolia has its own specialities, such as keskek, manti and gozleme. Istanbul, howerver is the city where almost all kind of cuisines can be tasted, due to its multi-culture structure of a metropolis.
Characteristic of Turkish food
The Turks are natural locavores. Everything is fresh and in season. Fish is cooked the day its caught. Key ingredients being primarily meat, vegetable and legumes, Turkish meals are generally soupy, consisting of some kind of stew or stock. Hence, bread consumption tends to be way too much among Turks. Turkish Kebabas, doner kebab, Turkish ravioli and some eggplant dishes are the trademarks of Turkish cookery. There are over 200 dishes made from eggplant.
Breakfast is crucial part of meal for Turks. Although it varies regionally, Turkish breakfast is the healthiest, rich in nutrients and delicious. A lot of green, tomatoes (in summer especially), cucumber and pepper are eaten during breakfast along with feta cheese, egg, olives, honey and cream of milk. Multi-grain village bread, corn bread and simit, Turkish sesame donut or Turkish bagel are the preferred breakfast components. Especially Sunday breakfasts turn into a convivial social gatherings with added ingredients and last longer than week -in breakfast.
Turkish kebabs are the main meat dish with a great variety of cooking methods. Under the names of Doner Kebab, Adana Kebab, Bursa Kebab, ALi Nazik and Iskender. Kebabs have vaious cooking methods depending on the ingredients and the way of cooking. It has a unigue taste due to the breeds of sheep and cattle than to the special marinades and way of cooking usually  generally served with rice, bulgur rice and greens. (The origin of doner kebab goes back to Central Asia where it was known as Lule Kebab. Its name was also mentioned in Anatolian travel memories of the 18th Century. Similarly, Another meat speciality is kofte, meatballs, its name derived from Persian word, kufte. It was adopted into Turkish cuisine in the 13th Century.  There are many versions of meatballs – about 200 kinds – the technique of cooking differ by region.  Lahmacun, a thin flat bread covered with a layer of spiced minced meat, is another popular take away food, generally accompanied with ayran, a buttermilk drink.
Bean soup and rice, reputably, are the indispensable meal duo among other Turkish foods. Mostly served in soup form on Top of rice, rich in carbs and protein, this the popular menu in most restaurants for Turkish people.
The cuisines of Aegean and Mediterranean are mostly olive oil based cold dishes as manin course or starters. Especially dolma (stuffed bell peppers, zucchini etc) , barbunya pilaki (red bean salad with olive oil), deniz borulcesi (seasonal samphire salad) are the “must taste” specialties.
There are more than 300 kinds of soup in the Turkish cuisine. The basic ingredient of soup is yoghurt. A Turkish contribution to the world, sweet or sour yoghurt became prominent ingredient in soups. Seafood and entrails are often used in Turkish soups.
Turkish pastries are mostly milk-base or dough based desserts. Sweet pastries, mainly baklava, are soaked in syrup.  Kunefe, made from shredded wheat with a layer of melted mozzarella- like cheese and syrup, is a Southern speciality pastry.
Tea is the omnipotent drink. It is served during breakfast and offerd almost al day long. Turkish coffee after meals is also part of a Turk’s daily habits. Anise-flavored raki, the Turkish national drink. Everything, all day, is accompanied by tea oceans of tea served in tiny glass cups.