Dishes you should try in Balâ: Tarhana Çorbası (fermented grain and yoghurt soup), Tandır Ekmeği (clay-oven bread), Kuzu Çevirme (whole spit-roasted lamb) and Balâ Tavası (lamb pan dish). This guide also covers the local products to buy and what Balâ is famous for.
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Tarhana, made by mixing yoghurt, tomato and wheat flour and then drying the mixture, is an essential soup of the winter months. In Balâ, every household makes tarhana by traditional methods.
Bread baked in a clay tandır oven, known for its crisp crust and soft interior. It is served alongside village breakfasts and meat dishes.
Prepared by slowly turning a whole lamb over a fire. It is a traditional dish made for special occasions such as bayram and weddings.
A lamb dish said to have been created by Balâ's butchers to boost meat sales and to offer visitors something different.
These dishes are known throughout Ankara province; see the provincial food guide for details.
An old Ankara dish in which sautéed meat and vegetables are baked in the oven in meat stock with rice or vermicelli; at weddings, hıdrellez and mesire picnics it is eaten with cacık, pickles and hoşaf.
An indispensable part of the Ankara breakfast.
A biscuit baked in stone ovens from flour, milk, butter and yeast, which stays fresh for a year; it received a geographical indication on 14 May 2013.
A sweet with a geographical indication, made by dipping strings of walnut kernels in molasses dough and drying them.
The best-known pickle of Ankara breakfast tables and dinner tables.
In Balâ, where the steppe climate of Central Anatolia prevails, a traditional way of life based on dry farming and livestock continues. The traditions of threshing time and sheep shearing are still kept alive.
The Yörük communities who settled in the region carry traces of tent life and livestock culture. Traditional kilim weaving is a modern reflection of this heritage.
Balâ is known for 4 local dishes, above all Tarhana Çorbası (fermented grain and yoghurt soup), Tandır Ekmeği (clay-oven bread), Kuzu Çevirme (whole spit-roasted lamb) and Balâ Tavası (lamb pan dish). Tarhana, made by mixing yoghurt, tomato and wheat flour and then drying the mixture, is an essential soup of the winter months. In Balâ, every household makes tarhana by traditional methods.
Balâ is known for Tarhana Çorbası (fermented grain and yoghurt soup), Wheat and Steppe Culture. Its best-known sights include Kesikköprü Dam and Afşar Höyüğü (Afşar Mound).
Local products and souvenirs to buy in Balâ include Wheat and Salt.