Dishes you should try in Derbent: Keşkek (wheat and meat porridge) and Tandır Ekmeği (tandır bread). This guide also covers the local products to buy and what Derbent is famous for.
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Keşkek is prepared by pounding wheat and meat after long boiling, and is the traditional dish of wedding feasts. Pounding the wheat and boiling it with meat for hours is a process that requires patience.
Traditional bread baked in a clay tandır oven, still made in Derbent's villages.
These dishes are known throughout Konya province; see the provincial food guide for details.
An etliekmek with a registered geographical indication, baked with minced meat on thin, long dough.
A kebab with a registered geographical indication, in which lamb is cooked in large ovens.
A soup with a registered geographical indication, made with dried okra and meat.
A syrupy dessert with a registered geographical indication.
A tirit (bread-based meat dish) with a registered geographical indication.
A wedding pilaf with a registered geographical indication.
The name Derbent means 'narrow pass' in Turkish. For centuries the district was a strategic passage linking the interior of Anatolia to the south.
Derbent is known for 2 local dishes, above all Keşkek (wheat and meat porridge) and Tandır Ekmeği (tandır bread). Keşkek is prepared by pounding wheat and meat after long boiling, and is the traditional dish of wedding feasts. Pounding the wheat and boiling it with meat for hours is a process that requires patience.
Derbent is known for Keşkek (wheat and meat porridge), Derbent Fasulyesi (Derbent beans) and Mountain Pass Culture. Its best-known sights include Derbent Boğazı (Derbent Pass) and Derbent Dam.
Local products and souvenirs to buy in Derbent include Derbent Fasulyesi (Derbent beans) and Wheat and Barley.