Dishes you should try in Rize: Rize Muhlaması (cornmeal, butter and cheese dish), Rize Etli Karalahana Sarması (meat-stuffed black cabbage rolls), Rize Pepeçurası (grape and cornmeal dessert) and Derepazarı Pidesi. This guide also covers the local products to buy and what Rize is famous for.
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A dish made with cornmeal, butter and cheese, with a registered geographical indication.
Stuffed cabbage rolls with a registered geographical indication.
A dessert made with grapes and cornmeal, with a registered geographical indication.
A pide with a registered geographical indication.
A kavurma with a registered geographical indication.
A Black Sea pide made with buttered dough, baked in a stone oven in minced meat, cheese and egg varieties. Rize pide is known for its thin dough and plenty of butter.
Prepared with cornmeal and Rize tulum cheese melted in butter, muhlama is the best-known flavour of the Black Sea.
Prepared by wrapping kale leaves around rice and minced meat and cooking them. This dish, which warms you on cold winter days, is the region's comfort food.
Made with cheese melted in corn flour and butter. This dish, which holds an important place on the tables of local people, is prepared using traditional recipes.
Fresh anchovies fried in cornmeal. Passed down from generation to generation, this dish is an important part of the region's culinary culture. Anchovies caught in the cold waters of the Black Sea reach their most delicious state in the winter months.
Collard leaves wrapped around a filling of rice and minced meat and cooked. Blanching the fresh collard leaves preserves the vitamin value of the soup.
A börek served at the Yöresel Lezzetler Bakery, which belongs to Ardeşen Municipality, and at municipal facilities.
Muhlama, prepared with maize flour and tulum cheese melted in butter, is the best-known flavour of Çamlıhemşin.
A sweet börek baked with custard placed between thin layers of yufka, and the traditional dessert of Çamlıhemşin.
A soup made with collard greens, maize flour and beans. Prepared with local ingredients, this speciality reflects the gastronomic richness of the region. The combination of collard greens with maize flour makes up the most characteristic flavour of Black Sea cuisine.
Çayeli Koloti Peyniri was registered as a protected designation of origin on 24 August 2022 (TÜRKPATENT registration no. 1199). Product group: cheeses. Registered by: Çayeli District Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry.
Çayeli Kuru Fasulye Yemeği was registered as a protected geographical indication on 2 January 2018 (TÜRKPATENT registration no. 312). Product group: meals and soups. Registered by: Çayeli Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Muhlama, made with cornmeal, butter and tulum cheese, is the staple of a morning breakfast in Derepazarı. It is served hot in a copper pan.
Black Sea-style pide, with a thin dough and plenty of butter, is baked in stone ovens in Derepazarı. The minced meat and cheese varieties are the most popular.
Made with anchovies and rice, this dish is served baked in the oven. It is one of the Black Sea cuisine's special winter flavours.
Prepared with cornmeal and cheese melted in butter. This dish has an important place at local tables and is made using traditional recipes. Made with fresh, natural ingredients, it is a healthy option.
Fresh anchovies fried in cornmeal. Prepared using recipes passed down from generation to generation, this dish is an important part of the region's culinary culture. Anchovy festivals are the finest sign of the local people's passion for this fish.
Prepared by wrapping collard green leaves around rice and minced meat and cooking them. The combination of collard greens and cornmeal makes up one of the most characteristic flavours of Black Sea cuisine.
Mentioned in the source as "sebzeli hamsi tavası", one of the dishes made with anchovies.
One of the Black Sea flavours in Fındıklı's cuisine.
Stands out among the desserts of Fındıklı's cuisine.
Prepared with cheese melted in butter and cornmeal. This dish holds an important place on local tables and is made according to traditional recipes. The recipe, passed down from generation to generation, varies slightly from family to family.
Prepared by frying fresh anchovies in cornmeal. This dish, made with recipes passed down through generations, is an important part of the region's culinary culture. There are dozens of different recipes, including hamsi pilavı, hamsi tava and hamsi kuşu.
Bread made from cornmeal. Prepared with local ingredients, this flavour reflects the region's gastronomic richness. An important part of the district's food identity, this dish is a favourite with visitors.
Prepared with cheese melted in butter and cornmeal. This dish holds an important place on local tables and is made according to traditional recipes. It can be tasted in its most authentic form at local markets and home restaurants.
A sweet börek of thin layers of yufka with muhallebi between them, baked in the oven. Made according to recipes passed down through generations, this dish is an important part of the region's culinary culture.
A soup made with kale, cornmeal and beans. Prepared with local ingredients, this flavour reflects the region's gastronomic richness. This soup, which warms you on cold winter days, is the region's comfort food.
Prepared with cheese melted in butter and cornmeal. This dish holds an important place on local tables and is made according to traditional recipes. Because it is made with seasonal ingredients, the dish offers a different flavour in every season.
A soup made with kale, cornmeal and beans. Made according to recipes passed down through generations, this dish is an important part of the region's culinary culture. The meeting of kale and cornmeal creates the most characteristic flavour of Black Sea cuisine.
A sweet börek of thin layers of yufka with muhallebi between them, baked in the oven. Prepared with local ingredients, this flavour reflects the region's gastronomic richness.
İyidere Pileki Taşı was registered as a protected geographical indication on 24 July 2024 (TÜRKPATENT registration no. 1618). Product group: other products. Registered by: İyidere Kaymakamlığı (District Governorship).
Prepared with cheese from tulum melted in butter and cornmeal, muhlama is indispensable at breakfast tables in İyidere. It is served hot in a copper pan.
Prepared with fresh kale leaves, cornmeal and dried beans, this soup is a staple of the Black Sea kitchen in the winter months.
The best-known fish of the Black Sea, the anchovy, is fried in cornmeal to make tava. In İyidere it is prepared with fresh anchovies in the winter months.
A sweet börek of thin layers of yufka with muhallebi between them, baked in the oven and soaked in syrup. It is one of Kalkandere's traditional flavours.
Bread made from cornmeal and cooked on a sac. In Kalkandere it is eaten with every meal, and it is the indispensable accompaniment to muhlama and kale dishes.
Fresh kale leaves are wrapped around a filling of rice, minced meat and spices. In Kalkandere it is the staple dish of the winter months.
Prepared with cornmeal and cheese melted in butter. This dish has an important place on local tables and is made using traditional recipes. An important part of the district's gastronomic identity, it is a favourite of visitors.
Prepared by frying fresh anchovies in cornmeal. Passed down from generation to generation, this dish is an important part of the region's culinary culture. Anchovies caught in the cold waters of the Black Sea reach their most delicious in winter.
Prepared by wrapping kale leaves around rice and minced meat and cooking them. Each household has its own version of this kale dish, which reflects family traditions in the kitchen.
Hemşin traditions that live on through the tulum (bagpipe), horon and the migration to the highland pastures.
Tea picking, carried out in three rounds from late May to October.
Festivals held on the Kaçkar highland pastures in July and August.
Rize is known for 5 local dishes, above all Rize Muhlaması (cornmeal, butter and cheese dish), Rize Etli Karalahana Sarması (meat-stuffed black cabbage rolls), Rize Pepeçurası (grape and cornmeal dessert) and Derepazarı Pidesi. A dish made with cornmeal, butter and cheese, with a registered geographical indication.
Rize is known for Rize Muhlaması (cornmeal, butter and cheese dish), Rize Çayı (Rize tea) and Hemşin culture. Its best-known sights include Ayder Plateau and Zilkale.
Local products and souvenirs to buy in Rize include Rize Çayı (Rize tea), Anzer Balı (Anzer honey), Rize Bezi (Feretiko) and Hemşin Çorabı (Hemşin socks).