Why go
Use regional names on menus as clues. Aegean and Marmara cooking often makes room for fish, herbs and olive-oil vegetables; Central Anatolia brings dishes such as Kayseri mantı and keşkek. In Gaziantep, Urfa and Adana, compare kebabs, meze and sweets rather than expecting one national style.
The full story
Turkish cuisine carries Ottoman and neighboring food traditions, but its clearest lesson for a traveler is regional variety. In western Turkey, where olives grow, vegetable dishes cooked in olive oil share the table with fish and herbs. The Black Sea coast has a stronger place for hamsi, the small anchovy, and maize dishes. Central Anatolia offers keşkek, a wheat dish, and mantı, small filled dumplings associated especially with Kayseri. In the southeast, Gaziantep, Urfa and Adana are linked with kebabs, meze and pastries such as baklava, kadayıf and künefe. Even two dishes called kebap can differ: the source distinguishes a thicker, milder Urfa kebap from a hotter Adana kebap. Names can therefore tell you something about method and place, not just the ingredients. Try a regional specialty where it belongs, then notice how a familiar dish changes elsewhere.