taste

In Bilecik, there is a wide range of herbal production from wheat to olives, from pomegranate to hops. The agrobiodiversity has inevitably affected the traditional cuisine culture and most of the recipes are mostly made of vegetables. However, pastries constitute the majority of the city’s gastronomic specialties. Some of the locals bake their own bread: Pide, bükme, hodalak are types of bread baked in the oven. Inhabitants also serve cereal-based foods such as pasta, tarhana, couscous and noodles. Inhisar’s pomegranate, Pazaryeri’s boza and helva are not to be missed. 

Boza

A beverage made of slightly fermented millet usually served with cinnamon and roasted chickpeas.

Helva

A dessert prepared in many varieties with sesame paste.

Büzme Dessert

Büzme dessert is a kind of sherbet dessert. Milk, oil, warm water, eggs, baking powder, vinegar, salt and flour are mixed to obtain a soft dough. It is then filled with chopped walnuts and held together with syrup. 

Bozüyük Mercimek Mantısı

Bozüyük’s most popular vegetarian specialty consists of an egg dough filled with lentils and served with garlic yogurt.

Dağ Eriği Ekşili Kesme Soup

The thick and filling soup contains blackthorn sour, dried cranberries, lentils, vermicelli, onions, garlic, butter and tomato paste, as well as traditional spices such as black pepper, cumin, salt and mint.

Osmaneli’s Ayva Lokumu 

Osmaneli’s Ayva lokumu is made with Bilecik’s Osmaneli district’s most important product – the quince. The delight solely consists of quince, starch, sugar and water: The traditional dessert is this particular region’s favourite and has no artificial flavours or food colourants.

Linga Dessert 

Linga is another popular regional delight. A dough containing baking powder is rolled out and cooked on both sides on a saj or an an oil-free pan, and then dipped into molasses and served with crushed walnuts on it.

Haşhaş Lokumu

Haşhaş lokumu is one of Bilecik's famous delicacies. It consists of a rolled dough filled with poppy seeds, walnuts and various spices and cooked in the oven.