- Bread dough rings, dipped in grape molasses
- Heavy sesame coating
- Baked until deep golden and crisp
Simit
Simit on a street stand in Istanbul. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Simit is the sesame-crusted bread ring sold from red carts on every Istanbul corner: dipped in molasses before baking, which gives it the deep colour and the crunch. It is breakfast, snack and ferry companion in one.
The classic order is simit with çay (tea) and white cheese. On the Bosphorus ferry, simit also feeds the seagulls: a whole ritual of its own.
Key ingredients
Where to try it
- Street carts across Istanbul, especially Eminönü and Kadıköy.
- Eaten with çay and white cheese for breakfast.
- The Bosphorus ferry: buy one for yourself, one for the gulls.