One of the delights of living in Turkey is the fresh, seasonal produce widely available in shops and markets. Turkish fruit and vegetables are generally far fresher and more tasty than those found in the UK. Particular specious come and go with the seasons, rather than being available or all year round. You will also notice that meat is a lot tastier, often because it is truly “free-range”. The Turkish staple is bread, although the rice and potatoes are also widely eaten. Food retailing has developed rapidly in Turkey in the last decade with large supermarket chains now present in most resorts and towns. As well as a complete range of domestically produced good- many of which are exported to Europe- supermarket also stock imported goods with some familiar British brands available in the coastal resorts.

Modern shopping malls are a convenient place to shop in cities like İstanbul, Antalya and İzmir, as you can find supermarkets, cloth shops, book stores and DIY outlets al under one, air conditioned roof. Smaller shops, know as “bakkal” are found on most street corners in towns and in rural areas. They have a smaller choice of produce, usually fresh bread, milk, tinned foods, cigarette and newspaper. For fruit and vegetables you need to find the local greengrocer “manav”. Most l

ocal shops do not accept credit cards and prices are a bit higher than supermarkets. The best place to buy fresh produce, and experience local culture at its most colorful, are the weekly markets “Pazar”. These have dozens of stalls selling fresh, seasonal fruit and vegetables, cheeses, meat, fish, olives and nuts. Fun and interesting places to shop, local markets are also the most economical place to buy groceries. Shopping in local shops and markets is a good way to practice any Turkish that you have learnt. Most shop keepers won’t speak any English, so a few Turkish words and numbers are very useful.