Lahmacun
Occasionally translated on restaurant menus as “Turkish Pizza,” lahmacun (pronounced lah-mah-joon) actually has more in common with a savory pie rolled out flat. Essentially a flatbread topped with any variety of minced meat and seasoning, lahmacun is always served freshly baked and often consumed in twos or threes as a meal on its own. Onions and cilantro add a bit of zing to the heavenly sensation of freshly baked flatbread seasoned with minced lamb or beef. More creative varieties are spiced with the addition of ground nuts or sour pomegranate syrup. A cousin of the lahmacun, the pide actually resembles pizza much more than the former: essentially a boat of thick dough inundated with cheese, vegetables and all kinds of meat, the pide is like the pizza’s older, stockier brother hailing from Turkey’s Black Sea region.