İskender kebap, one of the most popular dishes of Turkey
İskender kebap is a Turkish dish that consists of sliced döner kebab meat topped with hot tomato sauce over pieces of pita bread (sometimes croutons) and generously slathered with melted special sheep’s milk butter and yogurt. It can be prepared from thinly and carefully cut grilled lamb or chicken. Tomato sauce and melted butter are generally poured over the dish live at the table, for the customer’s amusement.
It is one of the most popular dishes of Turkey. It takes its name from its inventor, İskender Efendi, who lived in Bursa in the late 19th century Ottoman Empire.
A heavy but tasty dish
It is one of the heaviest dishes of the Turkish tradition. The butter, the meat that is not exactly lean and the bread make it very caloric and difficult to digest. However, it is a culinary experience that you should not deprive yourself. It is a dish consumed at all hours, and which you should try in one of the famous inns in Istanbul, Bursa, Ankara or Izmir.
The iskender kebab, born in Bursa, quickly spread to the four corners of Anatolia. It is an extremely famous dish, and for this reason practically every inn in the tourist area will try to offer it on the menu. 90% of these inns should be avoided. Not that they are unsafe, on the contrary, but the real iskender kebab should be tasted if possible away from a tourist area.
Prices vary substantially depending on the type of place where you will eat it and also depending on the price level of the city you are visiting.
Indicatively, a good Iskender in Istanbul starts at 15-18 lire, up to 40 lire in the most chic restaurants.
Away from the big cities, Iskender, a bit like all other things, tends to be cheaper. However, pay attention to quality: when it is too cheap, get suspicious and go to another restaurant.
