In this region, dishes are prepared with unusual seasonings like molasses, unripened grape juice, dried fruits, and loquats. Beans and yogurt are also used in much of the cuisine. Tandir Kebabi or Kuyu Kebabi, a specialty of Anatolia, is prepared by slowly grilling a young lamb in a tightly covered dirt pit. Anatolian cuisine is becoming more popular in other parts of Turkey. In the Western and Mediterranean parts of Turkey, dishes are prepared with olive oil and include small amounts of meat that are always cooked with vegetables.
Olive oil is the main ingredient and vegetables cooked in olive oil are popular.
The Aegean and Mediterranean regions produce much of Turkey's fruit and the city of Izmir is known for its figs, grapes, fragrant Manisa kirkagac melons, and large, sweet Bursa peaches. Fresh fruits are eaten before, after, and in between meals, and they are also made into compotes or jams, or are dried. I remember picking figs with my mother as a child. We would dry them and in the winter we would stuff each fig with a walnut and eat them for dessert. Olive trees are everywhere in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions of Turkey.