Tea and coffee are the most popular drinks of Tatar cuisine. Ayran (a sour, yoghurt based drink, mixed with cold water) is also popular and refreshing, especially during the summer time.
Other than finding typical samples of traditional Turkish cuisine, you can find interesting dishes of the Tatars. There are so many Crimean Tatars (A Turkish origin community once lived in Tatarstan, Russia) living in Eskişehir and their cuisine is popular in the city. Here’s some information about the characteristics of this cuisine; Meat is cooked in its fat until all the water is gone, fish are salted or dried, fruits are made into preserves or compotes, and vegetables are pickled or in the case of tomatoes and peppers, reduced to paste for storage.
There are different types of soups mostly thickened with homemade noodles (tokmaç), grains, or vegetables. Soups are often served with meat balls or stuffed buns (Öçpoçmak, bavursak). Main dishes are usually based on meat, grains, and potatoes. Baliş, pilav, ikmäk, kabartma, koymak, “küzikmak” and “çibörek” are the most famous dishes of this cuisine. There so many çibörek ( a fried pastry filled with meat) restaurants around the city.
