Food, nutrition, and health in Turkey, the European part

Turkey has various types of traditional foods (TFs), which are important elements of the cultural heritage. Unfortunately, some of the TFs have started to be forgotten today. Popular TFs for the Thrace region of Turkey, including fermented nonalcoholic beverages (boza and hardaliye), an alcoholic beverage (raki), a cereal-based fermented food (tarhana), confectionaries (almond paste and cheese halva), a meat product (Tekirdag meatball), and a dairy product (Edirne white brined cheese) were presented in this chapter. These foods are rich sources of nutrients that can provide protection against diseases. Their manufacturing processes, compositions, nutritional, and health aspects were described based on the available, although limited, literature.