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Corn/maize is not
a common substance in Turkish restaurant
dishes.
The most common edible oils in Turkish cuisine are olive
oil and
sunflower oil,
the most common sweetener is beet
sugar.
Corn/maize itself is mostly looked
upon as a street food:
corn on the cob boiled or grilled as
a snack.
However, I have not questioned Turkish
chefs yet on this matter, so if you
are allergic to corn/maize, you should
learn the words below so you can ask
waiters and chefs if a certain food
contains corn/maize or not:
corn/maize = misir (MUH-suhr)
Is there corn in it? = Icinde
misir var mi? (EECH-een-DEH MUH-suhr VAHR
muh)
Yes = evet (eh-VEHT)
No = hayir/yok ('higher,' YOHK)
I'm allergic to corn/maize = Misir
alerjim var (MUH-suhr ah-lehr-ZHEEM
vahr)
As for processed foods (snacks, candy),
it may be that they contain such things
as high fructose corn syrup (as virtually
every processed food in the USA does).
It seems almost impossible to get away
from that stuff.
Most processed food
packages in Turkey contain lists
of ingredients, often in several languages,
but you may want to have a Turkish
speaker help to interpret
the ingredients list.
The most telling
word is misir
(the same word as for 'Egypt,' the
grain/breadbasket of the Roman and
Ottoman
empires.)
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