And while the most important meal of the day is cherished and taken seriously throughout the country, its heartland is the eastern city of Van.
Van and breakfast are synonymous in Turkey, and Van - style breakfast restaurants have opened to fanfare in Istanbul and Ankara, serving regional delicacies such as the famous otlu peynir, a slightly crumbly, potent cheese spiked with an herb called sirmo, locally referred to as 'wild garlic’. And while some of these establishments may be representing the city well, to truly experience the famous breakfast, you need to go to the source.
Van, a city of half a million with a majority Kurdish population, is an hour's drive from Iran and feels like a border town. In late spring, the weather is hot but dry, and cools down in the evening. Verdant mountains dominate the horizon, while the lowlands are dotted with wildflowers. Nearby is Lake Van, the largest in the country and home to the idyllic Aghtamar Island, where grey rabbits can be found scampering around a 10th - Century Armenian cathedral.
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