We have found that sugar is often accompanied by nuts in Turkey, and they are as important as each other in the cuisine. Everyone knows which region grows the best of each kind of nut, and the nuts are often named after these places. We managed to visit several of them.
Drinking tea all day has contributed towards to the sweet tooth I seem to have developed in Turkey, as the little glass is always served with two sugar lumps on the side. (Except in the Southeast, where you usually get three - Southeasterners liking their foods generally spicier, sweeter and tangier than their equivalents in the rest of the country.) Sugar is found in large doses in many of the Turks’ favourite foods...