Oven Magic: Antalya's Pide and Lahmacun Masters

Pide and lahmacun are the two staples of Antalya's bakery restaurants, both made from hand-stretched dough and baked in stone ovens far hotter than any home kitchen can manage. Pide is a boat-shaped flatbread, most often topped with cheese, egg, or spiced meat, and eaten with a knife and fork. Lahmacun is thinner: a wide round of dough spread with a meat mixture that traditionally includes more than a dozen spices, then rolled up with herbs and a squeeze of lemon. The two complement each other, and many locals order both. The stone ovens at older pide shops hold heat for hours after the fire dies. Go at peak meal times, when the ovens are hottest and turnover fastest, and drink ayran or tea alongside.

What it is

• Pide: boat-shaped flatbread topped with cheese, egg, minced meat or sucuk.
• Lahmacun: very thin round flatbread with spiced minced meat, eaten rolled up with lemon and parsley.
• The oven: both are baked in a wood-fired stone oven.

Where to try it

• Pide salons (pideci) in every neighbourhood
• Kebab restaurants, where lahmacun is a popular starter

Tips

• Try ‘kuşbaşılı’ (diced meat) or ‘kaşarlı’ (cheese) pide.
• Lahmacun is thinner than pizza: roll it up with salad.
• Ayran is the classic drink.

More in Antalya

Explore the old town of Kaleiçi, where many traditional restaurants are, or read our Antalya guide. A food tour is the easiest way to taste many local dishes in one afternoon.

Photos: Maksym Kozlenko, CC BY-SA 4.0; E4024, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons