Only one month a year

Ramadan is all about fasting, but also about feasting. Abstaining from eating during the day, from dawn to sunset, not even having a sip of water, the reward is often lavish tables with the best and the best of all the food available. Some of the most special dishes are prepared during Ramadan, there are always regional favorites for this holy month when the focus is always on food. Some particular foods are only on our tables for only during Ramadan, they are eaten only one month a year and are longed for the remaining 11 months. Even the non-observers long for these tastes, they celebrate the month as an opportunity to savor these Ramadan favorites.

The first thing that comes to mind when we think of Ramadan is the flat pide bread. Ramadan pide is completely different with its rather soft texture and fragrant smell. They are usually dusted with a generous sprinkle of sesame seeds and especially spotted with black freckles of nigella seeds that add a very tempting taste to the much-loved bread. Every region has its own Ramadan pide bread, with subtle differences. For foreigners, the word pide (pronounced pee-deh) is sometimes a bit confusing. It is often interpreted as the Turkish equivalent of pita bread which is small and round with an interior pocket, the one popular in the Balkans, especially in Greece and Levantine regions. But in Türkiye, pide refers to a wider selection of flatbreads, including the ones with a topping. Those with a topping are often likened to pizzas, but they are closer to Georgian ones. The topping can be as diverse as minced or chopped meat to various cheeses, eggs, or completely vegetarian with spinach or similar. Then there are flatbreads that are meant to be consumed as bedding for kebabs or meatballs, mopping the oozing fat...