Rice

In Ottoman times, rice (pirinç), initially imported from China, was a treat for the aristocrats. If you visited Istanbul’s Topkapı Palace 500 years ago, you’d be offered three beautiful dishes—dane-i-sarı (yellow rice, made with saffron), dane-i-yeşil (green rice, made with spinach or fresh herbs), and dane-i-kızıl (red rice made with pomegranate or barberries). Nowadays, every class eats it, but more in Turkey’s west than east.