‘Turks prefer lentil soup most’

ISTANBUL

The most preferred soup in Türkiye is lentil soup, while “ayran aşı,” a soup made with chilled yogurt and chickpea, has risen six places in one year, according to the data of Türkiye’s leading online food delivery application Yemeksepeti.

In the “soup map” prepared based on the last four years, type, city, season, accompanying food and price scale of soups were taken into consideration with the data compiled from the orders of Yemeksepeti member restaurants.

According to the data for 2022, the most affordable soup was “ezogelin,” with an average price of 21 Turkish Liras, while the one with the highest average price was “beyran,” with 53 liras, which is the third most ordered soup in southeastern provinces.

Lentil soup, on the other hand, ranks first in the most preferred lists in all cities by far. Depending on different regions, the second most ordered soups are ezogelin, chicken soup, and “kelle paça,” which means sheep’s “head and foot” and is known as “khash” in Armenia.

Though the top five best-selling soups in all cities are mostly well-known ones, some of the cities’ favorites include beyran, okra soup (gombo), “arabaşı,” a kind of spicy chicken soup, and “tirit soup,” which are less consumed in other cities.

While the fish soup stays high in demand in the winter, ayran aşı stands out in summer orders as it is refreshing. The latter also moved up to 10th place by jumping six levels in the last year.

Vegetable-based ones, such as tomato soup, okra soup, eggplant soup and broccoli soup, pushed the lists, while the soups containing meat, such as beyran, fish soup and chicken soup, also managed to rank high.

Separately, the most ordered side dish with soups was lahmacun, a meat dish consisting of a flatbread topped with minced meat, minced vegetables, and herbs, followed by Adana wrap, chicken shish, meat pita and pilaf.