Turkish Red Lentil Soup Question

[larry_stewart]

On New Years I went to a Turkish restaurant and ordered their Red Lentil Soup.
I absolutely love soups, and I like to try any soup I can.

The soup was described as a soup made with red lentil with Turkish herbs and spices.

So here is my question.
What would be considered Turkish Spices, that would likely be food in this soup ?

I definitely tasted Mint, and Definitely tasted Cumin.

Thanks,

Larry

[medtran49]

In the recipes that come up when you Google "Turkish lentil soup," cayenne or chile powder or red pepper flakes seem to be recurring ingredients, as well as paprika, cumin, mint, lemon.

[buckytom]

My old neighbors were Turkish, and while the language barrier was a bit of a handicap (and the fact that talking to the women of the household was a no no unles their hubby stood right next to them), I tried to get some of their spice blends when they had parties where they cooked outdoors.

They definitely used cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and mint. I gave them some mint from my garden, in fact. Actually, the way mint grows, they were going to get some growing in their yard whether they liked it or not, lol. Some dishes also had allspice, fennel, and coriander.

But the weird little background thing that made it special was cinnamon. Not too much, but just sort of in an umami way.

Oh, and there was pistachios in a lot of dishes as well.

[GotGarlic]

Sumac is often used in Turkish food as well. It looks like cinnamon but has a lemony flavor.

[Steve Kroll]

I spent 4 months in Turkey with the DOD back in the early 90s. I found that much of the food didn't have a lot of seasoning. Usually it was pretty simple. I've made red lentil soup, and I remember there being cumin in it, but not much else.

Most of what I ate there reminded me more of Greek food than anything else. Lots of kebab type things, rice, eggplant, yogurt, and olive oil. Pretty healthy fare.

Oh, and coffee. Turkish coffee is the bomb. Just don't go all the way to the bottom of the cup, or you'll end up chewing it.

[larry_stewart]

Yeah, the soup did seemed to be relatively simple, which is why I liked it so much. The only seasoning ( other than S&P) that were obvious was the cumin, mint and a last minute squeeze of lemon. Even the salt was minimal. just barely enough to satisfy, but not enough to hide the simple flavors.

[Whiskadoodle]

Spritely the soup up with a little paprika.