Simit

Simit is a ring of yeasted wheat bread, coated in sesame seeds and baked until crisp. It is one of the most familiar street foods in Turkey, bought hot from carts in the morning and eaten on the way to work or with a glass of tea. It is often compared to the bagel because of its ring shape, but the dough and the coating are its own.

What it really is

Simit is made from a plain wheat dough of flour, water, yeast and salt. The dough is rolled into a long rope, the ends are joined into a ring, and the ring is dipped in a thin, sweet coating and then pressed into sesame seeds. It is baked until the outside is golden and crunchy and the inside stays soft. The sesame coat is what makes it recognisable from across a street.

Simit is bread, not a pastry. The classic version has no butter, egg or milk, which is why it is usually eaten plain or with cheese, olives or tea. Bakers differ on how thick the seed coat is and how dark the crust gets, so the texture changes from one bakery to the next.

How it's served

• Warm or at room temperature, often bought whole from a cart and eaten by hand.
• Plain, or split and filled with white cheese, olives or tomato, the way a sandwich would be.
• With a glass of tea, the usual pairing at breakfast and on the street.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the bread precisely: a sesame-coated wheat ring, baked fresh that day.
• Flag sesame and wheat. The seed coat is the allergen guests most often need to know about.
• Say whether it is served warm and whether it is filled, since cheese fillings add milk and must be flagged separately.
• The classic dough is vegan, so say so if the bakery makes no dairy or egg additions.