كيف نطلب أقلّ حرارة؟

In Turkish cooking heat goes inside the dish along the southeastern line; Adana kebab is made hot and Urfa kebab mild, and the two sit side by side on the same grill. So asking for “no heat” is not taken as strange — the double order already exists.

In çiğ köfte, lahmacun and ezme the heat is in the ingredient itself; there, “mildly hot” has to be said before the order. In soups and stewpot dishes, by contrast, heat is added at the table.

To put heat out, yoghurt works and water does not: ayran, cacık or a spoonful of yoghurt disperses the oil that carries the capsaicin. Water only spreads it around the mouth.