Rize Food Guide: Tea Culture, Hamsi and the Black Sea Mountain Kitchen

Rize’s food culture is built on two foundations that don’t exist anywhere else in Turkey at the same scale: tea and the specific food traditions of the mountain peoples (Hemşin, Laz) who inhabit the valleys rising from the coast to the Kaçkar range. Understanding Rize food means understanding the relationship between the landscape (the steep wet hillsides, the high yaylalar, the fast mountain rivers) and what it produces.

For specific dishes, see food to try in Rize.

Tea culture

Turkey is the world’s largest per-capita consumer of tea and one of the world’s largest producers. Rize province grows essentially all of Turkey’s domestically produced tea — the 60,000+ tonnes harvested annually from the steep coastal slopes fill the tulip-shaped çay glasses on every Turkish table, from Edirne to Van, from Istanbul to Trabzon.

The cultivation: Tea (Camellia sinensis) was introduced to Turkey from Georgia in the early 20th century, with large-scale cultivation beginning in the 1940s under state direction (Çaykur, the state tea company, was founded 1971). The Rize climate — exceptionally high rainfall (1,500–3,000mm/year), mild temperatures, well-drained volcanic hillside soil — proved ideal.

The harvest: Three harvests per year: early May (the most prized, lightest and most fragrant); mid-summer; October. The picking is primarily done by hand — two leaves and a bud per shoot, by the women of the region in long aprons, using the traditional shoulder bags.

What the tea tastes like: Rize çayı brewed from fresh local leaves has a lighter, more fragrant character than the uniform Çaykur blend sold in supermarkets. The fresh-harvest single-estate versions available directly from farms or specialist shops in Rize represent the potential of the raw material.

Drinking tea in Rize: Tea here is drunk from a tulip-shaped glass in a tea garden with a view over the plantation or the sea. The social function is the same as everywhere in Turkey — tea creates time for conversation, for doing nothing, for being. But in Rize, the tea has a connection to the landscape that is visible and direct.

The Hemşin food tradition

The Hemşin people — a distinct community in the mountain valleys above Rize and Artvin — have a specific food culture that differs from both the broader Black Sea tradition and the Turkish national cuisine.

Hemşin böreği: A sweet layered pastry made with local butter and sugar — unlike savoury börek. The Hemşin pastry tradition reflects both their historical Armenian connection and their position as itinerant pastry-makers who worked throughout the Ottoman Empire.

Pastry culture: The Hemşin were famous as pastry chefs (muhallebici) throughout the Ottoman Empire — seasonal migration to Istanbul and other cities to operate sweet shops was a Hemşin cultural pattern. This food trade expertise inflects the local food.

Mountain dairy: Hemşin valley kolot and tulum cheese — fresh and aged varieties with a distinct flavour from the high-meadow-grazed cattle.

Deli bal (mad honey)

One of Rize’s most unusual food products — honey from bees feeding on the flowering rhododendrons (specifically Rhododendron ponticum) of the Kaçkar slopes. The rhododendron nectar contains grayanotoxin, which in the honey produces a mild intoxicating and relaxing effect.

History: Deli bal has been known since antiquity — Xenophon mentions soldiers being incapacitated by honey from the Pontic region (likely from this area). It was used as a folk medicine and a psychoactive in the region for centuries.

Commercial production: Sold at valley markets and specialist shops in Rize in small jars. ₺400–800/kg for genuine deli bal. The quantity required for effect is small — a teaspoon. Larger amounts cause significant poisoning symptoms (nausea, dizziness, low blood pressure).

How to approach it: Buy from a reputable market vendor who can explain the product; eat a very small amount with bread or tea; treat it as a curiosity and a specifically Rize food item rather than a recreational drug.

Black Sea corn tradition

The corn cultivation and cooking tradition is the same as Trabzon — mıhlama, cornbread, corn flour as a thickener and base. See Trabzon food guide for the full context on this shared tradition.

Mountain water and rivers

The Kaçkar rivers produce cold, clear water that is used for river fish farming (trout, alabalık) and natural drinking water. The Ayder and Fırtına valley restaurants serve trout from the local rivers — a direct connection between the mountain landscape and the table.

For restaurants, see best restaurants in Rize.