Akçakoca Mancarlı Pide
A vegetarian Manav flatbread made with chard and spinach and cooked on a griddle, registered with a geographical indication.
Akçakoca Melengüççeği
A Manav pastry with geographical indication, made with "dartı" from water-buffalo cream.
Akçakoca Yellow Hazelnut
A hazelnut with a high oil content, locally called "mincane", with geographical indication since 2019.
Akçakoca Kaplan Dede Chestnut
A chestnut named after Mount Kaplan Dede and its legend, awarded geographical indication in 2022.
Black Sea fish
Bonito in autumn, anchovies in winter: in Akçakoca the fish changes with the season.
Akçakoca cuisine
Akçakoca's table draws on the cuisines of the communities that live together in the town: pastries from the Manav villages, Circassian and Abkhaz home cooking, and the fish culture of the Black Sea. So on the same day you can have a griddle-baked mancarlı pide for lunch and bonito or anchovies in season for dinner.
Four of the district's products have geographical indication: mancarlı pide (2017), melengüççeği, Akçakoca yellow hazelnut (2019) and Kaplan Dede chestnut (2022). You can find local produce at the historic market in Yukarı Mahalle, often straight from the producer.
Fish restaurants in the centre serving hazelnut halva at the end of the meal is also recorded as a custom peculiar to Akçakoca (Düzce Governorship, Akçakoca Ethnographic Culture Inventory, 2010).
Frequently asked questions
What is Akçakoca's famous dish?
Akçakoca's best-known local dish is mancarlı pide with geographical indication: a vegetarian Manav flatbread made with chard and spinach and cooked on a griddle. For dessert there is melengüççeği, and from the sea, bonito and anchovies in season.
Which Akçakoca products have geographical indication?
Akçakoca has four products with geographical indication: Akçakoca Mancarlı Pide (2017), Akçakoca Melengüççeği, Akçakoca Yellow Hazelnut (2019) and Akçakoca Kaplan Dede Chestnut (2022).
What is melengüççeği?
Melengüççeği is a Manav pastry with geographical indication, made with dartı from water-buffalo cream. The cream is fried down to a rich residue and spread on the dough; it is made for weddings and religious holidays.
What should I buy in Akçakoca?
As gifts you can buy Akçakoca yellow hazelnuts with geographical indication, Kaplan Dede chestnuts in autumn and local produce from the Yukarı Mahalle Market, held on Saturdays and Sundays.