The Seljuk Anatolian meal is organized around the sofra, a cloth spread on the floor or on a low tray. It almost always begins with a çorba (hot soup), followed by a main dish (et yemeği or tahıl — meat or grains) accompanied by yogurt and bread. Sweet treats (tatlı, pestil, pekmez) close the meal or are snacked on between meals. Ayran accompanies everything. All dishes are shared from the center, each person dipping with their bread or wooden spoon.

Yogurt is the cornerstone of medieval Turkish cuisine. Eaten plain, beaten into ayran, fermented into tarhana, mixed into soups, or poured over meat dishes, it is omnipresent on the Anatolian sofra. The word itself comes from Turkish 'yoğurmak' (to knead, to thicken). For Nasreddin, a man of the people, yogurt is the poor man's wealth — it nourishes, preserves, and transforms everything it touches.