Rock Samphire, Wild Radish, Köpoğlu: the Greens and Meze of the Bitez Table
A Bodrum table is not laid from the sea alone. Greens gathered from the shore rocks, field edges and gardens are part of it too.
BALIKÇI İSMET · BİTEZ · PUBLISHED: 26 OCTOBER 2026 · 6 MIN READ
The plant beside the sea
Rock samphire (kaya koruğu) is a fleshy-leaved plant that grows on shore rocks where the spray reaches. Its scientific name is Crithmum maritimum, and in Turkish it is also called deniz rezenesi (sea fennel) and deniz teresi. Crushed, it gives off a sharp, aromatic smell. The leaves and stems are eaten pickled.
Its link to Bodrum is on record. A study published in the journal Gıda in 2002 examined plants gathered on the Bodrum and Silifke coasts, both fresh and in brine. The researchers found no difference in composition between the two areas. Leaves kept for 30 days in 10% brine gave a mineral-rich pickle with its own aroma.
At the table, rock samphire’s sourness and salt work like lemon next to fish. Dressed with olive oil it also makes a meze on its own.
Greens from the field edge
Bodrum cooking sits where Aegean and Mediterranean cuisine meet, and wild greens are at its heart. Go Türkiye’s page on Bodrum cuisine lists chicory, radish leaves, mallow, purslane with yoghurt and nettle with yoghurt. Ot kavurması, greens sautéed in olive oil, is one of its best-known dishes, sometimes finished with an egg cracked on top.
Cibez, from the radish family, is eaten raw in salads and cooked. Köremen is always cooked with chickpeas the Bodrum way. Most of these greens are gathered in spring after the rains, and the peninsula has festivals for the season: Ortakent holds a Bitter Greens Festival in spring, and at a herb festival in Çamlık around 150 growers sold wild radish, nettle, dill, bitter greens and sea beet.
The order of the meze
On a Bodrum table, olive-oil dishes come cold. In Go Türkiye’s words they are “only supposed to be appetizers”, yet they often fill the whole table. Well-known meze of the area include köpoğlu (smoked aubergine mashed with yoghurt), çingene salatası, Bodrum-style su böreği and stuffed courgette flowers. From the sea come grilled and fried fish, octopus stewed with onions and stuffed mussels.
The drink at this table is usually rakı. It turns milky white with water and bridges the fish and the meze.
For our meze and the fish of the day, see the menu. When the greens are in season, the counter changes with them.
If you want to forage
Walking around Bitez you can spot rock samphire on the shore rocks and mallow along field edges. If you want to pick some, follow a few rules. Do not pull the plant up by the root; take only the tips. Do not enter private gardens or fields uninvited. Never eat a plant you are unsure of, because edible greens have poisonous look-alikes. The easiest way is to buy from the villagers who sell greens at the markets in spring. They will also tell you best how to cook each one.