Kayseri is famous across Turkey for its food, and specifically for two things: pastırma and mantı. Pastırma is air-dried, heavily spiced beef — a powerful, aromatic cured meat that has been produced here since at least the Ottoman period and is thought to be the ancestor of Italian pastrami. You will smell it before you see it in the bazaar's pastırma shops.
Mantı — small Turkish dumplings served with yogurt and spiced butter — are made with exceptional care in Kayseri, where the local version uses dumplings so small that a proper cook is said to fit 40 in a single spoon. Kebab restaurants are everywhere and are generally good; the local speciality is the Kayseri kebab, grilled minced meat served flat.