What Is Simit? The Turkish Sesame Ring in a Short Video

Simit is one of the best-known sights of a Turkish street: golden sesame rings on a cart or a tray. In this short video, the Roots & Talks characters show what simit is, who sells it and why it goes so well with a glass of tea.

What the video says

Here is the narration, word for word.

Meet simit: a ring of bread covered in sesame, sold from carts on street corners in Türkiye.

It’s usually crisp outside and soft inside. In Turkish, sesame is susam.

The seller is a simitçi, with a cart or a tray.

Simit and çay, tea, are a classic pair, for a quick breakfast, a school break or an afternoon pause.

Play the free Simit Cart story game at Roots & Talks, or hear Pingucan and the Simit Moon at bedtime.

Keep exploring

• Simit and tea, explained: the simitçi, the tulip-shaped tea glass and simit at home, wherever you live.
• The Simit Cart Story game: a free browser game where you put the six pictures of the story in order.
• Pingucan and the Simit Moon: a bilingual bedtime audio picture book for ages 4 to 9, told in Turkish with English echoes on the key words.
• Simit and Tea Badge collection: our design with a winking penguin, a simit and a glass of tea.