Burning questions: Signs a restaurant is Turkish

How do you know when you're in a Turkish restaurant?

This question would never come up in relation to Greek restaurants, which usually proclaim their nationality with the word "Greek" (as in Corner, Delight, Town or Captain) or "Hellenic" (as in Snack Bar) or other easily identified signifiers such as Athenian, Mykonos or Zorba.

But it's the rare Turkish restaurant that calls itself "Turkish Restaurant." There might be a place  name involved (Ephesus in Massapequa or Istanbul Café in Centereach) but more often the name alludes to a could-be-Turkish food (Pita House in Patchogue and East Setauket, Wild Fig in Glen Cove and Garden City) or the more inclusive term "Mediterranean" (Mediterranean Kebab House in Westbury, Surf 'n Turf Mediterranean Grill in Merrick or the promising new Mediterranean Grill in Bay Shore).

So, here are five telltale signs that the Mediterranean restaurant you are in is actually Turkish:

Kebabs There will be a glass case displaying a range of kebabs, all of them threaded on wide, swordlike skewers. At least two will be made of ground meat, one of which, the Adana kebab, will be reddish in hue.

Salad There will be a shepherd salad on the menu. It might not be called shepherd salad, or it might have the Turkish name of coban salatasi, but it will contain cucumber, tomato, onion and probably green pepper. Maybe cheese. No lettuce.

Gyro Instead of the rotating column of ground meat known as gyro in Greek, the Turkish equivalent, doner kebab, is composed of actual pieces of meat stacked one upon another.

Beer If there are bottles of Efes, it's a Turkish restaurant

Pictures You might see posters of islands with whitewashed buildings, but no Acropolis.

What does it mean when chocolate is labeled "70 percent"?

The percentage refers to the relative amounts of unsweetened  chocolate and sugar, the two main ingredients in chocolate. (Milk chocolate also contains milk.)

All chocolate begins with cacao beans, found inside the big, football-shaped pods that hang from cacao trees. The beans are roasted and ground to make what the industry calls "chocolate liquor," from which all other chocolate products derive. If the fat, "cocoa butter," is extracted from the liquor, what's left is cocoa powder.

To make eating chocolate out of chocolate liquor, additional cocoa butter and sugar are added. The lower the percentage of chocolate liquor, the higher the percentage of sugar, and the sweeter the taste. According to the federal government, semisweet and bittersweet both contain at least 35 percent chocolate liquor, but in the marketplace, semisweet tends to be sweeter than bittersweet.

I know of people who profess to enjoy eating unsweetened (i.e. 100 percent) chocolate, but I think they may be lying.