Meat Dishes and Kebabs
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- Consisted of chicken or lean veal, Döner kebap is a common Turkish fast food.
- Kuzu Güveç (lamb cooked in casserole)
- Pastırmalı Kuru Fasulye (white kidney bean with pastirma)
- Kuzu Kapama (spring lamb stewed)
- Haşlama (boiled lamb with vegetables and lemon juice)
- Kavurma ("kavurma", which means roasting/parching in Turkish, is generally used for roasted lamb. Çoban kavurma is a variety of it, prepared with diced lamb with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, peppers and herbs. Kavurma is one of the favorite dishes of Ramadan.)
- Alinazik kebab, a home-style Turkish kebab variety which is a specialty of the Gaziantep province of Turkey.
- Hünkar Beğendi (meaning that the sovereign/sultan liked it, sultan's delight, the dish consists of the puree of grilled eggplant with cashar cheese topped with cubed lamb meat)
- Türlü (a stew of vegetables and meat cooked in güveç-casserole)
- Külbastı
- Elbasan tava
- Prizren tava
- Further information: Cuisine of Kosovo § Tava e Prizrenit
- Tandır (without adding any water, the meat is cooked very slowly with a special technique)
- İncik (lamb on the bone cooked in the oven)
- Boraniye (broad bean/spinach/squash boraniye, vegetables cooked together with meat, yogurt and chickpea)
- Mahmudiye (a palace speciality consisting of chicken meat mixed with honey, apricots, almonds, currants and black pepper)
- Karnıyarık (split-belly eggplant) (eggplants are cut off and fried. Then they are filled with minced meat, onion, garlic and tomato paste and cooked in the oven)
- Köfte (meatball) is another meat dish in Turkey. The word köfte is sometimes preceded by the name of a town, which refers to the technique for cooking it or the ingredients or spices specifically used in that region, for example; İnegöl köftesi, Sultanahmet köftesi, İzmir köfte, Akçaabat köfte, Bursa köfte, Filibe köfte, Tire köfte, Islama köfte (mainly in Sakarya province) etc. Its main ingredients are minced meat, parsley, bread-egg (not necessarily, usually homemade köfte contains egg yolk and some crumbled bread) and a range of spices: cumin, oregano, mint powder, red or black pepper powder with onion or garlic. Kadınbudu köfte is another traditional speciality; minced meat is mixed with cooked rice and fried. Içli köfte can be described as a shell of "bulgur" filled with onion, minced meat and nuts. Çiğ köfte is a meze from south-eastern Turkey meaning raw meatballs, prepared with "bulgur" and raw minced meat. Terbiyeli Sulu Köfte is another meatball speciality cooked with flour, tomato paste and water in which lemon and egg sauce is added.
- Sujuk (sucuk) is a form of raw sausage (made with beef meat and a range of spices, especially garlic, slightly similar to Spanish chorizo) commonly eaten with breakfast. Instead of classical sausages (sosis), sujuk is the most used ingredient for snacks and fast-food style toasts and sandwiches in Turkey.
- Pastırma is another famous beef delicacy (see pastrami). Both pastırma and sujuk can be put in kuru fasulye (dry beans) to enrich the aroma. Both can be served as a meze as well. Sucuk or pastırma with scrambled eggs, served in a small pan called sahan, is eaten at breakfast in Turkey.
- Kokoreç (the intestines of sheep) with spices is a traditional low-price fast food in Turkey.
- Liver is fried in Turkish cuisine. "Arnavut ciğeri" (meaning Albanian liver), served with onion and sumac, is usually eaten as a meze, in combination with other mezes such as fava. "Edirne ciğeri" is another famous liver dish from Edirne. Liver is first frozen so that it can be cut into very thin layers. After being cut off, liver layers are fried.
- Kelle (Roasted Sheep's Head) - From the Persian word for "head": "Kaleh".
- Kuzu Etli Enginar (artichokes with lamb)
- Etli Taze Fasulye (green beans stew with meat)
- Etli Bamya (okra with meat or chicken)
- İşkembeli Nohut (chickpea with tripe)
- Piliç Dolma (stuffed chicken with spice filling)
Kebabs
Kebab refers to a great variety of meat-based dishes in Turkish cuisine. Kebab in Turkey encompasses not only grilled or skewered meats, but also stews and casseroles.
- Adana kebap or kıyma kebabı – kebab with hand-minced (zırh) meat mixed with chili on a flat wide metal skewer (shish); associated with Adana region although very popular all over Turkey.
- Ali Paşa kebabı, "Ali Pasha kebab" – cubed lamb with tomato, onion and parsley wrapped in phillo.
- Alinazik kebab – Ground meat kebab sautéed in a saucepan, with garlic, yogurt and eggplants added.
- Bahçıvan kebabı, 'gardener's kebab' – Boneless lamb shoulder mixed with chopped onions and tomato paste.
- Beyti kebab – Ground lamb or beef, seasoned and grilled on a skewer, often served wrapped in lavash and topped with tomato sauce and yogurt, traced back to the famous kebab house Beyti in İstanbul and particularly popular in Turkey's larger cities.
- Bostan kebabı – Lamb and aubergine casserole.
- Buğu kebabı, "steamed kebap" – cooked in low heat until the meat releases its moisture and reabsorbs it.
- Cağ kebab, 'spoke kebab' – Cubes of lamb roasted first on a cağ (a horizontal rotating spit) and then on a skewer, a specialty of Erzurum region with recently rising popularity.
- Ciğerli kağıt kebabı, 'liver paper kebab' – Lamb liver kebab mixed with meat and marinated with thyme, parsley and dill.
- Çardak kebabı, 'arbor kebab' – Stuffed lamb meat in a crêpe.
- Çökertme kebabı – Sirloin veal kebap stuffed with yogurt and potatoes.
- Çömlek kebabı, 'earthenware bowl kebab' – Meat and vegetable casserole (called a güveç in Turkish) with eggplant, carrots, shallots, beans, tomatoes and green pepper.
- Çöp şiş, "small skewer kebab" – a specialty of Selçuk and Germencik near Ephesus, pounded boneless meat with tomatoes and garlic marinated with black pepper, thyme and oil on wooden skewers.
- Döner kebab
- Hünkâri kebabı, 'Sultan's kebab' – Sliced lamb meat mixed with patlıcan beğendi (aubergine purée), basil, thyme and bay leaf.
- İskender kebap – döner kebap served with yogurt, tomato sauce and butter, originated in Bursa. The kebab was invented by İskender Efendi in 1867. He was inspired from Cağ kebab and turned it from horizontal to vertical.
- İslim kebabı, 'steamed kebab' – Another version of the aubergine kebab without its skin, marinated in sunflower oil.
- Kağıt kebabı – Lamb cooked in a paper wrapping.
- Kuyu kebabı, 'pit kebab' – Prepared from the goat it is special for Aydın region, similar to tandır kebabı.
- Kuzu incik kebabı, 'lamb shank kebab' – Lamb shanks mixed with peeled eggplants and chopped tomatoes, cream, salt and pepper.
- Kuzu şiş – Shish prepared with marinated milk-fed lamb meat.
- Köfte kebap or Shish köfte – minced lamb meatballs with herbs, often including parsley and mint, on a stick, grilled.
- Manisa kebabı – This Manisa region version of the kebab is smaller and flat size shish meat on the sliced pide bread, flavored with butter, and stuffed with tomato, garlic and green pepper.
- Orman kebabı, 'forest kebab' – Lamb meat on the bone and cut in large pieces mixed with carrots, potatoes and peas.
- Patates kebabı, 'potato kebab' – Beef or chicken mixed with potatoes, onions, tomato sauce and bay leaves.
- Patlıcan kebabı, 'aubergine kebab' – Special kebap meat marinated in spices and served with eggplant (aubergine), hot pide bread and a yogurt sauce.
- Ramazan kebabı, 'Ramadan kebab' – Meat mixed with yogurt, tomato and garlic stuffed with fresh mint or garnish on Pide bread.
- Şiş kebabı – Prepared with fish, lamb or chicken meat on thin metal or reed rods, grilled.]
- Şiş tavuk or Tavuk şiş – Yogurt-marinated chicken grilled on a stick
- Sivas kebabı – Associated with the Sivas region, similar to Tokat kebab but especially lamb ribs are preferred and it also differs from Tokat kebabı on the point that there are no potatoes inside.
- Susuz kebap, 'waterless kebab' – Cooked after draining excess fluid from the meat rubbed with salt and cinnamon in saucepan.
- Talaş kebabı, 'sawdust kebab' – Diced lamb, mixed with grated onions, brown meat mixed with flour dough.
- Tandır kebabı, 'tandoor kebab' – Lamb pieces (sometimes a whole lamb) baked in an oven called a tandır, which requires a special way of cooking for hours. Served with bread and raw onions.
- Tas kebabı, 'bowl kebab' – Stewed kebab in a bowl, beginning with the cooking of the vegetables in butter employing a method called yaga vurmak, ("butter infusion"), before the meat itself is cooked in the same grease.
- Testi kebabı, 'earthenware-jug kebab' – Ingredients are similar to çömlek kebabı, prepared in a testi instead of a güveç, generally found in Central Anatolia and the Mid-Western Black Sea region.
- Tokat kebabı – Associated with the Tokat region, it is made with veal marinated in olive oil, aubergine, tomatoes, potatoes, onion, garlic and special pita bread.
- Urfa kebabı – is from Adana, but not spicy