"Let's go and eat boiled sheep's head." Serkan didn't exactly sell me the idea straight away. I had seen them before, especially in the Kurdish regions as part of their much loved national dish of Sêr û Pê (Head and foot): the severed heads, swimming in a pot of grey broth, unblinking eyes glazed over looking up at me, looking down, inspecting the carnage. My first close encounter with intact cranium as ingredient was still vividly in memory: the beast looked like it had been caught completely unaware by its final curtain call, just as it was ruminating its morning feed, with grass still stuck between its teeth. Walking out of the neighbourhood of Tarlabaşı and towards Dolapdere, you will soon see a small blue cart parked off the side of the footpath, the type with three bicycle tyres that can be seen everywhere, forming the income for countless families. We didn’t think of asking how long the man had been making his Söğüş Kelle in that spot, but my friend has known of this place for at least 15 years. It looks and feels like “an institution” on wheels. A wooden board, well worn down where the knife with quick, skilled strokes has been chopping ingredients by the hundreds of kilograms, vouches for the veracity. Sheep heads, boiled and chilled, are waiting in the bottom compartment. There was a lot of trimming going on, the bulk of what's about to go into a crunchy Istanbul ekmek bread loaf is the tongue and cheeks. (The brain is removed beforehand and used for Mezze dishes.) Even as the Usta was chopping the meats, I dropped my compunctions. It looked decidedly delicious. This reminded me of eating cold leftover roast pork on a Sunday night. Lean meaty chunks, and some fattier bits, all being diced in the rounded pit of the chopping board, scraped out by the force of daily use. Onion and parsley had already been placed in the roll. The idea is similar to Kokoreç - to which I have become a recent convert. Except the main ingredient is sourced from the other end of the animal, and served cold. Meat, diced finely, spiced and served in ekmek, in portions of 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 or a whole. Unlike Kokoreç that is a symphony of different animal parts as well as vegetables, Kelle is very simple, straightforward. “Honest”, the real foodies may call it. The only spices added are oregano, salt, pul biber (chilli flakes) and some cumin. The same skilled hands, 1-2-3 wrap the half loaf into paper, and it’s ready to go. Turkish fast food! I had expected a stronger ovine smell or taste, but it’s actually very nice eating, feeling very clean on the palate. It is definitely a meaty meal, there was no skimping out on the Kelle ingredient, it is a generous serve. Where cold roast beef meets a slathering of mustard in the west, here it is greeted by merely the onion and parsley, and along with the spices it tastes like a wonderfully balanced ‘elinde” snack (in one’s hand), to be consumed right by the cart whilst talking with the Usta about everything and nothing. Type: Street food Cost: 10TL for 1/2 bread Vegetarian: No! Preparing the ingredients The final touches. And ready to be eaten...
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AuthorInnate curiosity, learned (discovered) deep love and appreciation for Turkey, a bit of time at my hands, and always hungry: voila, a food blogger! Archives
September 2019
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