Pastirma is a heavily seasoned, air-driedcured meat, typicallywater buffalo or beef, that is found in multiple Balkan and Mediterranean cuisines under a variety of names.
Etymology and history
The dish has multiple names in a variety of cuisines. It is known as orpasterma,[1]pastarma,[2]pastırma,pastrma,pastourma,[3]basdirma,[4]basterma,[5]basturma,[6] oraboukh.[7]
Look uppastirma in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Pastırma is mentioned inMahmud of Kashgar's Diwan Lughat al-Turk andEvliya Çelebi'sSeyahatname.[12][better source needed] According to Turkish scholar Biron Kiliç, the term is derived from the Turkic nounbastırma, which means "pressing".[13][better source needed] TheOxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink writes thatpastırma is the word theOttomans used for a type ofByzantine cured beef that was calledpaston (παστόν).[14][15] According to Johannes Koder, an expert in Byzantine studies,paston could mean either salted meat or salted fish, whileakropaston (ἀκρόπαστον) means salted meat.[16]Andrew Dalby gives the definition ofpaston as "salted fish" andakropaston apakin as "well-salted fillet steak".[17]Gregory Nagy gives the definition ofakropaston as "smoked", describingapakin as "a kind of salami sausage, probably similar to pastourma".[18] TheOxford Companion for Food says that a Byzantine dried meat delicacy was "a forerunner of the pastirma of modern Turkey".[19]
Pastirma is prepared by salting the meat, then washing it with water and letting it dry for ten to 15 days. After that the blood and salt is squeezed out of the meat which is then covered with a cumin paste calledçemen (lit. "fenugreek") prepared with crushedcumin,fenugreek,garlic, and hotpaprika, followed by thorough air-drying. Even though beef is the most common meat today, various meats are also used depending on locality, includingcamel,lamb,goat, andwater buffalo.[23]
The cured meat, which resemblesItalianbresaola, is calledbasturma (բաստուրմա) oraboukht (ապուխտ) byArmenians.[31] Some Armenian pizzerias in cities likeYerevan,Boston andLos Angeles serve basturma topped pizza.[31] Armenian restaurants also serve basturma topped burgers,[32] basturma can be added tosalads,[33] and basturma withomelette is also a common breakfast item inArmenia.[34] Basturma, or a basturma omelette can also be wrapped inside a lavash, alongside other ingredients likecoriander,chechil cheese, and garlicmatzoon.[35]
According to Nigol Bezjian, Armenians who survived the1915 genocide broughtbasturma with them to the Middle East. Bezjian recalls that his grandmother used to prepare "basturma omelets fried in olive oil with pieces oflavash bread". He notes that Armenians fromKayseri were particularly renownedbasturma producers.[31]
Arabs mocked Armenians with phrases like "It smells like there isbasturma here", referring to the strong smell ofbasturma that is produced by the garlic and fenugreek mixture that the meat is coated in during preservation.Shoushou, a well-known Lebanese comedian of the 1960s–1970s, portrayed a caricature of an Armenianbasturma seller; he retired the character after localLebanese Armenians complained.[31]
Pastarma (as it is called in Bulgaria) arrived in Bulgaria in the 7th century. Specific products include Пастърма говежда / Pastarma Govezhda, which was registered as aTraditional Speciality Guaranteed in the EU in 2017.[2]
In Egypt bastirma (بسطرمة) is customarily made from lean cuts ofbeef or water buffalo,[39] such as theeye of round ortenderloin. These cuts are first cured with salt to extract excess moisture. Following the curing process, the meat is enveloped in a wet paste made with a blend of spices, includingfenugreek,paprika,cumin,black pepper, andgarlic, which creates a flavorful crust. The meat is then left to air-dry until it reaches a firm texture, a duration that varies with its size, and is ultimately served in thin slices.[40] It is often eaten with eggs for breakfast or as a topping in other dishes, like savory versions offeteer.
Pastırma can be used as a topping forhummus,[44]pide bread,[45]hamburgers,[46] and toasted sandwiches with eithercheddar cheese orkasar cheese. It can be as a filling for abörek that is made withkadayıf instead of the traditionalfilo dough.[47] It may be combined with potato to make a filling for traditionalböreks as well.[48]
It is also a common addition to many of the traditional vegetable dishes, especially the tomato andwhite bean stew calledkuru fasulye, but alsocabbage (pastırmalı lahana),chickpeas (pastırmalı nohut),asparagus (pastırmalı kuşkonmaz)[49] andspinach (pastırmalı ıspanak).[50][51] It can also be used to make cheesy pull-apart bread.[52]
Production
Turkey produces around 2041 tons of pastirma each year.[13] The pastirma from Kayseri is particularly well known. In their 1893 report the British Foreign Office note that Kayseri, which they call Cesarea, "is specially renowned for the preparation ofbasturma (pemmican)".[53]
In the Middle East, basturma - spiced and wind-dried beef - is still made according to old family recipes. Of Armenian origin, this seasoned meat was carried by Turkish horsemen who allegedly wedged it between saddle and horse for extra salt and savor.
^Kaban, Güzin (2013-12-01). "Sucuk and pastırma: Microbiological changes and formation of volatile compounds".Meat Science. 59 th International Congress of Meat Science and Technology, 18–23 August 2013 Izmir/Turkey.95 (4):912–918.doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2013.03.021.ISSN0309-1740.PMID23608196.
^abKilic, Birol (2009). "Current trends in traditional Turkish meat products and cuisine".LWT - Food Science and Technology.42 (10):1581–1589.doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2009.05.016.ISSN0023-6438.
^Kraig, Bruce (2013-01-31).The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. OUP USA.ISBN978-0-19-973496-2.Archived from the original on 2018-07-28. Retrieved2018-07-18.When the Ottomans settled in Istanbul they also adopted a number of Byzantine dishes, one of which was a form of cured beef calledpaston and which the Turks calledpastirma […] It became and remains a specialty of Kayseri in Cappadocia in west central Turkey.
^Maria Kaneva-Johnson:The Melting Pot. Balkan Food and Cookery. Prospect Books, 1995.ISBN0-907325-57-2. p. 62
^PASTIRMA Also known as pasterma, pastarma or pastourma. Mutton, beef or goat meat marinated with strong taste, pastirma forms part of Turkish and Greek mezze and is eaten like dried ham. For more see: New Larousse Gastronomique, Hachette UK, 2018, ISBN 0600635872, p. 562.
^The Bulgarians and Serbs call it pastarma; the Greeks, pastourmas; the Azerbaijanis, bastirma; the Arabs, basterma; and the Romanians, pastrama. For more see: Robert Sietsema, New York in a Dozen Dishes, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015, ISBN 0544454316, p. 112.
^The stuffing consists of what the Greeks call pastourma, known to the Turks as pastırma and to the Arabs as basturmā. For more see: Clifford Wright, Little Foods of the Mediterranean: 500 Fabulous Recipes for Antipasti, Tapas, Hors D'Oeuvre, Meze, and More, Harvard Common Press, 2003, ISBN 1558322272, p. 291.
^The Greeks of Cappadocia have contributed in modest but distinct ways to the general food culture of modern Greece, reinforcing and adding their own nuances to the special foods of the major Christian festivals. They also claim pastirma as one of their specialities. In spite of such Byzantine precursors as apokti, it is true that the pastirma tradition has deep roots in the nomadic culture of the medieval Turks. It is highly probable that they transmitted the idea to the Cappadocians alongtime before Constantinople was conquered, and, although Constantinople knew all about pastirma from the seventeenth century onwards, it is certain that after the population exchanges of 1923 modern Greece acquired its knowledge of pastirma from the Capadocians. For more see: Gifts of the Gods: Andrew Dalby, Rachel Dalby, A History of Food in Greece, Foods and Nations, Reaktion Books, 2017, ISBN 1780238630, p. 149.
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