Pastirma

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Turkish sliced pastırma
Pastırma5.jpg

Pastirma, pastırma, pastourma, bastirma or basturma is a highly seasoned, air-dried cured beef of Anatolian origin,[1] which is now part of the cuisines of the former Ottoman countries.

Etymology

The word comes from the Turkish: bastırma et 'pressed meat', pastırma [pastɯɾˈma] in modern Turkish.[2] Some authors claim that this is related to the earlier Byzantine Greek word "paston,"[3][4] which is claimed to be a kind of dried and cured meat,[5] but standard Greek dictionaries do not assert this connection,[6][7] and gloss paston simply as "salted (meat)".[8]

The word has been borrowed by other languages of the region: Albanian: pastërma, Arabic: بسطرمة (basterma)‎‎, Armenian: բաստուրմա (basturma), Azerbaijani: basdırma, Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: pastrma, Bulgarian: пастърма (pastărma), Greek: παστουρμάς (pastourmás), Hebrew: פסטרמה‎ (pastrama) and Romanian: pastramă. The American cured meat product pastrami has its origins in pastirma via Yiddish: פאסטראמא‎ pastrama.[9]

History

Armenian basturma

Cured meat has been made in Anatolia for centuries, since at least the Byzantine period, and called apokti,[10] and some authors claim that pastirma is an extension of that tradition, of which there is reasonable evidence.[11][12][13][14][15]

There are various stories about the origin of pastırma, none well documented. One story gives its origins as the city of Kayseri, where there was a Byzantine dish called paston.[16][17] Paston is defined as 'salted (meat)'[8] and apparently eaten both raw and cooked in stews.[18]

Preparation and usage

Pastırma is prepared by salting the meat, then washing it with water and letting it dry for 10–15 days. The blood and salt is then squeezed out of the meat which is then covered with a cumin paste called çemen (lit., 'fenugreek') prepared with crushed cumin, fenugreek, garlic, and hot paprika, followed by thorough air-drying.[19]

The Armenians introduced pastırma to Syria and Lebanon in great quantities, and it is usually served as a mezze in thin slices, usually uncooked, but sometimes lightly grilled or added to eggs for breakfast. It may be added to different dishes, the most famous of which is a bean dish, and various pies. The traditional Armenian pastirma strictly uses beef as the meat and this remains as the most common usage.

Even though beef is the most common meat today, various meats are also used depending on locality, including camel, lamb, goat, and water buffalo,[20] with camel being the most prized especially in Syria, a big pastırma producer.

In Turkey, where it is eaten as a breakfast with eggs and as a meze with rakı, there are more than 22 kinds of pastırma.[21] The version from Central Anatolia, often called Kayseri pastırması, is most common. The less-common Rumeli pastırması "Balkan pastırma", is simply salted and dried.

In Greece Kayseri pastırması was introduced by the Cappadocian Greeks, refugees from the region of Kayseri.[22]

In Cyprus παστουρμά is cooked like sausage.

In Iraq, pastırma is used for breakfast, with fried eggs.

In Egypt, it is used for breakfast and It is also used as a topping for pizza, and a filling for a variety of oven prepared stuff dough dishes, whether they are made from regular bread like dough, or a flaky multilayered puff pastry like dough.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Zubaida, Sami & Tapper, Richard. A Taste of Thyme. I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd, 1994, p. 35 & 39.
  2. ↑ TDK dictionary
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Anagnostakis, Ilias (2013). Flavours and Delights. Tastes and Pleasures of Ancient and Byzantine Cuisine. Armos. p. 81. "paston or tarichon…Cured meats were either eaten raw or cooked in pasto-mageireia with bulgur and greens, mainly cabbage."
  6. ↑ Babiniotis, Λεξικό της Νεας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας
  7. ↑ Andriotis et al., Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 cf. E.A. Sophocles, Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods, 1900, where παστός is defined simply as 'salted' (as applied to meat)
  9. ↑ Harry G. Levine, "Pastrami Land, the Jewish Deli in New York City", Contexts, Summer 2007, p. 68. "The modified “pastrami” spelling was probably introduced in imitation of the American English salami."
  10. ↑ Andrew Dalby, Tastes of Byzantium, p. 63, 71
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.; the author may be thinking of παστός
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Irina Petrosian, David Underwood, Armenian food: fact, fiction & folklore, p. 112
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Turkish Cuisine
  20. ↑ Kaneva-Johnson, p. 62
  21. ↑ Turkish food, cuisine & culinary tours. Cooking workshops in Turkey
  22. ↑ http://www.historyofgreekfood.org/2014/06/a-taste-of-past-pastirma.html

Bibliography

External links

  • Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
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