Pastirma Explained

Pastirma or Pasterma,[1] also called pastarma,[2] pastırma, pastourma,[3] basdirma,[4] basterma,[5] basturma,[6] or aboukh[7] is a highly seasoned, air-dried cured beef that is found in the cuisines of Albania, Armenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, Iraq, the Levant, North Macedonia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey.[8] [9] [10] [11]

Etymology and history

Basturma existed in ancient Armenian cuisine, where it was known as aboukh .[12] The word abookhd (Classical Armenian apukht) was already used in the Armenian translation of the Bible, in the fifth century AD, meaning “salted and dried meat”.[13]

Pastırma is mentioned in Mahmud of Kashgars Diwan Lughat al-Turk and Evliya Çelebis Seyahatname.[14] According to Turkish scholar Biron Kiliç, the term is derived from the Turkic noun bastırma, which means "pressing".[15] The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink writes that pastırma is the word the Ottomans used for a type of Byzantine cured beef that was called paston (παστόν).[16] According to Johannes Koder, an expert in Byzantine studies, paston could mean either salted meat or salted fish, while akropaston (ἀκρόπαστον) means salted meat.[17] Andrew Dalby gives the definition of paston as "salted fish" and akropaston apakin as "well-salted fillet steak".[18] Gregory Nagy gives the definition of akropaston as "smoked", describing apakin as "a kind of salami sausage, probably similar to pastourma".[19] The Oxford Companion for Food says that a Byzantine dried meat delicacy was "a forerunner of the pastirma of modern Turkey".[20]

The English word pastrami may be a Yiddish construction that combined salami with pastırma or one of the similar linguistic variations of the word (pastramă in Romanian, pastromá in Russian and basturma in Armenian).[21]

Preparation and usage

Pastirma is usually made from water buffalo or beef, but other meats can also be used. In Egypt, known as Basterma is made not only with beef, but with water buffaloes as well.[22] Some pastirmas are made with horsemeat.[23] Different cuts of meat may be used; a single cow can produce 26 different "types" of pastirma. Fillet, shank, leg and shoulder cuts are used for the best quality pastirmas. It is usually made during the months of October and November.[24]

To make pastirma, the meat is rinsed and salted before being dried and pressed. After the first drying period, the meat is cold pressed for up to 16 hours. This aids the process of removing moisture from the meat. After the first pressing, the meat is dried for several days, during which the fats melt and form a white layer. The second press is a "hot press".[25] Finally, the dried and pressed meat is covered with a spice paste called cemen. Cemen is made from a paste consisting of caraway, paprika, blue fenugreek, fenugreek, black pepper, allspice, cumin, cayenne, salt[26] and mashed garlic.[27] [28] [29] [30] The dried product is covered with the wet paste and left to dry again. The entire process takes approximately one full month. Pastirma is classified as an "intermediate moisture food". Lowering the moisture level is a form of food preservation that hinders the growth of microorganisms, and the cemen paste "is used to control surface mold growth during storage". Other functions of the cemen include improved flavor, characteristic red coloring, prevention of further drying, and antimicrobial effects.[31]

Cuisines

Today, pastirma is present in the cuisines of Armenia, Egypt, Turkey, Bulgaria and the Levant.[32] [33]

Armenia

The cured meat, which resembles Italian bresaola, is called basturma (բաստուրմա) or aboukht (ապուխտ) by Armenians.[34] Some Armenian pizzerias in cities like Yerevan, Boston and Los Angeles serve basturma topped pizza. Armenian restaurants also serve basturma topped burgers,[35] basturma can be added to salads,[36] and basturma with omelette is also a common breakfast item in Armenia.[37] Basturma, or a basturma omelette can also be wrapped inside a lavash, alongside other ingredients like coriander, chechil cheese, and garlic matzoon.[38]

According to Nigol Bezjian, Armenians who survived the 1915 genocide brought basturma with them to the Middle East. Bezjian recalls that his grandmother used to prepare "basturma omelets fried in olive oil with pieces of lavash bread". He notes that Armenians from Kayseri were particularly renowned basturma producers.

Arabs mocked Armenians with phrases like "It smells like there is basturma here", referring to the strong smell of basturma 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 Armenian basturma seller; he retired the character after local Lebanese Armenians complained.

In Palestine, Armenian families gather on New Year's Eve and eat traditional foods including basturma, çiğ köfte and a traditional Anatolian confection called kaghtsr sujukh (Armenian: քաղցր սուջուխ).[39] [40]

Bulgaria

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 a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed in the EU in 2017.

Turkey

In Turkish cuisine pastırma can be eaten as a breakfast dish, and it is a common ingredient in omelettes, menemen (Turkish-style shakshouka) or a variation of eggs benedict.[41] [42] [43]

Pastırma can be used as a topping for hummus,[44] pide bread,[45] hamburgers,[46] and toasted sandwiches with either cheddar cheese or kasar cheese. It can be as a filling for a börek that is made with kadayıf instead of the traditional filo dough.[47] It may be combined with potato to make a filling for traditional böreks as well.[48]

It is also a common addition to many of the traditional vegetable dishes, especially the tomato and white bean stew called Turkish: kuru fasulye, but also cabbage (Turkish: pastırmalı lahana), chickpeas (Turkish: pastırmalı nohut), asparagus (Turkish: pastırmalı kuşkonmaz)[49] and spinach (Turkish: 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. The pastirma from Kayseri is particularly well known, Armenians (before the Armenian genocide) from Kayseri were particularly renowned basturma producers.[53] [54] In their 1893 report the British Foreign Office note that Kayseri, which they call Cesarea, "is specially renowned for the preparation of basturma (pemmican)".[55]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: Ramesh C. Ray. Montet Didier. Microorganisms and Fermentation of Traditional Foods. 21 August 2014. CRC Press. 978-1-4822-2308-8. 263.
  2. Web site: 2 June 2017. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1106 of 21 June 2017 entering a name in the register of traditional specialities guaranteed (Пастърма говежда (Pastarma govezhda) (TSG)). 6 November 2021. Official Journal of the European Union.
  3. Book: Clifford Wright. The Little Foods of the Mediterranean: 500 Fabulous Recipes for Antipasti, Tapas, Hors D'Oeuvre, Meze, and More. 26 September 2003. Harvard Common Press. 978-1-55832-227-1. 291.,
  4. Book: Sameh Wadi. The New Mediterranean Table: Modern and Rustic Recipes Inspired by Traditions Spanning Three Continents. 14 April 2015. Page Street Publishing. 978-1-62414-104-1. 82.
  5. Book: Ghillie Basan. Middle Eastern Kitchen. 2007. Hippocrene Books. 978-0-7818-1190-3. 198.
  6. harry g. levine . 2007 . pastrami land: the jewish deli in new york city . Contexts . 6 . 3 . 67– . 10.1525/ctx.2007.6.3.67 . 41801065 . 60894880 . free.
  7. Web site: How Do You Say Basturma in Armenian? . The Armenian Prelacy.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. Book: Abdallah, Marwa Ragab . The meat that ancient Armenian warriors used to survive Aboukh(Commonly known as Basturma)and Sujukh. . 1187870747.
  13. Web site: How Do You Say Basturma in Armenian? . The Armenian Prelacy.
  14. 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 . 10.1016/j.meatsci.2013.03.021 . 0309-1740 . 23608196.
  15. Kilic . Birol . 2009 . Current trends in traditional Turkish meat products and cuisine . LWT - Food Science and Technology . 42 . 10 . 1581–1589 . 10.1016/j.lwt.2009.05.016 . 0023-6438.
  16. Book: Kraig, Bruce. OUP USA. 978-0-19-973496-2 . The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America . 2013-01-31 . When the Ottomans settled in Istanbul they also adopted a number of Byzantine dishes, one of which was a form of cured beef called paston and which the Turks called pastirma […] It became and remains a specialty of Kayseri in Cappadocia in west central Turkey. . 2018-07-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180728181650/https://books.google.com/books?id=DOJMAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA2-PA502 . 2018-07-28 . live.
  17. Book: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. 978-0-7546-6119-1. Brubaker. Leslie. Linardou. Kallirroe. Eat, Drink, and be Merry (Luke 12:19): Food and Wine in Byzantium : Papers of the 37th Annual Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, in Honour of Professor A.A.M. Bryer. 2007. 47–62.
  18. Book: Dal, Andrew. I.B.Tauris. 978-0-85771-731-3. Tastes of Byzantium: The Cuisine of a Legendary Empire. 2010-06-30. 189.
  19. Book: Nagy, Gregory. Routledge. 978-1-136-06626-9. Greek Literature in the Byzantine Period: Greek Literature. 2014-01-02. 2018-07-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20180728181650/https://books.google.com/books?id=fQiTAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA311. 2018-07-28. live.
  20. Book: Davidson, Alan. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-280681-9. Tom. Jaine. The Oxford Companion to Food. 2018-07-16. 2006. “This is certainly true of Byzantine cuisine. Dried meat, a forerunner of the pastirma of modern Turkey, became a delicacy.”. https://web.archive.org/web/20180603175749/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192806819.001.0001/acref-9780192806819. 2018-06-03. live. 10.1093/acref/9780192806819.001.0001.
  21. 6. 3. 67–. harry g. levine. pastrami land: the jewish deli in new york city. Contexts. 2007. 41801065. 10.1525/ctx.2007.6.3.67. 60894880. free.
  22. 10.1016/j.jef.2018.02.004. 2352-6181. 5. 2. 83–98. Gagaoua. Mohammed. Boudechicha. Hiba-Ryma. Ethnic meat products of the North African and Mediterranean countries: An overview. Journal of Ethnic Foods. 2018-06-01. free.
  23. 10.1016/j.foodres.2017.09.094. 29195938. 0963-9969. 102. 176–183. Lorenzo. José M.. Munekata. Paulo E. S.. Campagnol. Paulo Cezar Bastianello. Zhu. Zhenzhou. Alpas. Hami. Barba. Francisco J.. Tomasevic. Igor. Technological aspects of horse meat products – A review. Food Research International. 2017-12-01. 33867859.
  24. Book: Toldra¡, Fidel. John Wiley & Sons. 978-1-118-52267-7. Handbook of Fermented Meat and Poultry. 2014-10-27.
  25. Book: CRC Press. 978-1-4398-5022-0. Hui. Y. H.. Evranuz. E. Özgül. Handbook of Animal-Based Fermented Food and Beverage Technology, Second Edition. 2012-05-14 .
  26. Nazilli Ticaret Odası. Kurutulmuş Toz Biber Üretimi - Bozdoğan. 2018-07-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20180728181650/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=096wiXcP_Z4. 2018-07-28. live.
  27. Book: Sych, J.. Academic Press. 978-0-12-227055-0. 3337–3342. Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition. Intermediate Moisture Foods. Oxford. 2003-01-01. Second.
  28. 10.1016/j.meatsci.2006.04.001. 22062846. 0309-1740. 74. 2. 354–358. Yetim. Hasan. Sagdic. Osman. Dogan. Mahmut. Ockerman. Herbert W.. Sensitivity of three pathogenic bacteria to Turkish cemen paste and its ingredients. Meat Science. 2006.
  29. Web site: Armenian Chemen . The Spice Merchant.
  30. Web site: Armenian Spice Recipe - "Chaimen" . The Gutsy Gourmet.
  31. Book: John Wiley & Sons. 978-1-119-23784-6. Erkmen. Osman. Bozoglu. T. Faruk. Food Microbiology: Principles into Practice. 2016-04-13.
  32. Web site: Osmanlı/İstanbul mutfağı üzerine. 7 May 2015. 2018-11-18.
  33. Book: Gur, Janna. Schocken Books. 978-0-8052-1224-2. The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey. 2008 .
  34. Web site: Bezjian. Nigol. Bezjian: Travels with Basturma. The Armenian Weekly. 2018-11-18. 2009-08-18.
  35. Web site: $25 and Under; The Tastes of Armenia With a French Accent . The New York Times.
  36. Web site: Make your own Armenian charcuterie . Popular Science.
  37. Web site: Basturma Omelette Recipe – Apukht Omelette . Heghineh.
  38. Web site: Basturma Omelette, A Great Armenian Breakfast . Phoenix Tour.
  39. Book: Duguid, Naomi. Artisan Books. 978-1-57965-727-7. Taste of Persia: A Cook's Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan. 2016-09-06 .
  40. Web site: Panem et Circenses - This Week in Palestine. 2018-11-18. 2018-11-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20181119051641/http://thisweekinpalestine.com/panem-et-circenses/. dead.
  41. Arda'nın Mutfağı. Yumurtanın En Lezzetli Hali - Eggs Benedict Tarifi - Arda'nın Mutfağı. 2018-07-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20180731161818/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLKrVDBQKcU. 2018-07-31. live.
  42. Migros Türkiye. Pastırmalı Yumurta Tarifi. 2018-07-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20180731161818/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_W6DgA7IuI. 2018-07-31. live.
  43. Web site: Pastırmalı Menemen. Sabah. 2018-11-18.
  44. Pastırmalı Humus Tarifi. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/NO1iYIPhCLM. 2021-12-12 . live. 2018-07-18. Nursel'in Evi.
  45. Nursel'in Evi. Pastırmalı Pide Tarifi. 2018-07-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20180728181650/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpGH6zGtqKc. 2018-07-28. live.
  46. Pastırmalı Hamburger ve Lahana Salatası Tarifleri . Arda'nın Mutfağı 1.Bölüm (01.11.2015) . 2018-07-18 .
  47. Pelin Karahan'la Nefis Tarifler. Pastırmalı Kadayıf Böreği Tarifi. 2018-07-18.
  48. Migros Türkiyeundefined (Director). Patatesli Pastırmalı Rulo Börek. 2018-07-31 .
  49. Migros Türkiyeundefined (Director). Pastırmalı Kuşkonmaz Tarifi. 2018-07-31. 119 seconds.
  50. TV Kayseri. Gurme Tarifler-Pastırmalı Ispanaklı Sote. 2018-07-18.
  51. Book: Halıcı, Feyzi. Konya Kültür ve Turizm Vakfı. 978-975-95525-1-0. Üçüncü Milletlerarası Yemek Kongresi: Türkiye, 7-12 Eylül 1990. 1991.
  52. Migros Türkiye. Pastırmalı Kaşarlı Somun Ekmek Tarifi. 2018-07-31. 99 seconds.
  53. Show TV. Turgay Başyayla ile Lezzet Yolculuğu Kayseri'de. 2018-07-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20180728181650/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZK-Itsgs-U. 2018-07-28. live.
  54. Web site: Bezjian . Nigol . 2009-08-18 . Bezjian: Travels with Basturma . 2018-11-18 . The Armenian Weekly.
  55. Book: Office, Great Britain Foreign. Diplomatic and Consular Reports: Annual series. 1894. 5. 2018-07-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20180728181650/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Eem_vrEfKcC&pg=RA14-PA5. 2018-07-28. live.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pastirma".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.