Pastirma

Turkish sliced pastırma.

Pastırma or bastırma is a highly seasoned, air-dried cured beef in the cuisines of the former Ottoman countries.

Etymology

The name pastırma is Turkish, from "bastırma et" 'pressed meat'. The word is used with minor variants in the various languages of the region: Albanian pastërma, Arabic باسطرمة basṭurma, Armenian բաստուրմա (basturma), Azeri bastırma, Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian and Serbian pastrma, Bulgarian pasturma, Greek παστουρμάς pastourmás or παστρουμάς pastroumás and Romanian pastramă. The word "pastrami", although used for a differently prepared type of meat, also goes back via Yiddish pastrómeh to pastırma.

History

Wind-dried beef has been made in this region for centuries. Andrew Dalby mentions its use in Byzantium. Pastırma itself is usually considered a Turkish or Armenian dish, though it is produced and consumed in a wide area of Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

One legend recounts that Turkic horsemen of Central Asia used to preserve meat by placing slabs of it in the pockets on the sides of their saddles, where it would be pressed by their legs as they rode.

Usage

Though beef, preferably young, is the most common meat today, various meats are also used, including camel, lamb, goat, and water buffalo.

It is prepared by pressing the meat to squeeze out its water, then covering it with a cumin paste called çemen (lit. 'fenugreek') prepared with crushed cumin, fenugreek, garlic, and hot paprika, and air-drying it.

It can be served as a mezze in thin slices, usually uncooked, but sometimes lightly grilled; or may be added to different dishes, the most famous of which is a bean dish.

In Turkey, the spiced version, often called "Kayseri pastırmasi", is most common. The less-common Rumeli Pastırması 'Balkan pastırma', is simply salted.

Bibliography

• Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food. ISBN 0-19-211579-0.
• Maria Kaneva-Johnson, The Melting Pot: Balkan Food and Cookery, Prospect, 1995. ISBN 0-907325-57-2.