Şanlıurfa Original · Spiced Bulgur "Tartare"

Çiğ Köfte

🌶️

Photo coming soon

A 2008 Turkish food-safety regulation effectively pushed raw meat out of commercially sold çiğ köfte, so nearly everything sold on the street today is a meat-free bulgur version — despite still being called "raw meatball."

Fine bulgur is kneaded for a long time by hand with tomato and pepper paste and a hot spice blend until it turns into a dense, spicy paste, then shaped into small ovals and wrapped in lettuce with parsley and pomegranate molasses. Şanlıurfa's vendors work the mixture with their whole forearms for a proper stretchy texture.

Why it's made this way: Şanlıurfa's version, using the region's fiery isot pepper, is considered the dish's original form, tracing back to old Southeastern Anatolian kneading traditions once used to tenderize meat entirely by hand, without fire.