Adana Kebab

Native to the city of Adana in southern Turkey — protected by Turkey's geographical-indication law since 2005. The meat must be hand-minced with a zırh (curved double-handled blade) — never machine-ground — and the fat (tail fat from a male lamb of specific age) is fixed at 20-25%. Tradition demands it's eaten right off the skewer, never plated until the diner's ready.

Geographically protected by Turkish law since 2005 — meat must be hand-minced with a zırh (curved double-handled blade), never machine-ground, and tail fat from a male lamb of specific age is fixed at 20-25%. Hand-mincing leaves irregular fragments that hold air pockets, giving Adana its springy bite; a grinder produces a paste that goes rubbery on charcoal.

A long flat skewer of hand-minced lamb (with tail fat folded in), pressed by hand onto a wide blade-like skewer (şiş), grilled over charcoal. The meat is loose-textured, fat-glossy, mildly sour-spicy from sumac and Maraş pepper. Served on lavash flatbread with grilled tomato, grilled green pepper, raw onion in sumac. Lavash mops up the rendered fat.

Hand-mincing matters because it leaves the meat in irregular fragments that hold air pockets, giving Adana its springy texture. A meat grinder produces a uniform paste that compresses and goes rubbery on the grill. Tail fat (kuyrukyağı), specifically — not back fat or shoulder fat — has a lower melting point and bastes the meat from inside. Without it the kebab is lean and dry.