Pastırma

Pastırma
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Armenian sliced pastırma.

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

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1 Etymology
2 History
3 Usage
4 See also
5 References
6 Bibliography

Etymology

The name pastırma is Turkish, from "bastırma et" 'pressed meat'.^[1] The word is used with minor variants in the various languages of the region: Albanian pastërma, Arabic باسطرمة basṭurma, Armenian պաստուրմա (basturma), Azeri bastırma, Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian and Serbian pastrma, Bulgarian пастърма, 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. Pastırma itself is usually considered Turkish, though it is produced and consumed in a wide area of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Andrew Dalby also mentions its use in Byzantium.^[2]

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.^[3]

Usage

Though beef, is the most common meat today, various meats are also used, including camel, lamb, goat, and water buffalo.^[4]

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.

The Lebanese-Armenians introduced pastirma to Lebanese cuisine, and it is usually served as a mezze in thin slices, usually uncooked, but sometimes lightly grilled. It may be added to different dishes, the most famous of which is a bean dish.

In Turkey the spiced version, often called "Kayseri pastırması", is most common. The less-common Rumeli Pastırması 'Balkan pastırma', is simply salted. The spiced variety, when consumed in more than minuscule quantities, imparts its spicy scent to breath and body fluids (sweat, urine) for several hours after consumption.

References

^ TDK dictionary
^ Andrew Dalby, Siren Feasts as cited in Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe: A Book of Essays, Melitta Weiss Adamson, p. 11
^ TurkishCulture.org - Pastırma
^ Kaneva-Johnson, p. 62

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.