Cağ kebabı
Course | Kebab |
---|---|
Place of origin | Ottoman Empire |
Region or state | Erzurum |
Created by | Disputed, with various lawsuits. Goes back to 18th century.[1] |
Main ingredients | Marinated slices of lamb, tail fat, onion, sweet basil, black pepper and salt. |
Cağ kebabı (pronounced [ˈdʒaː cebabɯ]), also called Yatik Döner, is a horizontally stacked marinated rotating lamb kebab variety, originating in Erzurum Province, Turkey.
This uniquely prepared kebab has become, as years passed, a trademark of Erzurum where all the famous Usta,[nb 1] like Şakir Aktaş and Kemâl Koç, run restaurants. each claiming to be descending from the exclusive inventors.
Note that while it is increasingly available in most Turkish cities, the Cağ kebabı is especially popular in Erzurum, whereas enjoying an ever-growing success in Istanbul and Ankara.
History[]
Ottoman travel books of the eighteenth century cite a kebab cooked on wood fire consisting of a horizontal stack of meat, known as "Cağ Kebabı" in the Eastern Turkish province of Erzurum, which is probably[citation needed] the ancestor of döner as we know it.[2][3][failed verification]
Etymology[]
The Turkish word "cağ" is IPA: [ˈdʒaː] borrowed from Armeno-Georgian.[4] It means "spit" or skewer.[5] Hence the name of the kebab that consists of meat impaled on a huge spit.
Preparation[]
Slices of lamb and large quantities of tail fat are left to marinate in a mixture of basil, black pepper, salt and sliced onions for the length of a day. They are then impaled on the spit (Cağ), and stacked thickly. The spit is then locked and transferred to the fire where there is a fairly complicated device that controls the cooking of the spit. This typically includes a mechanism for turning the meat, another one for raising and lowering it, and also dents on the side to move the stack towards the fire as it gets thinner after servings are repeatedly cut away.
The meat used for Cağ kebabı is exclusively lamb.[6]
Stacking the lamb slices on the cağ
Cağ kebabı being cut
Newly impaled meat cooking on the cağ
Cağ kebabı served on a "bico",[7] or individual skewer
A restaurant in Ankara/Turkey that specializes in Cag Kebab (in Turkish "Cağ kebabı")
See also[]
- List of kebabs
- List of lamb dishes
- List of spit-roasted foods
- Turkish cuisine
Notes[]
- ^ "Usta" is a Turkish word, similar in its sense to the French word "chef" although its scope of use is wider, and it is a title, usually added after the first name, to denote a master of any craft or trade.
References[]
- ^ Yerasimos, Marianna (2005). 500 Yıllık Osmanlı Mutfağı (500 Years of Ottoman Cuisine) (in Turkish). Istanbul: Boyut Kitapları Yayın Grubu. p. 307. ISBN 975-23-0111-8.
- ^ http://donercibasi.com
- ^ http://www.iskender.com
- ^ "Imla".
- ^ "Türkçe Bilgi".
- ^ Yaman, Renan (1993). Döner Kebabın Hikâyesi (Story of the Döner Kebab) (in Turkish). Ankara: THKATV Yayınları. pp. 92–102.
- ^ "Türkçe Bilgi: Bico".
External links[]
- https://web.archive.org/web/20100110123901/http://www.gelgorcagkebabi.com/ - the restaurant of Şakir Aktaş in Oltu, Erzurum, claiming the invention
- http://www.cagkebap.com - the restaurant of Kemâl Koç from Tortum, Erzurum, claiming the invention
- Turkish cuisine
- Middle Eastern grilled meats
- Erzurum
- Lamb dishes
- Mediterranean cuisine
- Middle Eastern cuisine
- Skewered foods
- Spit-cooked foods
- Turkish words and phrases
- Kebabs