Pides may be the Turkish version of a flatbread, but how do you translate something that is just so much more than that?? Well literally, pide translates to “pie” in Turkish, and to be fair it is similar to the Italian pizza pie. But it is much flatter yet shaped differently than a flatbread. Then there is the number of toppings for flavor- from meats to cheese to vegetables- all making this just more. Continuing the Turkish Food Diaries of the previous entry are the pides of Istanbul.
Pictured here is my favorite. Pide with suho meso and cheese. Kasar is the cheese most often used in this cuisine. Made from sheep’s milk and sometimes goat milk, the taste and texture are very similar to mozzarella but is a bit more firm and even more mild, making it the perfect cheese to not overwhelm the other ingredients in a pide. Suho meso is a sausage and a meat I know from growing up Balkan. Cut up and served with kifle (bread), kajmak, cheese, and pickles- it is semi-dried and beef-based. Not like pepperoni, but not quite as tangy as sausage, it has a hickory taste all of its own. Bake with cheese on a bread and you have a smoky and delightful pide.
Being that Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country, there is no pork or pig product in meals. The pide above features beef and lamb, the 2 other meats that are used for many cuisines.The beef in the pide is an easy start to this ultimate street food as it is the most similar to a pizza. Covered with cheese and crispy from the wood fire, it’s a burger and pizza in one, and even better than both. Better because the seasoning and flavors added to the meat and ingredients takes the overall flavor profile to the next level. Lamb pide is more robust and gamey than the beef, which makes sense with the more distinct taste of lamb. The lamb mince fillings of pide would be accompanied with peppers, onions, spices, parsley, and of course cheese and tomato paste. These pides were tangy and full of flavor. I am not a fan on lamb and could not get enough of these thin love breads.
We were lucky enough to try pide in a few different places. What I am not lucky enough is to have a tried and true recipe to give you if you would like to try for yourself. I’ve done an internet search of recipes available and can only recommend based on reviews and ingredients, trying the below. I know I will (and report back of course).
For the dough, Recipe Tin Eats has a step by step break down with images.
For the meat lovers, Scrambled Chefs has you covered.
For those looking to make a couple different kinds, Not Quite Nigella has three.
