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Kokoreç At Çiftlik Market

Turkish Food Focus – Kokoreç At Çiftlik Market

A couple of weeks ago we decided it was time to get out the comfortable footwear and blow away the the winter cobwebs by walking to Çiftlik from Çalış Beach.

And, although aimless wandering is good, we also decided to kill two birds with one stone by making our inaugural visit to Çiftlik Thursday market (Perşembe Pazarı) to get some food shopping.

After reading our Guide To Çiftlik Market, you’ll know that we quite enjoyed the experience. So much so that we decided to walk there again yesterday. Only yesterday, rather than grab a kebab in Çalış, we decided to try out the mobile food stand we saw parked up on the edge of the market.

We’re dedicating this week’s Turkish Food Focus to Ümit Usta’s Çiftlik Market food stand.

Street Food At Çiftlik Market, Fethiye
Eating at Çiftlik Market

And here it is. A long way from the scenes you see at the Fethiye Market food area where scores of food stands vie first for your eye contact before launching into their, “Hello, yes please, pancakes, meat, potato, spinach, kebabs, buyrun,” in the hope of gaining your custom.

None of that at Çiftlik Pazarı. Ümit Usta is your only choice – and there’s not a gözleme in sight. Nor, for that matter, is there a ‘Buyrun, hello yes please,” as you walk by; just a polite ‘Hoşgeldiniz’ (welcome) as you take a seat.

And we collapsed into our seats. This time, we’d walked all the way from home so our legs had done a good few miles. And we were hungry. Head said go for a döner kebab or köfte ekmek (sandwich), stomach and heart said go for kokoreç. We had no idea of the quality of food Ümit Usta was serving.

Was ordering a spicy, finely chopped lamb’s intestine sandwich a sensible move at lunchtime when it was also our first meal of the day? Well, we were about to find out because neither of us could resist and we both ordered a kokoreç half bread.

Kokoreç, Çiftlik Market, Fethiye
Kokoreç Ekmek

The signs were good – two staff cramped in the stand, producing half-bread after half-bread, wrapping them up and bagging them. It looks as though a lot of people order take-away sandwiches from here at lunchtime and it’s always good to know you’re not the only customer.

We opened the tub of Turkish pickles in preparation and waited for our kokoreç to take its turn on the mini production line so it could be delivered to its two hungry customers.

Ümit Usta knows how to serve up a good kokoreç! Fresh, crusty bread was pressed down on the griddle, soaking up meat juices in the process. The texture of the bread is an important component in the making of any good half-bread and this was just how we like it: warm and crispy on the outside, soft and light on the inside – ripe for juice absorption!

And the kokoreç itself; moist and tender (not oft-used adjectives for this particular sandwich filling). It had been cut and cooked perfectly. The pickled chillies were spicy without blowing our head off. It was the perfect lunch after a good leg stretch.

And as with our Izmir döner kebab quandary, we’re now debating whether this is the best kokoreç we’ve ever eaten.

2 kokoreç half-breads and 2 cartons of ayran cost 9.50 TL (2013)

March 15, 2013 by Turkey's For Life 12 Comments

Filed Under: Fethiye, Street Food Tagged With: Çiftlik, Fethiye Cheap Eats, Fethiye Markets, Kokoreç

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Comments

  1. Backto Bodrum

    March 15, 2013 at 6:09 pm

    I’m not a fan of kororeç. We have one at the entrance to the street we live on in Bodrum and if the wind is Northerly I get kokoreç scented laundry.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous

    March 15, 2013 at 6:12 pm

    Never had the courage to try it…but your description is so tempting 🙂

    Reply
  3. April Ozbilgin

    March 15, 2013 at 8:02 pm

    The whole time I lived in Turkey, I never ate kokorec but you actually made my mouth water describing the preparation.

    Reply
  4. zerrin

    March 15, 2013 at 9:24 pm

    It’s so cruel! You made me crave for good kokoreç again! I can eat it at any time of day! It is the best snack after drinking too!

    Reply
  5. Kaya Koyu Walker

    March 15, 2013 at 11:21 pm

    I just love kokoreç.

    Reply
  6. Turkey's For Life

    March 16, 2013 at 10:58 am

    @ BacktoBodrum: It’s one of those smells that’s great after a night out and not so great the day after. 🙂

    @ Anonymous: We’ve grown to love kokoreç. The more we tried it, the more we loved it. 🙂 The first couple, we were very conscious of what we were eating.

    Reply
  7. Turkey's For Life

    March 16, 2013 at 10:59 am

    @ April: Hope you get to visit Turkey again and then next time, you can try it. 🙂

    @ Zerrin: Definitely best after a night out. Kokoreç is perfect to eat while walking home. 😉

    Reply
  8. Turkey's For Life

    March 16, 2013 at 11:00 am

    @ Kaya Koyu Walker: So do we. We always liked it but it just seems to get better and better the more you eat. 🙂

    Reply
  9. Kaya Koyu Walker

    March 16, 2013 at 4:53 pm

    We’re back out there on 2nd May and my first call between Dalaman and Kaya will be at a Kokorec stall.

    Reply
  10. Turkey's For Life

    March 16, 2013 at 5:45 pm

    @ Kaya Koyu Walker: Don’t blame you! Afiyet Olsun. 🙂

    Reply
  11. Anonymous

    March 16, 2013 at 9:26 pm

    Looks nice and sunny there – I was laughing today when I heard that it was so cold in Fethiye that the council gave the kids a day off school, even though the temperature was what in Scotland would be seen as T-shirt weather after the winter snow!

    Reply
  12. Turkey's For Life

    March 18, 2013 at 7:57 am

    @ Anonymous: Yes, the children were given the off school but it was because really high winds had been forecast. It’s been really mild this winter. As it was, the winds petered out before they hit us so the kids gt a fun day off instead of bad weather. 🙂

    Reply

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