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CIG KOFTE
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Cig Kofte, pronounced "chee coff tay" (and
sometimes spelled cigkofte), is a traditional Turkish food,
customary in the southeastern region. "Cig" means "raw," and
originally, cig kofte was made with raw meat, though after concerns
about the safety of uncooked meat swept the globe in recent years,
many people now use cooked meat instead. (Vegetarians substitute
scrambled eggs for the meat.)
Ingredients in cig kofte include lean mincemeat such as veal, a
grain called bulgur, barley, chopped onions, tomato and pepper paste
and spices, including mint and parsley. One particular spice vital
to traditional cig kofte is isot, which is a sort of crushed chile
(this is hard to find outside of the Middle East). It is said that
the spices "cook" the meat when thoroughly mixed. Often, the mixture
is formed into meatballs. Regardless of the specific recipe, a
popular way to enjoy cig kofte is to wrap a hearty amount in a
lettuce leaf and eat like a tortilla wrap.
The dish's origins are steeped in mystery, with several popular
stories fighting for credibility. One tale has the prophet Ibrahim
(or Abraham, in the Bible) making the raw meatballs while he and his
followers were hiding from enemies in a cave - they couldn't start a
fire and were forced to eat raw venison. Another legend says that
the wife of a hunter created cig kofte after the tyrannical King
Nemrut banned firewood, so that he could hoard it all to build a
huge fire on which to burn Ibrahim. |
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