Turkish Thing, Mangal
This is as much Turkish as you can get.
It is not called barbeque or something else, this is hardcore
"mangal".
You see Turks in their gardens, in the
parks, by the side of E-5 for the love of smoking meat. Mangal
represents Turkey better than tea (contrary to the old, overly
nationalistic American lady mentions). I will get to "The Tea
Issue" soon.
There are little tips and techniques
that I learned from the master: "Kenan Hocam". He cooks
with the precision of a surgeon, simply because he is one, and with
all his love.
Fundamentals
Köfte (the meatball): Keep
in mind you expose the meat to high temperatures, directly, and for a
short time. The more fat content your meat has the better it is. If
you just use lamb, a little grated onion, cloves of garlic, bread and
seasoning will just be fine. For beef it is better to use some sort
of a combination. Beef doesn't really have enough fat content for
mangal. For a kilo of mince, 700 beef-300 lamb + 100 gr ox fat
(optional but superb results). For a kilo of köfte use 1 large
onion, 4-5 cloves of garlic and 2-3 slices day old bread.
Mangal: (As Turkish Language
Association states) An open cooking and warming utensil made of cast
iron, coppor or brass.
It is not as fancy as barbeque, and
usually comes in relatively small sizes 40x60. Notice it is close to
the ground, this is the distinct feature of it. Although it seems
overly simple it is quite hard to get a good one.
Fire: This is the hardest part.
It is quite unlikely that you will get it right (let alone the good
temperature, starting the fire) in the first time. There is no trick:
practice, practice and practice.
Shit, I can't stop being a smart-ass.
Since the kind of meat that we Turks cook is slim in portions and
fresh rather than aged, the fire should not be strong. You should not
see any flame, only the ember (köz).
If you are using coal, try not to.
Find some wood. Anyways since it is easier to get, at least listen
this piece of advice. When you are left only with the ember wait for
5 to 10 minutes. Not to much, not to less.
Cooking: Assuming you get the fire
right. YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE THE SURFACE THAT YOU COOK IS CLEAN.
Apply animal fat to the surface (otherwise use the other half of the
onion with some oil). Place you meatballs of "Sis" with
reasonable spaces in between.
If you are cooking in batches, it is
interesting to observe the performance of the fire actually increase
at some point. This is mostly because the fat from you meat spills on
the fire.
Afiyet olsun.
Ps. For the Sis recipe please visit : Refika'nın Mutfağı
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