Pastırma Pide

Pastırmalı pide is an open Turkish pide topped with kaşar cheese and thin slices of pastırma, the air-dried cured beef most closely tied to Kayseri in central Anatolia. Pastırma is made from whole muscles that are salted, pressed and dried for weeks, then coated in çemen, a thick paste of ground fenugreek, garlic and red pepper that gives it a rust-coloured crust and a strong garlic smell. On a pide it plays the role that ham plays on a pizza, with far more spice, salt and aroma. It is usually one of the most expensive pides on a board because good pastırma is costly by weight, and in Kayseri itself pastırmalı pide is often made with an egg cracked over the top. It differs from sucuklu pide in a simple way: sucuk is a minced, fermented sausage that renders fat in the oven, while pastırma is whole-muscle meat that has little fat to give and dries out quickly.