Friday

Istanbul Eats on the Road: Gaziantep’s Sweet Dreams

Post a Comment October 15, 2010 – 12:16 pm | Permalink |  Print This Post |

(Editor’s Note: In Salih Seçkin Sevinç, creator of the fantastic Turkish-language food blog “Harbi Yiyorum” (roughly translated as “Eating For Real” in English), we’ve found a kindred spirit and a source for great eating tips. We’ve asked Salih to share with our readers some of his culinary wisdom this week. This is his fourth and final post about the mind blowing food scene in southeast Turkey’s Gaziantep.)

When we were in Antep we didn’t just eat kebab of course. We asked for the best katmer around.  Ciğerci Asef advised us on how to find the lord of the masters of katmer, a breakfast pastry made out of sheets of phyllo dough wrapped around kaymak and chopped pistachios (pictured above). It has been told that the people of Antep eat liver kebab and katmer at breakfast. And then they don’t put another thing to their mouth till evening? Is that true? Absolutely!

Locals describe the kaymak that is used inside katmer as “kaymağın, kaymağı” – literally the “creme de la creme”. The pistachio and kaymak inside the warm layers of the katmer generates an incomparable flavor balance in your mouth and stomach and, yes, you never want to eat anything else until evening.

Folks, when you ask where to eat katmer in Antep, everybody answers: Katmerci Zekeriya Usta. You can eat Katmerci Zekeriya Usta’s katmer till 11:00 am. If you come back after that time you will find nothing to eat. Also you will find nothing but katmer here.

We asked what are they doing after 11:00. Katmerci Zekeriya Usta is preparing orders from other cities and countries. Look at that! They are sending these things to “New Zealand” Wow, “Don’t they get spoiled during transit?” we asked. “Nothing happens,” they answered.  We never tried an outside order but anyone who wants to can try, as you will find the address and telephone at the end of this article.

While we were eating our katmer we encountered a group of travelers from Izmir who were also on the hunt for Gaziantep’s culinary treasures. While we eating our katmer, they commanded us by saying: “Do not fill yourself with katmer lads. We will take you to the place of Altıntel Erdal Usta, who makes the world’s most beautiful burma kadayıf.” We obeyed, of course!

Our stomachs were saying “No!” But our minds made us say “Eyvallah!” We soon found ourselves looking at the display of burma kadayıf – a dessert made out of golden strands of shredded wheat wrapped around chopped pistachios – inside the store of Erdal Usta. We ordered one portion of the dessert and, perhaps because of having so many sweet things to start off the day, we started seeing hallucinations and were soon shouting out robotically “burma kadayıf, burma kadayıf, burma kadayıf.”

I have to admit something. It was the best Burma Kadayıf I ever ate in my life.

Katmerci Zekeriya Usta
Address: Çukur mh. Körükçü sok. B. Hilmi Geçidi No: 16/C-D, Gaziantep
Telephone: 0342-230-0971 or 0534 7607454
Web: www.katmercizekeriya.com

Altıntel Baklava ve Kadayıf Erdal Usta
Address: Şehreküstü Şehitler Caddesi No:270, Gaziantep
Telephone: 0342-225-2477

(photo by Salih Seçkin Sevinç)