As chefs from Adana are busy competing against one another to see who can cook the most delicious kebabs, Engin is actually the first local female to be certified in this art. Though Engin has been cooking many foods professionally for the past 20 years, she only started making kebabs seven years ago.Recently, Engin completed an Adana kebab course offered by the Adana Chamber of Commerce, making her the first female officially certified to make this special dish. Before completing the course, she worked as a chef for seven years at a teachers’ residence and greatly pleased the people who ate her food there. It was perhaps also her sparkling personality that helped her rise to the top of a group of already great local chefs.
Engin notes that part of what has driven her to become Turkey’s first-ever female certified kebab chef is that she simply loves cooking and has always wanted to further develop her skills. She is not only a cook but the mother of four, with the youngest starting university this year, in fact. She notes that her primary goal is always to serve her customers the best food possible, and that generally, teachers are on the receiving end of her talents. The director of the local teachers’ house where Engin works is Hulusi Ünal, who has infinite praise for Engin’s considerable skills in the kitchen. Ünal says Engin is extraordinary in her ability to prepare lots of different foods -- from köfte to bread, salads to kebabs -- all at once and that it is always loved by everyone. He notes that the certificate is really just icing on the cake, as her accomplishments were already recognized by everyone.
Points on kebab making from Engin
Here are some suggestions from Turkey’s first certified female kebab chef: The meat should be free of sinewy tendons and tough parts and must be minced by hand, as this is really one of the notable characteristics of Adana kebab, that it is minced by hand rather than by a machine. Other than salt, tomato paste, red pepper and black pepper, nothing else should be added to the meat. One portion is 100 grams of meat. So you need 150 grams of meat for one-and-a-half portions of Adana kebab. A kebab ought to be 0.5 centimeters thick and 2.5 centimeters wide. You should also dip your hands briefly in water when sticking the meat onto the kebab stick so that as little meat as possible sticks to your hands. Pat the meat you are using onto the kebab stick until you get the shape you are looking for. Then it is ready to cook.
Adana kebab should be cooked over oak charcoal, where the flame does not rise suddenly and burns evenly. When the meat’s color starts to darken over the flames, turn the kebab. When the meat is cooked evenly on both sides, press bread pieces on both sides of the meat to soak up the oil. Then place the meat back over the flames and turn again. Again, press the bread against the meat to soak up more oil. By the time the meat starts to get even darker, it is done cooking. Place the now oily bread slices on a plate and push the meat off the kebab stick and onto the bread. Add tomatoes and hot green peppers that have cooked over the same flame. It is ready to serve.
Of course, the presentation of the food is as important as the cooking process itself, and Adana kebab must thus always be presented accompanied by an onion salad, a crushed tomato salad, some greens and, of course, Adana’s famous “şalgam suyu,” a very tart, salty turnip juice.
