Köfte wars heat up

You already know some of the most famous of these: İnegöl köfte, Edirne’s köfte, Akçabaat’s köfte and so on. People have a hard time saying “no” to any of these. We should probably accept from the very start that we are a nation of people who can’t get enough of our köfte. We eat every kind of köfte, never turning our noses up at any of them. Proof of this is in the presence of köfte sellers everywhere you look. There are köfte chains that have already made famous names for themselves, and then there are those that are still trying to make their mark. In recent times, these seem to have multiplied. Yes, the treacherous “köfte wars” have begun. And nowadays, those same shopping centers that used to be filled with so many lahmacun and döner sellers seem to be the stage for competing köfte restaurants.

In 2004, for example, the Edirneli Kırkpınarlar Köftecisi opened up eight branches in İstanbul. There are already two branches in Edirne itself. And there are plans for more of these branches in other big Turkish cities, Ankara to start with. Their goal is apparently to have 20 restaurants opened across the nation. Operations manager Murat Aslan from Kırkpınarlar Köftecisi asserts that since 2008, there has been a marked increase in interest in köfte, and that this is reflected in his company’s success. Aslan notes that entrepreneurs wanting to satisfy the growing demand have worked to only increase the general demand.

One of the managers of Cızbız Köfte, which has 27 restaurant branches in İstanbul alone, is Ali Tatlıdil. He says that the rampant consumer demand for köfte means a great opportunity for companies on the rise. While it used to be that you’d hear people say “come on, we’re heading out with friends to get some lahmacun,” nowadays you’re more likely to hear “let’s go eat some köfte.” Martız Köfte opened up in 1972, and since then, only opened up four more branches in İstanbul. But this year, Martız Köfte is making plans to open new restaurants in the Fatih Historia Shopping Center and the Profilo Shopping Center in Mecidiyeköy.

Food culture expert Deniz Gürsoy says that the Turkish taste for köfte comes all the way from Central Asia, and she notes that the rapid increase of köfteci-type restaurants has a direct link to the financial crisis of 2009. According to Gürsoy: “In the economic crisis of 2001, it was the low-priced simit that experienced an explosion in popularity. At the time, simit chains made a huge profit.”

Gürsoy went on to add that köfte has experienced a rise in 2009 because they appeal to such a wide range of tastes, and they are really not all that expensive to make. As Gürsoy sees it, whenever Turkey encounters economic problems, it tends to turn towards its more traditional tastes. “Köfte uses only a bit of meat and lots of other ingredients, and is a product that is not harmful for consumers. For example, you can actually use the meat from the head of a cow to make them, and they are delicious and cheap. These are all factors that have probably pushed the köfte producers we are seeing these days.” Seeing all the popular köfte sellers these days -- from Köfteci Ahmet to Cevizli Köfte, from Köfteci Yusuf to Köfteci Ali, from Köfteci İsmail to Köfteci Babacan -- it’s not difficult to speculate that this competition to see who can grab more customers in the heated köfte wars will go on for a while.

Why do we love köfte so much?

Deniz Gürsoy looks back to the sales that started taking place in and around railroad lines in the beginning of the republic years as part of the reason that köfte are now so popular all over the nation. Gürsoy notes that köfte was an easy meal for people to eat while traveling and that people have always loved köfte prepared and cooked according to the ways of their particular region. She also notes that köfte is really a food that can be shaped according to every age and taste, which is the main reason that they appeal to so many segments of society.

The experts talk about the characteristics of köfte

Let’s take a look into the kitchens of some of Turkey’s famous köfte makers. True kitchen masters rarely reveal their secrets, or maybe only reveal one or two of their secrets, but never mind, let’s hear what they have to tell us...

Bursa’s star, the İnegöl köfte

The real starter of the İnegöl köfte was Mustafa Efendi, who came to Inegöl from the Bulgarian city of Pazarcık. He began offering this now-famous dish in 1892 on the Bursa-Ankara road, and nowadays, the Inegöl köfte is literally accepted as a regional dish. Here is how Mesut Beşler, who carries on his grandfather’s work with dedication, describes the secret to the Inegöl köfte: “There is no bread inside this köfte. Only meat, salt and onions, but no spices. As for the ground meat in these köfte, it is made up of 70 percent beef and 20 percent lamb. The unique taste is lent to these köfte by the ground beef that comes from calves that are just a year-and-a-half old. ... Another one of our methods is to cook our köfte on oak coal charcoal, and to turn them very, very often.”

When you think of Trabzon, you think of Akçaabat Köfte

This is a köfte that arose in 1945 from the butchers in Akçaabat. According to Nihat Usta, the secret to these köfte lies in the meat and oil used in their making. The oil that Akçaabat köfte uses is “çember yağı” or fat from animal organs. Says Nihat Usta: “Only ground beef is used in the Akçaabat köfte. Other than the ground beef, there is stale bread, garlic, salt and çember yağı. We let this mixture sit for five hours, and then we cook the köfte on coal fires.”

Tekirdağ köfte with garlic and cumin

The secret to the famous Tekirdağ köfte is explained in part by Mehmet Şahin, who has worked with these köfte for a full 27 years. “The Tekirdağ köfte is made only from ground beef. Nothing but cumin, salt and garlic is added to this.” Mehmet Usta also asserts that the fact that the ground beef used in these famous köfte comes from cows raised in the Thracian region is another important factor in the taste.