The Gaziantep Morning Ritual: Fiery Beyran Soup and Crispy Pistachio Katmer

In Gaziantep, breakfast is not a plate of cucumber, olives and white cheese; it is a high-craft culinary performance that starts at before dawn when the bazaar bakers and soup masters light their fires, and winds down by in the late morning or in the late morning. If you have two mornings in the city, dedicate Morning 1 to savoury Beyran and Morning 2 (or dessert right after) to sweet, crispy Katmer.

1. Beyran (Gaziantep's Famous Flambéed Morning Lamb Dish)

Although visitors often call it "Beyran soup", locals insist that beyran is a main dish in its own right. First, fatty lamb neck and cheek meat (gerdan eti) is simmered on the bone in huge copper cauldrons for 12 to 14 hours overnight until the meat falls apart into tender threads and the marrow-rich broth turns gelatinous. When you sit down at a marble table, the master steps up to a row of roaring high-pressure jet-burners holding a shallow, tinned-copper individual bowl (sahan) with iron tongs:

• The 3-Minute Fire Assembly: into the dry copper bowl goes a layer of spiced lamb tallow, a handful of parboiled white rice, a generous mound of shredded lamb neck meat, crushed raw garlic and a spoonful of fiery red pul biber chilli flakes. Held over the roaring blue flame, the fat sizzles and bursts into tall yellow flames as boiling lamb bone broth is ladled in until the broth emulsifies into a rich, velvety crimson soup, finished with a squeeze of fresh lemon at your table.
• Where to eat it: Metanet Lokantası, Yesemek Beyran or Kebapçı Halil Usta / Kelebek. (You can ask for az acılı, mild chilli, or acısız, no chilli, when ordering).

2. Gaziantep Katmeri (Paper-Thin Wood-Fired Pistachio & Cream Pastry)

Traditionally served to newlywed couples on the morning after their wedding to give them energy and sweetness for their new life together, katmer is eaten strictly between early in the morning and in the late morning. Watch the master at the marble counter flip and spin a ball of rested dough through the air until it stretches across the entire table as thin as tissue paper. Inside the transparent sheet, he scatters dollops of thick sheep's-milk clotted cream (kaymak), sugar and handfuls of crushed emerald boz pistachios, folds the edges into a square envelope, brushes it with clarified butter and slides it onto the stone floor of an oak-fired oven for just two minutes until it puffs up like a golden pillow. Eat it piping hot at legendary Katmerci Zekeriya Usta (on Çukur Mahallesi since 1925) or Orkide Pastanesi, washed down with a glass of warm milk or unsweetened tea.