What to Eat in Konya: Etli Ekmek, 6-Hour Fırın Kebabı, Bamya and Tirit

Because Konya served both as the imperial capital of the Seljuk Sultans and the mother lodge of the Mevlevi Dervishes, where the head chef held the spiritual title of Ateşbaz-ı Veli, dining in Konya is governed by centuries-old guild rules. Here are the five dishes every visitor must taste.

1. Etli Ekmek, Bıçak Arası and Mevlana Pidesi (Know the 3 Varieties)

Never confuse PGI-protected Konya Etli Ekmeği with the thick, boat-shaped lahmacun or pide of other cities. In Konya, a 180-gram ball of leavened dough is stretched on a wooden peel to 85 to 90 centimetres long and paper-thin so the edges crunch like a wafer when baked in an oak-fired stone oven. Locals order it in three distinct toppings (or ask for a mixed trio):

• Etli Ekmek: topped with finely minced beef/lamb rib meat kneaded with finely diced tomatoes, green peppers and onions.
• Bıçak Arası ("Between Two Knives"): instead of mincing the meat in a machine, the butcher chops tender lamb/veal by hand into tiny cubes between two heavy crescent knives, giving a juicier, steak-like bite.
• Mevlana (or Börek): combines the minced meat of etli ekmek with a generous layer of melted, crumbly local Konya mould-ripened cheese (küflü peynir) and white cheese. Where to eat it: Bolu Lokantası (in Aziziye since 1952), Havzan Etli Ekmek or Cemo.

2. Konya Fırın Kebabı (Tandoor Lamb, Eat Strictly in the afternoon)

Fatty front-shoulder and rib meat from small Karaman sheep is placed inside deep tinned-copper basins with nothing but its own fat, a splash of water and rock salt, and slow-roasted inside a domed brick oven heated by oak logs for 5 to 6 hours. It is served by weight (100g, 150g or 200g) pressed directly on top of a flat round of puffy tırnaklı pide bread alongside a whole raw purple onion. Where to eat it at lunchtime: Hacı Şükrü (operating since 1907), Ali Baba Fırın Kebap or Tarihi Medrese right behind the Bedesten.

3. Bamya Çorbası, Tirit and Sac Arası

• Bamya Çorbası (Tangy Baby Okra Soup): made from tiny sun-dried floral-bud okras (strung on cotton threads in autumn) simmered with cubed lamb and plenty of lemon juice so it never turns mucilaginous.
• Sac Arası & Höşmerim: a spiral coil of phyllo pastry stuffed with clotted cream or cheese, baked between two hot iron griddles and dusted with pistachios (sac arası).