The Turk and I went to Adana recently to watch a band. I cannot remember the name of the band, it was a pretty OK band, but for the point of this story the band is irrelevant. As we left The Turk suggested a quick meal before we trek back to Mersin. I nodded and pictured an Adana Kebab with all the trimmings. Yummo. It’s probably the Turkish equivalent to stopping by Harry’s after a big night out in Sydney.
We walked for a couple of minutes before stopping at a likely looking little Esnaf Lokanta. It was packed. Ever table in the lokanta was full. There were people sitting in the gutter eating from plastic containers and people in the park across the street enjoying a little outdoor picnic. Yes this place definitely looks good plus I was starving so when The Turk pointed out a couple leaving in the corner I raced for a seat. I was happily perusing the menu when The Turk started to get extremely excited. He waved over a waiter ordered me a Kebab and then ordered something I had never heard of before – Şirdan.
Our meals were placed before us and after one glance of The Turk’s dish I literally wanted to upchuck! I didn’t have a camera with me so I had to google to get a suitable one (thank you tour gordon). Get a gander at this. Şirdan is either sheep or cow stomach stuffed with meat and rice. Cooked up in a large pot and then served with cumin and pepper it is a delicacy here in Adana. Had The Turk looked up from his dish of repulsion he would have seen I had turned a wicked shade of green – I had had too many red wines to watch him chow down on this particular meal. I decided to wait outside breathing in the fresh air rather than the pungent smell of cooked intestine.
Where is Macca’s when you need it?
janeyinmersin 
I agree with you Janey…. Being a Vegetarian,(dont eat anything with a face that smiles back at you) i think that i would have “up-chucked” on the spot… Ah well as long as he enjoyed it, simple pleasures and all that.
Kind regards
Jan
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It’s the smell that usually gets me, but I don’t even like sucuk cooked in the house. I can only look at your photo if I pretend it’s stuffed cabbage leaves.
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That’s the thing. Stuffed cabbage leaves are the bomb. Or stuffed capsicum OMG yum. But these things *shudder*
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Looks alone give my white slug chips a run for the money!
Also, I could not only not cook tripe for my friend’s dog, but couldn’t stay in the same HOUSE when it was cooking. ‘Fraid I would have embarrassed myself seeing this.
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Your friend cooks tripe for her dog? My mum used to do a slow cook for her dog Spud. I thought it was hilarious. No way will there be any tripe in this house although The Turk did cook a sheeps head on my cooktop a couple of months back. He made a soup. Yikes!
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You’ve given me an idea, thanks! Watch my space for a post about dog cuisine!
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They look like a bowl of penises! I’m not sure I would of been game for this either!
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When I first wrote this post I had a paragraph about how they reminded me of penises and how funny it is that all these men were enjoying slurping down this phallic, meaty dish but then I thought everyone would be subconsciously (or actively) thinking about The Turk’s penis! I deleted that paragraph 😉
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OMG, I was all set to vicariously enjoy a Kebab with you. Instead I’m also turning a brilliant shade of green with you! Think I’ll go stand by my open window for a moment….
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I too thought they were penis’s.
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It seems we all have our minds below the belt lol
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Oh dear me yes….but they do look it!
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Oh my goodness I totally thought those were something else too!! Uughh! Hilarious because I didn’t have to smell it but I sympathize with you 🙂 I would totally have gone outside too.
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What is it with everyone thinking these are penises lol!
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