Sultan Halal Basterma

Bastirma or Pastirma, is an air-dried cured beef which has been strongly seasoned and is popularly consumed in the former Ottoman countries.The Bastirma is derived from Turkish word bastırma et . Bastirma et is non-finite verb of the word bastırmak , which means “to depress or restrain”. Various types of Bastirma recipes are enjoyed throughout the Eastern Europe. 

Today, shanks of beef are cut from domestically grown beef, and dry cured in the fresh air for a couple days. Next, the meat is covered in a paste called çemen, which is made from garlic, fenugreek seeds, and red peppers, and left to cure for another couple days. Connoisseurs will tell you that if your pastirma is cut with a machine, as opposed to a hand knife, it is inferior.