{"id":2631,"date":"2018-03-07T08:40:24","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T08:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodurismo.com\/cms\/?p=2631"},"modified":"2026-03-08T20:46:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T20:46:24","slug":"pastirma-pies-en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodurismo.com\/cms\/pastirma-pies-en\/","title":{"rendered":"PASTIRMA PIES"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pastirma, or pastourma, is a treat commonly found in central and western Asia, the Balkans, Egypt and Libya. The word pastourma comes from the Turkish word \u201cpastirma et\u201d which means pressed meat, since a basic step in making it is pressing the meat in plates to dehydrate it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"pastirma<\/p>\n

It was created when nomadic Turkish tribes as well as warriors had to cover their needs of alimentation during their painful, long-running migrations and campaigns. The pieces of salted meat were moved underneath the horse saddles, beneath the rider. These conditions of preserving pastirma were crucial in defining the later techniques of making it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pieces of lean meat from the sides of animals like calves, lambs, buffalos and camels, are salted, covered with a mix of spices called \u201ctsimeni\u201d and then left to the air to \u201cbake\u201d and mature\u201d. The characteristic, heavy for some, smell of pastourma comes from the tsiqeni covering it. The plant fenugreek gives the the tsimeni seed, which is used with paprika, pepper, cumin and garlic to protect the pieces of pastirma.<\/span><\/p>