So, this looks amazing doesn’t it? “Çok güzel,” the man cooking it said to me.
Two hours ago (about 2 am), I’m on my way home from a night out in Ankara and I wanted a kebab-esque snack; I am in Turkey after all! My hungry eyes settled on a man wielding this large skewer of what is apparently called kokoreç. It looked succulent and flavorful and was exactly what I wanted.
Except after I ordered I stood there and watched him make it. And I slowly realized that this meat was suspiciously white on the inside. The same suspicious white of the sheep intestine I had to eat in Morocco after helping cook it wrapped in stomach fat.
I asked the Turkish guy my new friends were hanging out with if kokoreçhad anything to do with stomach or intestines.
He said, “most definitely and it is çok güzel!”
It was NOT very good. I spent the next few minutes walking around offering kokoreç to those passing by and practicing my Turkish—telling everyone, “problem var.” (there is a problem).
Don’t get me wrong, there is amazing, amazing, amazing food here. But this was not a delicacy I wished to try again.
I ended up finishing it, though.
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