Adana Kebab

Adana kebab is hand-minced, hand-spiced lamb packed onto a wide flat skewer and grilled over charcoal. It's named for the southern city of Adana, and it's a genuinely different kebab from şiş kebap — this one starts as minced meat, not cubes, and that single difference changes the texture of the whole dish.

What it actually is

Fatty lamb, sometimes with a little beef, is hand-minced with a knife rather than a machine grinder, worked through with pul biber, salt and other spices until the mixture holds together on its own without any egg or breadcrumb binder. It's pressed by hand onto wide, flat metal skewers in a long, ribbon-like shape, then grilled fast over hot charcoal, turned often so the fat renders and bastes the meat as it cooks.

The mince has to be coarse and knife-cut, not machine-fine. A version made from finely ground, pre-mixed meat loses the rougher, more textured bite that hand-mincing gives — Adana kebab is judged partly on that coarseness holding together on the skewer without falling apart.

How it's served

• Off the skewer, over flatbread or with rice, the fat-basted meat still hot from the grill.
• With grilled tomato, pepper and onion, and a scatter of sumac on the onion.
• Spicy, since pul biber is a defining part of the seasoning, though the heat level varies by kitchen.

Writing it on a menu

• Say that it's hand-minced lamb, not a cubed-meat kebab, since guests sometimes expect the two to be the same.
• Note the spice level, since pul biber gives it real heat that not every guest expects.
• Mention if you serve it over bread or rice, since both are traditional and change the plate.
• Flag it as naturally free of major common allergens in the base recipe, aside from anything served alongside.