Kısır

Kısır is fine bulgur bound with tomato paste, pepper paste and pomegranate molasses into a deep red salad. It's Gaziantep's sharper, spicier answer to tabbouleh — a close cousin by ingredient list, but a noticeably different dish once the paste and molasses go in.

What it actually is

Very fine bulgur is soaked in hot water or broth until it swells and softens completely, then worked with generous amounts of tomato paste and pepper paste until every grain turns a deep red. Finely diced onion, spring onion, parsley and mint go in along with a tart pour of pomegranate molasses and olive oil, and the whole thing is kneaded and tossed by hand until it comes together into a dense, sticky, intensely flavoured salad.

Where tabbouleh leans on parsley as the dominant note, kısır leans on the paste and molasses — it's a rounder, sourer, more savoury dish, and the two are genuinely different orders even though they share a base ingredient.

How it's served

• At room temperature or chilled, pressed into a mound or a mould for shape.
• With lettuce or cabbage leaves on the side, for scooping and wrapping.
• As part of a meze spread, alongside other cold Turkish and Levantine starters.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag the gluten in the bulgur; it's the one common allergen in an otherwise naturally vegan salad.
• Mention that it's naturally vegan, a strong option to place next to heavier meze on the same menu.
• Distinguish it clearly from tabbouleh if both appear on a menu; the tomato-and-pepper-paste base makes kısır a rounder, spicier, redder dish, not a regional variation of the same recipe.
• Note the pomegranate molasses, since its sourness is a defining flavour, not an optional garnish drizzle.