Name: Turkish “Meatball” Burgers (Koftesi)
Yield: Makes 8 Koftesi; Serves 4
Cuisine: Turkey
Ingredients: ½ teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper; 1½ teaspoons Coarse salt (kosher or sea); 1 small sweet onion, minced fine as dust (about ¾ cup); 1½ pounds ground sirloin or chuck, not too lean, about 20 percent fat; 1 clove garlic (optional, see Note), minced; 6 slices stale white bread, crusts cut off; 2 large or 4 small pieces of lavash, or 4 large pita breads, halved to form pockets, for serving; 1 cup sliced pickled peppers, for serving; Lemon wedges, for serving

Preparation info

Makes 8 Koftesi; Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Planet Barbecue

By Steven Raichlen

Published 2010

About

In the early years of the last century, a pious young man from eastern Tajikistan set off to make haji, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. Mehmet Tezçakin got as far as Istanbul when the First World War broke out. Stranded in the big city, he did what innumerable grill masters have done: He set up a mangal—a grateless grill—and three tables in a storefront no wider than a closet and began selling tiny rectangular ground beef patties called köftesi. (Yes, they’re related et