Pressed Beef

The Turkish horsemen of Central Asia used to preserve meat in pockets on the sides of their saddles, pressing it with their legs as they rode. Pastırma means ‘pressed’, and this pressed, dry-cured beef off the steppe is the origin of the Italian pastrami and consequently the mainstay of a thousand New York delis. The best pastırma comes from Kayseri in central Turkey – Evliya Çelebi, the great and witty traveller, recommended it in the 17th century. Most of it is eaten in I