Kokorec

[Joe in Tasucu]

I am back after a couple of months back in blighty. Hello!

We came home via Ankara. It was just a flying visit which comprised almost totally of seeing MyWife's relatives and the Ataturk Mausoleum. And eating Kokorec. Kokerec is described in Wikipedia as :

Kokoreç is a Turkish dish of Balkan origin, made of seasoned, skewered lamb's intestines. Intestines of suckling lambs (süt kuzusu) is most favored for this dish. It's a delicacy and not a standard menu item in restaurants. It can be found in street vendors and some specialized restaurants only. As with all intestine-based food, it has a long and important process of washing and cleaning

Note that long and important process of washing and cleaning and street vendor are mentioned in the same breath.

We had our Kokerec sandwich from a street vendor on our last day, just hours before we boarded a coach for an eight hour journey to Silifke. Can you guess what happened next? That’s right - an attack of food poisoning. On a coach. Overnight. For eight hours. We had to get the coach to stop so MyWife could be sick on the roadside. I managed to cope with manful, stoic resilience which, in retrospect, was a mistake. As soon as MyWife had finished being sick she felt much better. I continued feeling bloody awful through the while trip and for the whole of the next day.

MyYoungestDaughter decided not to have Kokerec and had a donner instead and so was fine. This has to be one of the few occasions a donner kebab was the safer option.

By the way, as is the case with many things that are bad for you (if not actually poisonous), the Kokorec was very nice.

 

[KKOB]

Don't let the one bad experience put you off. I've been eating Korkorec and a many other delicacies since moving out here and never even suffered a twinge, apart from when I overindulge in the chillies of course.

 

[Joe in Tasucu]

It won't put me off Turkish food or trying new things, both of which I love.

I will not be eating Kokorec again though, unless I know I have uniterrupted access to a secure, private toilet for the following day. Just in case.

 

[Ms Who]

Smells wonderful, looks bloody awful. Family love the stuff, brother in law has a kokorec stand also. My first experience of it was sitting with the Amca's on Saturday afternoon in the back streets of Yenihisar. It was perfectly ok until one of them got a rubbery bit and it twanged like an elastic band between his mouth and the bread. Yeeeeeoooooowwwwww. wouldnt catch me eating it!

 

[shirleyanntr]

yuk Kym...ive heard that twang too hah..there should be a tune to go with it.
its an all night snack in certain back streets in Alanya ... i hate it Yusuf loves it..but it does smell great.

Welcome back Joe..i was wondering where you had got to.

 

[Sunny Seasider]

Welcome back and hope you enjoyed your stay in Blighty, kept wondering why you not posting, I'm just very nosey and observant, lol. Sorry to hear you've had a bad bout of food rejection, my hubby is keen to try anything, but from the description I don't think I could. I can't even get to grips with the texture of tripe in my mouth, just can't do it.

 

[Akasya]

Last weekend i read a restaurant review in The Times, one of the dishes was Cod's Tripe. The gastronome writer said like all tripe it had a " Turdal Twang ". I don't indulge meself.

Steve.

 

[Bubskar]

I've experienced the "twang" too Kym - not good so I always insist on Well Crisped Up.

I must say that there is only a certain time that I eat it. Let's just say I liken it to the times in London when I was fully beveraged up after a night out with mates and you just HAD to have some KFC. We travelled miles for it if our local was closed. Well it's the same with Kokorec - devoured in seconds after a night on the tiles with the same result - drink up - eat up - throw up.