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The Mersin Table, from Tantuni to Kerebiç

Most first-time visitors to Mersin get to know the city through a wrap. Tantuni is spoken of in the same breath as the city's name, yet the Mersin table is far wider than a single dish.

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The Mersin Table, from Tantuni to Kerebiç

Most first-time visitors to Mersin get to know the city through a wrap. Tantuni is spoken of in the same breath as the city's name, yet the Mersin table is far wider than a single dish. Tarsus hummus and kebab, Silifke yoghurt made from goat's milk, Anamur bananas, Mut apricots and olive oil, and the shepherd's food of Bozyazı called kavut all belong to it. This article tours the province's cuisine district by district, using the list of geographical indication products published by the Mersin Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism as its guide. At the end there are a few suggestions for anyone who wants to taste these foods where they are made and in their season.

What a geographical indication means

A geographical indication is a registration that protects the name of a product together with the place where it is grown or made. To receive it, a product has to show that its qualities come from the soil and climate of that area, or from skills passed down from generation to generation there. The page of the Mersin Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism lists twenty-three registered products of the province one by one and gives the registration date of each. The oldest entries on the list date from 2003. Mersin Cezeryesi was registered on 15.01.2003 and Anamur Muzu, the Anamur banana, on 09.07.2003. The newest entries come from 2024, among them Gülnar Kuş Üzümü and Anamur Batırığı. Reading the list, one sees that the province's cuisine draws on two great sources. On one side stands the urban cooking of Tarsus and Mersin, on the other the village and nomadic Yörük traditions of the Taurus highlands and the western coast.

Tantuni, the city's street food

On the Directorate's page Mersin Tantunisi appears with the date 21.03.2017 and is described as a meat dish particular to the Mersin area. According to the registration text, its distinguishing feature is the use of the fatty rib section of beef and of cottonseed oil. The meat is first cleaned of veins and membranes, diced into small cubes and briefly boiled. It is then spread on the wide tantuni tray and fried over the fire while being stirred with cottonseed oil, red pepper powder, sumac and salt. Once cooked, the meat is pushed from the middle of the tray to its edge, where it stays warm. Water is sprinkled on the tray from time to time, so that the tray does not burn and the rising steam keeps the meat hot. The text also explains why cottonseed oil is chosen, since it does not give off a bitter, burnt smell over the fire. Tantuni is wrapped either in a somun loaf or in the flat bread called lavaş, and lemon or bitter orange juice is squeezed over its salad. It is served with pickles and greens such as cress, and with ayran or şalgam to drink. The traditional cuisine page of the Culture Portal also names tantuni as one of the most common meat dishes of the area. The portal advises holding the wrap by bringing its two ends together, a small detail that proves useful at the counter.

Kerebiç and the white foam

Of all Mersin's desserts, kerebiç looks the most unusual. A semolina dough is divided into balls, hollowed out by hand and filled with walnuts or Antep pistachios. It is then baked in a wood-fired oven and topped with a white foam made from the root of the çöven plant. The Directorate's page gives Mersin Kerebici with a registration dated 11.04.2019. According to the same text, kerebiç was first made in the 1940s by families in the confectionery trade around the city's central market, only during the month of Ramadan and the holidays, and sold from handcarts. Over time it won people over and became a dessert produced in all twelve months of the year. The registration text stresses one more detail, that no sugar goes into the dough of kerebiç. The sweetness comes from the foam spread over it just before serving. The Culture Portal recipe explains how the foam is made as well. The çöven root is soaked in water overnight, boiled for a long time, and the resulting liquid is whisked until it foams. The portal recipe also notes that cinnamon is sprinkled over the foam.

Cezerye, a dessert made from carrots

Cezerye is the oldest entry on the list. According to the Directorate's description, its main ingredient is yellow carrot. The carrots are boiled and minced, turned into a marmalade with sugar, glucose and citric acid, and then heat-treated. At this stage walnuts, hazelnuts or Antep pistachios are added depending on the variety. After resting, the cezerye is moulded into shape. Besides the walnut, hazelnut and pistachio varieties, the page also lists their versions made in the shape of balls. On the Directorate's list, this dessert stands out as the first product of the province to receive a geographical indication.

The Tarsus table

Almost half of the list belongs to Tarsus, and this district is a culinary stop in its own right. Tarsus Humusu was registered on 01.11.2017. According to the Directorate's text, hummus making began in the district in the 1920s. Cooked chickpeas are crushed with a pestle in a hammered copper bowl, tahini, lemon, garlic and spices are added, and oil heated with red pepper flakes is poured over the top. Pastırma may be added if desired, and the dish is eaten hot. The registration text counts the coarse texture that comes from crushing the chickpeas with a pestle as the product's distinguishing feature. The tahini used in the hummus is made from local sesame harvested in Çukurova.

Tarsus Kebabı and Tarsus Fındık Lahmacunu were registered on the same day, 17.09.2020. The kebab is prepared by chopping ram meat and tail fat with onion, parsley and capia pepper using a large curved knife and wrapping it around flat skewers. It is then cooked over the glowing, flameless embers of oak charcoal while being turned constantly. The fındık lahmacun takes its name from its small size, since its dough is rolled out by hand to at most eight centimetres across. Finely chopped dry onion goes into the filling and no tail fat is added. These small lahmacuns are baked in a stone oven. Tarsus Şalgamı is the drink of this table. Black carrots and turnips are sliced, set in water and salt, and fermented with a natural starter made from bulgur flour. According to the Directorate's text, adding a small hot pepper produces the spicy version of şalgam. The grape of Tarsus is on the list too. Tarsus Beyazı Üzüm, known as topacık, is the local grape of the area and well suited to molasses. Tarsus Yayla Bandırması, made from the molasses of this grape, is prepared by dipping walnuts threaded on a string into molasses cooked with starch and then drying them. The registration text notes that this mixture is called palıza locally.

The highlands and the western coast

Heading west across Mersin, the cuisine draws closer to village and Yörük traditions. Silifke Yoghurt is made mainly from the milk of the hair goat. According to the Directorate's text, because the milk is boiled over a wood fire, a faint smoky aroma passes into the yoghurt. Fermentation takes place in earthenware pots or in the containers called çingil locally, and the yoghurt is sold in the same pots. Bozyazı Kavutu is a Yörük food prepared without cooking by pounding carob, sesame, peanuts and sorghum. According to the text, kavut used to be carried on long journeys, on seasonal moves to the highland pastures and by shepherds, which is why it is also known locally as shepherd's halva. No sugar is added, as its sweetness comes from the nuts and fruit. Anamur Batırığı is made with fine bulgur, peanuts, sesame, sun-dried tomatoes and paste. No tahini is used in this batırık, and a paste of peanuts and sesame is prepared in its place. In summer part of it is squeezed by hand into small patties, while water is added to the rest and it is eaten with vegetables.

The orchards

The mild coast of Mersin is reflected in its fruit as well. Anamur Muzu and Erdemli Muzu appear on the list separately. The Anamur banana harvest is busiest between October and the end of March. The harvest of Erdemli Lamas Limonu, the Lamas lemon, begins in early November and lasts until February. Mut Kayısısı is a table apricot, and its registration text highlights its red cheeks, firm flesh and suitability for transport. The text on Mut Zeytinyağı also mentions an olive tree in the district whose age was determined as 1300 years and which is registered as a monumental tree. Gezende Eriği, grown along the Göksu, is an early green plum. Gülnar Kuş Üzümü is a small, seedless black grape for drying, grown in a few neighbourhoods of the district. Silifke Çileği, the Silifke strawberry, grows in the alluvial soils of the Göksu Delta.

A calendar by season

It is easy to turn this list into a travel plan. According to the registration texts, the Erdemli lemon harvest runs from November to February and the Anamur banana harvest from October to the end of March, so winter is the season of the coastal orchards. The Gezende plum is harvested early because its trees wake in early spring. Kerebiç, according to the Directorate's text, is now produced in all twelve months of the year. Şalgam is described as refreshing in summer and warming in winter. According to its registration text, yayla bandırması keeps for six months hanging on its strings in a cool, dry place, which makes it a good choice to take home.

Practical notes

Eating tantuni on the spot, right at the tray, is the real experience of this dish. You see with your own eyes how the meat waits at the edge of the tray and how the bread is softened in the steam. Someone heading to Tarsus can taste hummus, kebab and fındık lahmacun on the same day. To get to know Silifke yoghurt and the products of the western coast, it is worth setting aside a day or two for the coastal road between Silifke and Anamur. When buying a geographical indication product, checking the registration details on the packaging is the easiest way to know that it truly comes from that area. You can check which products are registered, and how they are defined, on the page of the Mersin Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism.

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