Long tapered Kayseri pide with pastırma slices and melted kaşar

Kayseri Pidesi

Kayseri Pide (Pastırma) in a Pizza Oven

Kayseri, Central Anatolia · long, thin boat, tapered at ends

Kayseri is one of Turkey's food capitals — home to pastırma (air-dried cured beef rubbed with çemen, a potent fenugreek-garlic-red-pepper paste) and a fiercely independent food culture. The city's pide reflects this: a long, tapered boat generously loaded with pastırma slices laid over a base of melted kaşar. In the oven, the pastırma fat renders into the cheese and the çemen spice paste infuses everything around it — the aroma is enough to stop a room. Strong flavors, not for the timid.

What sets it apart — Pastırma is one of the world's great cured meats — the çemen coating transforms the filling into something far more complex than cheese-and-meat. The fat renders at high heat into the kaşar below, creating a single unified, aromatic pool.

How many pides?

makes 4 × 210g balls
840 g total dough

The dough · baker’s %

Flourstrong white / 00510 g
Water60% hydration305 g
Salt10 g
Instant yeast×1.25 active-dry · ×3 fresh2.5 g
Olive oil10 g
Sugarfeeds the yeast2.5 g

Bake

330-380°C · 625-715°F5-8 min

Long, thin boat. The pastırma fat renders quickly — watch that the çemen crust edges don't char before the dough base is fully cooked.

Serving ritual

Eat immediately while the pastırma fat is still liquid. Traditionally served with fresh green herbs — parsley, spring onion — to cut through the salt and richness.

Ferment & prep: Mix, bulk-ferment 1.5 h, ball, rest 20 min before shaping.

Filling — scaled for 4

Pastırma, sliced180 g
Kaşar, grated240 g

Pastırmalı · Cured beef (pastırma)

Cheese base, pastırma over the top so it crisps and releases its fat. Butter to finish; serve with fresh greens to cut the salt.