Pöç

I was surprised last night by a Turkish menu.  I didn’t know most of the items on the small menu.  This rarely happens to me anymore.

The star of the menu was Pöç.  It was basically the meat and fat surrounding the spine of a cow.  (They say the tail bone, but it looks like a few vertebrae.) It was slow-cooked in a güveç, clay pot, for 24 hours.

My brother-in-law had learned about the dish when he saw a review of the restaurant while traveling by bus. (There are personal TVs at every seat on most inter-city buses).  He was surprised to learn that the (alleged) only restaurant serving it was in his town of Kayseri.

In Kayseri for the weekend so my hubby could snowboard with his brother at Erciyes, we decided to try Pöç.  I will try most anything once. The meat was tender, falling apart as in any good beef stew.

I would definitely go there again.  If you happen to be in Kayseri, give it a try! The restaurant is not so charming, but most aren’t.  It is clean and the service was great!

And check out the adorable cup they served the ayran (a cold yogurt beverage, like the Indian lassi) in:

If you are going:

Pöç & Tandır
Kiçikapı Mah. Vatan Cad. No:34/B (Şeker bank Arkası) Melikgazi / KAYSERİ
0352 236 22 22
http://bagdatpoctandir.com/