Pideli Köfte

Greetings from Bursa.

I'm not here to write something profound about cultural differences or personal fulfillment, so if that's what you're expecting, I suggest you stop reading now -- but, I think this will be worth your while.

Bear with me.

For months now, Ryan has been telling me about Pideli Köfte -- a local dish here in Bursa.

Bread, meat, tomato, yogurt, butter.

Sure, sounds good. Sounds fattening. Sounds... dare I say it?... Sounds Ryan.

One thing's for damn sure, doesn't sound like anything I would eat with any degree of frequency.

(Um, hi, where is the spinach?)

But, after a few exciting (albeit exhausting) days in Istanbul, we arrived in Bursa and I decided to humor him.

So, after walking around Bursa a bit, we reached the Pideli Köfte street.

Yes, a street full of restaurants that serve... wait for it... Pideli Köfte.

So we're peacefully walking along, when out of nowhere, all of the employees standing in front of one restaurant start loudly greeting Ryan -- shaking his hand, patting him on the back, and talking animatedly.

Clearly he's a regular.

...Not too shocking.

They herded us over to a table and hospitably pulled out the chairs for us.  One man brought over another chair and gestured for me to put my bags in it.

They automatically knew what we were there for.

They brought us a dish of pickles, dried cherries, and hot peppers and left us to wait for our food.

Very shortly, they brought us each a plate and set them in front of us.

A layer of bread, a side of delicious yogurt, a couple slices of tomato, all topped with eight (or so) meatballs.

Sounds good, right?

Wait! There's more.

This first server was directly followed by a second, carrying a pan of sizzling hot, melted butter which he proceeded to (generously) pour over each of our plates.

Sure, I cringed a little bit, but I also know that melted butter is delicious.

So I dove right in.

The verdict?

It was worth the hype.

I think the Turks just know how to make food taste good.

Add butter.

Always add butter.

So cheers to them for doing what everyone else is too timid to do.

Pideli Köfte is delicious.