Adana

From Adana, crossing the Çukurova going west, the road from Tarsus enters the foothills of the Taurus Mountains. The temperature decreases with every foot of ascent; the road reaches an altitude of nearly 4000 feet. It goes through the famous Gulek Pass, the rocky pass through which armies have coursed since the dawn of history, and continues to the Anatolian plain.

The north of the city is surrounded by the Seyhan reservoir and HEP, which was completed in 1956.

Location

 The Sabancı MosqueOne of the largest and most dynamic cities in Turkey and situated thirty kilometres (nineteen miles) inland, Adana is the gateway to the Cilician plain, now known as the Cukurova plain, the large stretch of flat and fertile land which lies to the south-east of the Taurus Mountains. This is possibly the most productive area in this part of the world.

From Adana, crossing the Cukurova going west, the road from Tarsus enters the foothills of the Taurus Mountains. The temperature decreases with every foot of ascent; the road reaches an altitude of nearly 4000 feet. It goes through the famous Gülek Pass, the rocky pass through which armies have coursed since the dawn of history, and continues to the Anatolian plain.

The north of the city is surrounded by the Seyhan reservoir and HEP, which was completed in 1956. The dam has constructed for hydroelectric power (HEP) and to provide irrigation water to the lower part of Çukurova plain, agricultural cultivating area located in the south parth of the city. Two irrigation channels in the city flow to the plain passing through the city center from east to west.

Etymology

Its name is derived from the Hittite URUAdaniya of Kizzuwatna. In the Iliad of Homer, the city is called Adana. In Hellenistic times, The editors of The Helsinki Atlas tentatively identify Adana as Quwê (as contained in cuneiform tablets), the Neo-Assyrian capital of Quwê province. The name also appears as Coa, and may be the place referred to in the Bible, where King Solomon obtained horses.

The name of the city is believed to have come from a legend that Adanus and Sarus, two sons of Uranus, came to a place near the Seyhan River where they built Adana.

Alternatively, it is believed that Adad (Tesup), the name of the Hittite Thunder God that lived in the forest was given to the region. The Hittites ideas, names and writings have been found in the area so this is a strong possibility. The theory goes that since the Thunder God brought so much rain and this rain in turn brought such great abundance in this particular region, this god was loved and respected by its inhabitants and, in his honor, the region was called the ‘Uru Adaniyya’

Adana Kebab

The original Adana Kebab is made from ground lamb meat cleaned of its silver-skin and mixed with fat from lamb tail. Ideally the meat is hand chopped but often you will find it machine ground -single time, mixed with fat in a proportion of one to five. Only salt and dried red pepper flakes (sweet or hot according to desire) are added to the meat. Red bell pepper can be hand chopped into very small pieces and be used instead of dried red pepper flakes. 100 or 150 grams of meat is mounted on a special skewer which is about 3 feet long (80-90 cm) and about an inch wide (2.0-2.5 cm). Then it is grilled on a hot charcoal.

During the grilling the fat melts and burns on the charcoal. The fire is not allowed to reach the meat; otherwise it leaves black smoke on the meat. The dripping fat is usually removed by a piece of fresh pide (also known as berberi) bread or lavash bread.

After the meat turns red/brown it is pulled off the skewer on pide or lavash bread slices and is served with onion salad with sumac, barbequed tomato quarters and green peppers on a large white plate. On separate plates, parsley, mint, and a salad of choice are served. Lemon (in the past, more often, citrus) juice is used to provide a sour taste to cut through the high fat consistency of the meal.

Usually ayran (yogurt drink) or şalgam (turnip juice) is served as a drink with it. However, raki (anise based Turkish hard liquor drink) is another good beverage on the side. An alternative is to serve it as a roll (dürüm also known as sokum): the meat and the vegetables are rolled in a pide bread. This is more of a fast food type of serving although the vegetables and meat are all prepared fresh.

Adana Kebab Recipe

simple, spicy, scrumptious(Preparation time 10 minutes, cooking time 10 minutes.)

Ingredients — Per serving 200 gr of fresh lamb meat 20 gr of lamb tail fat plenty of black pepper salt, to taste spicy green peppers tomatoes, quartered

Preparation

Chop the lamb meat by hand — to a coarsely ‘ground’ texture. Chop the tail fat the same way and knead it into the meat, adding the black pepper.

Mould the resulting mixture onto a metal skewer, making a long flat strip, about 2.5 cm (~ one inch) wide. Grill it over a charcoal flame, together with the tomato quarters and green peppers. At the last cooking stage, add the salt to the meat surfaces.

Serve the grilled meat, tomato, and green peppers on an oblong platter surrounded by chopped parsley and fine onion slivers seasoned with sumac. If you like your meal extra spicy, sprinkle on some pul biber (hot red pepper flakes). If you’d like to cool it down, have some yogurt handy. And don’t forget the lavas or pide (pita) bread, always at the ready.