Lahmacun: More than a "Turkish pizza"

Here's how to make the Turkish favourite at home

Hey there,

Exciting times! I’ll shortly be relaunching A kitchen in Istanbul and resume posting of new recipes and other content.

In the meantime, we’re continuing our weekly look at the best and most popular dishes in this newsletter.

This week: Lahmacun.

Photo: Bahar Kitapcı

Sometimes referred to as “Turkish pizza”, lahmacun is so much more than that.

The name comes from Arabic, simply meaning “dough with meat” – a fair description. The dish rose to prominence during the Ottoman era, though similar dishes existed in the region much earlier.

But let facts be facts. It’s the cultural significance and sublime flavour that makes lahmacun such an important dish in Turkish cuisine and beyond.

Turks are crazy about it. Many will go to great lengths to try places famous for making excellent lahmacun. To many, few joys in life are as great as biting into a particularly good specimen of lahmacun.

And after ten years in the country, let me put this on record: I agree!

Luckily, lahmacun is easy to make at home as well.

You can find my recipe – and a little more background – here:

With all best wishes from Istanbul,

Vidar