Current trends in traditional Turkish meat products and cuisine

This study reports on the results of research and technological improvements achieved during the past decade in the field of traditional Turkish meat products having economic value. Traditional Turkish meat products discussed are sucuk (dry, uncooked, cured, and fermented sausage), pastırma (seasoned, air-dried, cured, pressed, and non-fermented beef cut), döner kebab (meat block roasted with slow rotation in front of a vertically positioned heat source), kavurma (a deep fried, diced meat, stored in the solidified animal fat), and çiğ köfte (raw meat balls). These products are produced and consumed all around the world. Research on these products has been focused on issues such as chemical and microbiological analysis of commercial products, quality and safety improvements, additives, new and/or alternative processing methods, and health. Research results indicate that possible foodborne illnesses and quality problems are major concerns and further research, a broad control system, changes such as adding natural antimicrobial and antioxidants and process modifications are needed to improve safety and quality of these products. Some changes such as intensive poultry contributions to commercial production, safety and quality concerns about traditional meat products are pointed out, as well as the trends in a research and development, technological circumstances are discussed.