Keshkek


Keshkek, a dish of mutton or chicken and coarsely ground wheat, is a sine qua non for wedding dinners in Bodrum. When it is cooked Mugla style, the wheat is accompanied by goat, veal or chicken.
The main nutrient of the famous dish, made in large cauldrons in a wood fire, consists of cracked wheat, meat and olive oil. The rest is left to the strong arms and the wooden ladle. The essence of the matter of keshkek is that it is a dish that is hard to prepare.
Batting the meat and the wheat with a mallet after boiling them in a cauldron is called keshkek-batting that makes the consistency of the meal. Crushed wheat and chicken by using wooden ladles for hours on a wood fire melt and fuse together. The famous saying, “gummy keshkek”, means the wheat and chicken fully fuse and get stretchy like gum.
The water of the wheat soaked the night before is filtered. Boil a whole chicken, which is cleaned and washed, add some cracked wheat. When the wheat is cooked, take the chicken out of the cauldron, debone it and put it back in the cauldron. Stir the chicken meat and wheat using a wooden spoon for long hours on the wood fire and grind until smooth by using the back of the spoon. Add water if necessary. Finally, pour some olive oil when the mixture is dense and gummy.