Bastirma

Pastirma, basturma, pastourma, bastirma, basterma or pastırma is a highly seasoned, air-dried cured beef that originates from Anatolia, and has spread to various countries, from the Balkans to the Levant and Africa.

There are different controversial claims regarding the etymological and historical origins of Pastirma due to it being consumed in a wide area. One of these claims is that Pastırma is popularly consumed in the former Ottoman countries. The Bastırma is derived from Turkish word bastırma. Bastırma is non-finite verb of the word bastırmak , which means “to depress or restrain”. Various types of Bastirma recipes are enjoyed throughout the Eastern Europe, Caucasia, Africa and Middle east. The Bastırma is famous throughout the regions with different names. It was originally called pastırma, derived from a Turkish word "bastırma", which means something is being pressed. It is also supposed that the primeval Turkish horseman, who belonged to Central Asia, kept dried and spiced meat sandwiched between horse and the saddle, to eat it whenever needed.

Another claim is that the first recorded mention of Basturma dates back to 95-45 BC in Armenia during the reign of Tigranes the Great. It is claimed that the technology of air-drying meats was first developed to preserve basturma being traded from Armenia to China and India. During the Byzantine period, it was called apokt. One story gives its origins as the city of Caesarea (modern Kayseri), where there was a Byzantine dish called pastón, which would be translated as "salted meat" and was apparently eaten both raw and cooked in stews.In Caesarea (Kayseri), The Armenian family name of Basturmajian was held by families that processed the meat.

Accordingly it has been claimed that also the word pastırma is related to the earlier Byzantine Greek παστόν (pastón), but standard Greek dictionaries do not assert this connection and gloss pastón simply as "salted (meat)". The word has thereupon been borrowed into other languages of the region: Albanian: pastërma, Arabic: بسطرمة‎‎ (basṭirma), Armenian: (basturma), Azerbaijani: bastırma, Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian pastrma, Bulgarian: пастърма (pastărma), Greek: παστουρμάς (pastourmás), Hebrew: פסטרמה‎‎ (pastrama) and Romanian: pastrámă. The American cured meat product pastrami has its origins in pastirma via Yiddish: פאסטראמא‎ pastrama.

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