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Dürüm: the Turkish burrito


When Americans and western Europeans think of Turkish food, the first word that comes to mind is Döner, that fast-food delicacy of shaved pieces of roasted lamb or chicken, stuffed into a pita with salad and hot sauce.

As they say in Deutschland, "Döner ist schöner," and the truth is that there are few snacks more beautiful or more delicious.

But since I've been in Turkey, I have yet to eat Döner as I know it from England and Germany. İnstead, I have found dürüm, which looks like a chicken burrito 🌯 and tastes delicious.

Like the burrito, the dürüm is wrapped in a tortilla. İ have seen tortillas for sale in the bread aisle, too. The meat for the dürüm is cut from the same, rotating spit of roasting meat that goes into a Döner. 

Unlike the burrito, the meat is really yummy. As you can see from the photo, it was served with red sauce that wasn't "peppery hot" as one would find in a Mexican restaurant, but was savory hot. There were small peppers on the table, and I added them to my dürüm to get it hot enough (İ drank two cans of Pepsi. İt must have been pretty hot!)

There are a few surprises inside the dürüm. There are a couple of pickle slices, as one would find I'm a hot chicken sandwich at home, but not a burrito. Also, there are a few french fries, too. 

I'm always a little surprised to find a french fry in a bite of dürüm. İ must still have burritos on the brain. 

Of course, I always will, but dürüm will have to do until I get back home.

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