beyran — Turkey

Beyran is a hot lamb soup built on a bone broth simmered with lamb neck and lamb cheek until the meat falls apart. Cooked rice is placed at the bottom of the bowl, the shredded meat is laid over it, and the broth is poured on top while still steaming. It is reported from Gaziantep, in southeastern Turkey, where it is commonly served early in the morning, before the heat of the day sets in. Restaurants that specialise in it are often open only for breakfast hours, and the soup is eaten quickly, while it is still very hot. To prepare it, lamb bones, neck and cheek are simmered for a long time with garlic until the meat is tender enough to shred by hand. Pepper paste and butter or oil are melted into the broth, and black pepper and Aleppo pepper flakes are added for heat. The rice is cooked separately, spooned into the bowl, then the meat and broth are ladled over it so the rice partly absorbs the liquid before eating. Compared with other lamb-based soups of the wider region, beyran is set apart by the amount of pepper paste and melted butter stirred into the broth, which colours it a deep red and gives it a pronounced heat, and by the custom of pouring the soup directly onto rice rather than serving the two separately. Diners commonly add extra lemon juice or a spoon of yoghurt at the table.