A springtime rarity of Şanlıurfa in which earthy desert truffles (keme) are skewered alternately with lamb cubes and grilled. Available only in the short season after the rains, it is one of the few kebabs built around a fungus.
Also known as: keme kebabı, toprak mantarı kebabı, desert truffle kebab, keme kebab
Ingredients
- 400 g fresh desert truffles (keme/terfez), scrubbed and peeled
- 400 g lamb shoulder, in 2.5 cm cubes
- 100 g lamb tail fat, in cubes
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp black pepper
- 2 thin flatbreads
- 1 onion, sliced, mixed with 20 g parsley and 1 tsp sumac
How to make it
- 1
Simmer the peeled truffles in well-salted water for 10 min until a knife meets slight resistance; drain and halve.
- 2
Build the skewers in a repeating rhythm of lamb, truffle, tail fat.
- 3
Grill over medium-hot charcoal 8-10 min, turning when each face takes colour; the truffles should blister and the fat run.
- 4
Season with salt and pepper off the heat.
- 5
Serve rolled in flatbread with the sumac-onion salad.
Pro tip: Par-boiling the truffles first is the whole trick; raw ones stay gritty-firm long after the lamb has overcooked.
The story of Keme Kebab
Keme kebabı exists for a few weeks a year and nowhere else. Keme are desert truffles — pale, potato-like fungi that push up through the soil of the Şanlıurfa steppe after the spring rains — and for a short season they are skewered alternately with lamb and grilled. It is one of the very few kebabs in the world built around a fungus.
Desert truffles are gathered rather than farmed, by people who read cracks in the ground to find them, and their availability swings wildly with the rainfall. In a dry year there is effectively no keme kebabı at all. That unpredictability gives the dish a status in Urfa that has nothing to do with price and everything to do with timing.
The technique that defines it
The truffles are washed carefully — desert truffles come out of the ground full of grit — peeled if the skin is tough, and halved or quartered depending on size. They are threaded on the skewer alternating with cubes of lamb and a little tail fat, so the fat renders over them as it melts.
The grill time is short and governed by the lamb, not the truffle, which needs only heating through and a little colour. Over-grilled desert truffle dries into something like a cooked chestnut and loses its texture, which is the main thing it contributes: a dense, slightly springy bite quite unlike a mushroom.
Choosing your ingredients
Fresh keme is the only authentic option and it is a regional, seasonal product. Outside Urfa in spring, the honest substitutes are large king oyster mushrooms cut into thick rounds, or firm button mushrooms — both give a dense bite, though neither has the earthy, mineral flavour of a desert truffle. Do not use European black or white truffle; it is a completely different ingredient at a completely different price.
The lamb should be shoulder or leg in cubes, lightly salted, with tail fat between. Seasoning stays minimal — the point of the dish is to taste the truffle, and cumin or pepper flakes will bury it immediately.
Mistakes that ruin it
Not cleaning the truffles thoroughly
Desert truffles carry grit deep in their crevices. Wash them properly or the whole skewer is unpleasant.
Over-grilling the truffle
It only needs heating and colouring. Cooked long, it goes dry and chestnut-like and loses its texture.
Heavy spicing
The truffle is the reason for the dish. Cumin and chilli flakes obliterate it.
Confusing keme with European truffle
They are unrelated fungi. Keme is mild, dense and earthy; it is not a shaved luxury garnish.
How it is served
It comes on flatbread with sumac onions and parsley like any Urfa skewer, but with less fuss around it, because the point is the truffle. In season it is often ordered alongside ciğer or a plain şiş so that a table can compare. Tea afterwards; in Urfa, always tea.
Questions about Keme Kebab
What is keme?
Keme are desert truffles — pale, tuber-like fungi that grow wild in the Şanlıurfa steppe after spring rain. They are gathered by hand and available only for a few weeks a year.
Are desert truffles the same as European truffles?
No. They are a different genus, far milder, denser and much cheaper, and they are cooked as a vegetable rather than shaved raw as a garnish.
What can I substitute for keme?
Thick rounds of king oyster mushroom or firm button mushrooms give a comparable dense bite, though not the earthy mineral flavour.
When is keme kebabı available?
Only in the short spring season after the rains, and only in years with enough rainfall. In dry years it barely appears at all.
