I usually travel to Germany about twice a year. In the last 3 years, Covid made this pretty much impossible. Besides missing my folks and friends, I missed food! You’d think it would be brats or good Sauerbraten, but really, it is Turkish street food. Nothing better than a Lahmacun or a Döner at 2am on a Saturday after leaving the bars.

Germany has a rich Turkish culture and you can find family owned Turkish street food joints (Döner Shops) on every street corner in bigger cities all the way to small towns.

At present, ethnic Turkish people form the largest ethnic minority in Germany. With about 40,000 Kebab (Döner Shops) scattered all over the country, Turkish street food is the most popular “fast food” in Germany.

My favorite dish you find in any shop is Lahmacun. A thin flatbread, topped with spiced ground meat (usually lamb or beef), that is often used as a wrap and builds the base to a complete handheld meal. The word Lahmacun stems from the Arabian word lahm b'ajin, with simply means meat with dough.

The flavor profile of this flatbread is very fresh yet savory with the tartness of sumac and tomatoes, the spice of fresh chilis and the earthiness of cumin.

Sumac is a spice that was new to me. I know it is an important part of Za’atar but the flavor really added this feeling of home to the Lahmacun. It is tart, kind of like lemons, but yet more subtle. I am not very good at describing flavors, so please just give it a try.

The traditional topping for Lahmacun is parsley, tomatoes and onions drizzled with fresh lemon juice, but his might vary slightly all across the Middle East. I like to add a little cucumber and feta to mine and roll it up as a wrap.

I did prepare my lahmacun in an OONI pizza oven, which brings it closest to the preparation in traditional wood-fired ovens. I also made some in my “conventional” oven with a pizza stone. Both worked very well. I have seen people using frying pans on stove tops with lids to prepare the lahmacun. I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.

Prep Notes:

• After making the paste, I put it in the fridge for an hour, and a bunch of liquid separated from the solids. I poured the liquid out to make the paste a little drier. Worked great.

• I take a spoon full of the paste and fry it in the pan to taste it. After that I adjust salt as needed.

• I rolled the dough very thin and spread the paste very thinly. It doesn’t take much paste since it is super flavorful and you want to make sure it cooks in the short time in the oven.

• I use a wooden pizza peel to launch the lahmacun in the oven. If you don’t have one, you can also use an upside down cookie sheet. Use flour to prevent it from sticking.

• I doubled up on the paste and froze half. Like this I only need to make the dough next time around and I could use a full pound of venison.