Kelle paça çorbası is a traditional Turkish soup prepared by slowly boiling beef head and trotters. It typically has a milky, cloudy color and a distinct meaty taste. It is not a light broth to warm you up, but a hearty, high-calorie meal that serves as a substantial breakfast for workers in Turkey or a hangover cure after a wild night out.
The dish stems from the ancient philosophy of nose-to-tail cooking, which is typical for the entire region of Anatolia and the Middle East. In times when meat was a scarcity, people could not afford to throw away the head or feet of an animal just because processing them was difficult. Kelle paça is therefore the logical result of the effort to extract maximum nutrients from the whole animal. The name itself is a compound of two words that accurately describe the contents of the pot. “Kelle” means head and “paça” refers to trotters.
The basis of the flavor and, above all, the texture of this soup is collagen. The trotters and head are full of connective tissues that dissolve into the broth during hours of boiling. This gives the soup its characteristic stickiness. The cook picks the meat off the bone, chops it into smaller pieces, and returns it to the strained, thickened broth. The final touch on the plate is often provided by a spoonful of melted butter with chili.
If the name and composition remind you of the Iranian dish kale pache or the Albanian soup paçe koke, you are on the right track. The similarity is not accidental; it stems from a common linguistic and cultural foundation. The Persian words for head and trotters became the basis for terminology throughout the region influenced by Persian culture and later by Ottoman expansion.
I tasted kelle paça in a traditional “çorbacı” (soup house) called Tarihi Konya Kellecisi (see Where to Eat in Konya). It was early in the morning, and I had originally come for kuzu (lamb head). But it wasn’t ready yet, so I settled for this traditional Turkish soup. The meat was perfectly tender, cut into cubes. After adding an extra dose of garlic vinegar, it got just the right kick. One portion cost 180 TRY (4 EUR).
It was a breakfast that satisfied me completely.
Bon appétit!
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