Tasting Notes
Şırdancı Bedo is on Karacaoğlan Street in the Kocavezir area of central Adana. It opens in the evening and stays open into the early morning, and it is one of the places that made şırdan known well beyond the city. Tables spill onto the pavement, and the counter at the front is where the pots are.
Şırdan, mumbar and kırkkat
Şırdan is the abomasum, the fourth stomach of the lamb, cleaned and stuffed with rice mixed with spices, then simmered in its own broth until soft. The shop serves it with two relatives: mumbar, lamb intestine stuffed the same way, and kırkkat, the many-layered third stomach. The menu stops there, apart from a few soups — kelle paça, işkembe (tripe), çürük and lentil.
How it is eaten
The stuffed şırdan is sliced at the counter, sprinkled generously with cumin and red chilli flakes, and finished with a squeeze of lemon. Many people eat it with their hands while it is hot. Şalgam, the fermented purple carrot juice of the region, is the usual drink, and a glass of tea afterwards is common.
“Go late in the evening when the pots are full, order şırdan with plenty of cumin and lemon, and drink a cold şalgam with it.”
LR Kitchen — field note