Kayseri Pastırması

Kayseri Pastırması is a beef pastrami produced in Kayseri province in Central Anatolia, Turkey. The European Commission entered it in the register of protected geographical indications on 25 March 2026, by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/725, published in Official Journal L series. Turkey's application was published in the Official Journal of the European Union as OJ C/2024/1464 on 9 February 2024. The applicant body is Kayseri Ticaret Odası (Kayseri Chamber of Commerce), established 1896; five of its members produce Kayseri Pastırması. The product specification is held by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT).

The specification classifies Kayseri Pastırması as Class 1.2 — Meat products (cooked, salted, smoked, etc.). The CN code is chapter 16 (Preparations of meat).

The registration proceeded under Article 52(3)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 after Bulgaria filed a reasoned statement of opposition on 16 April 2024 concerning the similarity of the Turkish name to Bulgarian pastrami names. Consultations between Turkey and Bulgaria concluded in January 2025 without a formal agreement, but Bulgaria notified the Commission on 26 August 2025 that it considered the names could coexist. No transitional period was granted.

What makes it distinct

Kayseri Pastırması is exclusively beef — the specification requires cattle carcass only, specifically chunks from male animals aged 2–5 years, healthy and weighing at least 250 kg. The cuts used are from the chuck, shank and round sections.

The fenugreek coating (çemen) used in Kayseri Pastırması includes cumin as a defining ingredient, distinguishing it from the cumin-free Afyon Pastırması. The specification sets out a precise formulation: a 45% fenugreek-vetch-wheat base (30% fenugreek seed flour, 30% vetch, 40% wheat), a 5% spice mixture (1.5% powdered paprika, 1.5% powdered chili paprika, 2% cumin), 5% garlic, and 45% water. The Single Document states that due to the fenugreek quantity, the taste of fenugreek is dominant in the product. The wet fenugreek applied in production must be 15% of the meat weight and, when dried, must not exceed 10% of the pastrami by mass.

The curing salt is nitrited: 5 g of nitrite is added to 1 kg of salt to prepare what the specification calls karıncabaş (nitrited cured salt), used at 60–80 kg per tonne of meat. Nitrite serves both flavour and food safety functions, inhibiting Clostridium botulinum and preventing oxidative rancidity.

Pastırma Summer drying. The distinctive feature of Kayseri's drying conditions is the autumn wind descending from Mount Erciyes. In the period known as 'Pastırma Summer', temperature swings from 25–30°C during the day to 0–5°C at night. The Single Document states that Kayseri Pastırması ferments in hot daytime conditions and its aroma matures in the cold night conditions, producing a slow, homogeneous drying. All producers maintain protected outdoor chambers enclosed with wire mesh to exploit these natural conditions; climate-controlled chambers at 20–25°C are used when outdoor conditions are unfavourable, allowing year-round production.

The finished product is flat in shape: brown on the outside from the fenugreek coating, with a reddish interior and marbled white areas from the fat. When sliced, individual pieces range from 3 to 6 cm in width and 8 to 15 cm in length.

Chemical specification

The following values are taken directly from the Single Document (OJ C/2024/1464) and Product Specification:

Production zone

The demarcated geographical area covers all villages and towns belonging to Kayseri province in Central Anatolia. All production steps must take place within this province: meat selection, curing (salting), washing, pressing, drying, and the second drying after fenugreek application.

Historical and cultural context

The Single Document records references to Kayseri Pastırması as far back as the 17th century, when Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi mentioned it in his Seyahatname (Book of Travels) as a product valuable enough to be sent as a gift to Istanbul. A 1928 Military Medical Veterinarian Magazine also referenced the product's distinctive flavour. Kayseri Pastırması was first exhibited internationally at the 8th İzmir International Fair in 1938. The product's development is linked to Kayseri's position on the historical Silk Road, which gave local producers easy access to the spices — red pepper, cumin, black pepper — central to the fenugreek coating.

Production method

Meat preparation: Chunks are taken from the chuck, shank and round sections of male cattle aged 2–5 years, weighing at least 250 kg, cut at a 45° angle with a knife or using injection needles to open cavities for the curing salt.

Curing: The cut cavities are filled with freshly prepared nitrited curing salt (karıncabaş: 5 g nitrite per kg salt, applied at 60–80 kg per tonne of meat).

Washing: After draining, the meat is transferred to washing vats and washed for at least one hour until no salt remains in the cavities.

First drying: The washed meat is hung on racks for 5–7 days in dedicated chambers. Pressing follows for 12–24 hours through the needle holes, simultaneously expelling remaining water and producing the flat shape.

Open-air drying: The pressed meat is hung in protected outdoor wire-enclosed chambers for 5–7 days, exploiting the natural wind and temperature differential of the Kayseri autumn. Climate-controlled chambers at 20–25°C are used when conditions are unsuitable. Moisture at this stage must not exceed 50%.

Fenugreek coating: Dried pastrami is pressed again for 15–30 minutes and immersed in cauldrons of fenugreek coating. The coated pieces are rested for 1–2 days at 0–4°C.

Final drying: Rested pastramis are removed, excess fenugreek trimmed from the surface, reshaped, and dried to final shape in 20–25°C chambers or in open-air racks.

Storage: Finished product is kept at 0–4°C for 3–4 months, or in modified atmosphere packaging (70% N₂ / 30% CO₂) for 4–6 months. The product may be sold with or without the fenugreek coating, and whole or sliced.

Control

Control authority per Register Extract (field 5): Kayseri İl Tarım ve Orman Müdürlüğü (Kayseri Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry), Yeni Mahalle 7. Cadde No:57, Post 38090 Kocasinan/Kayseri. Tel: (0352) 338 21 44–46–47; kayseri@tarimorman.gov.

Inspections are coordinated by Kayseri Chamber of Commerce, with a board of at least four experts drawn from Kayseri Chamber of Commerce, Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, the Provincial Directorate of Health, and the Chamber of Food Engineers' Kayseri City Representation. Annual periodic inspections are conducted, plus ad hoc inspections on complaint.