Beypazarı's local delicacies, Beypazarı stew, Beypazarı leaf wrap and baklava are indispensable for iftar in Ramadan.
In the Beypazarı district of Ankara, preferred by those who want to spend time with history and nature, Ramadan is full of local delicacies. In Beypazarı, which hosts many visitors for iftar in Ramadan, heavy hours are spent on traditional tastes. Tarhana soup, which is one of the famous dishes of Beypazarı, stuffed leaf wraps with meat, Beypazarı Güveci and 80-layer baklava unique to Beypazarı take their place at iftar tables. Explaining the things to be considered while making Beypazarı Stew, a traditional dish of Beypazarı that has been going on for years, Stew Master Hakkı Çanak underlined that the stew should be cooked in a stone oven for at least 6 hours.
Emphasizing that each master has his own cooking technique, Çanak said, “I cook my stew completely in a pot. I also make the stew with butter. For a stew for 20 or 25 people, we first add the butter to the pot. Then we add 3 kilos of ground beef. You can make it from lamb, you can also make it from ribs. But nowadays, they prefer beef more because it is leaner. We usually prefer veal. As I said, we use 3 kilos of meat, 4 kilos can be used, but it is more logical to use 3 kilos since it also contains rice. It contains butter, beef, tomato, pepper. After adding the spices, we add the water and cook it in the stone oven. It should cook for at least 5-6 hours here. After our meat is cooked, we take out the pots and add the rice. Then we put it back in the oven to cook for another half hour.
“This dish has existed as long as I have known myself, and it will continue to exist after me”
Adding that the stew culture is a very old culture for Beypazarı, Çanak said, “I am 55 years old, there was a stew dish before me and it is still being made today. For the people of Beypazari, stew is something very different. In the past, they used to cook it from lamb and ribs and eat it every meal. This culture does not end. This dish has existed for as long as I can remember and it will continue to exist after me. It has a very different culture. Beypazarı stew is distributed at the funeral, it is served at the mevlit, and made at picnics. It has a version with vegetables, a version with okra... It is countless."
“I expect everyone to eat stew at Beypazarı”
Calling people to eat stew in Beypazarı at iftar, Çanak said, “I expect everyone. If they find me and say 'I came to eat stew', I will do what is necessary.”
Hatice Güneş, a housewife who has been making Beypazarı wraps for years and stating that the flavor of Beypazarı leaf wrap is indescribable, said, “The feature of Beypazarı leaf wrap is that it has plenty of ground beef. It also has olive oil. We use up to half of the ground beef. The leaves must be fresh and sour with fine veins. We are waiting for everyone to eat Beypazarı leaf wrap. It is very delicious. Since the women here are especially talented, we welcome everyone here. We are waiting for everyone, especially in Ramadan.”