Lamb & Spinach Gözleme

Gözleme is one of the most ancient foods in Turkey's culinary repertoire. The name comes from "göz" — the Turkish word for "eye" or "bubble" — describing the blistered appearance that forms when the thin dough hits the hot iron griddle called a sac. For centuries it was village food, made by women sitting cross-legged on cushions, rolling out hand-stretched yufka dough on low round tables called oklava boards, then folding in whatever filling the season provided.

Lamb has been the defining protein of Anatolian cuisine for millennia. The Anatolian plateau, with its vast grasslands, has supported nomadic sheep herding since at least 7,000 BCE. In the Central Anatolian region around Cappadocia — where the landscape of volcanic tufa cones and underground cities was also home to some of the world's earliest settled farming communities — lamb was the primary source of protein through long, cold winters. Minced lamb with seasonal greens like spinach was a natural pairing: the fat of the meat enriching the iron-dense leaves.

Our Lamb & Spinach Gözleme is made on hand-stretched dough, folded around seasoned minced lamb and wilted spinach, cooked on the flat griddle until golden and crisp on the outside. Served with haydari, pickled green pepper and a wedge of lemon, it is Anatolian village cooking at its most satisfying.