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French Embassy chef Julien Moulieres stepped into a kitchen in Adana to learn how to prepare the city’s geographically registered Adana kebab, working alongside local restaurant representative Biral Serttas before taking his place at the grill.
Moulieres, who works at the French Embassy in Ankara, visited Adana after hearing about the kebab from colleagues during his time in Türkiye. He wanted to taste the dish in its home city and learn the techniques behind a kebab he plans to add to his menu.
Adana kebab is a geographically registered dish, meaning it is officially associated with its place of origin and prepared according to local identity and tradition. In Adana, Moulieres was hosted by Biral Serttas, the Adana branch head of the All Restaurants and Tourism Professionals Association.
At Serttas’s restaurant, the French chef moved from observation to practice. Under Serttas’s guidance, he minced lamb with a traditional knife known as a “zirh,” mixed the meat with spices, shaped it onto skewers and cooked it over a charcoal grill.
The process gave Moulieres a closer look at the craft behind the dish, particularly the step that requires the meat mixture to hold firmly on the skewer before it reaches the fire.
After grilling the kebab, Moulieres paired it with crepes, one of the well-known dishes of French cuisine, and tasted the result.
He said the most difficult part of making Adana kebab was placing the meat on the skewer, because the technique requires experience. He also noted that cutting the meat with a zirh creates a different taste.
“Adana kebab is truly excellent. When I go back to my country, I will recommend it to everyone,” Moulieres said, adding that he believed Adana kebab represents Turkish food and encouraged people to visit Adana and try it there.
Serttas said the interest shown by foreign chefs in Turkish cuisine was pleasing and explained that they had invited Moulieres to Adana because he wanted to learn the “flavor secrets” of the kebab.
He said they taught the French chef the details of Adana kebab and expressed hope that he would follow those details when preparing it at the embassy and in France.
Serttas added that such gastronomy meetings contribute to the promotion of Turkish cuisine abroad.
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