Cig kofte (literally translated as “raw meatballs”) made headlines when they became affixed to the ceiling of the National Assembly building in Ankara in 1992. Deputies of the then-ruling True Path Party had won a decision to dispatch Turkish soldiers to Somalia, and they were celebrating it with a cig kofte party in their party’s hall in the National Assembly building. To determine whether the raw meatballs were of the required consistency and blend, as per tradition they threw them to the ceiling to see if they would stick. They did. This cig kofte testing was reported by some media as “political scandal, disrespect to the parliament.”

Nowadays, cig kofte is again in the news, but this time for economic reasons — to increase Turkey’s export business in the Middle East, Central Asia and Russia.

Cig kofte is usually identified as the exclusive dish of the Sanliurfa area of southeast Turkey. It is made with slight variations of taste and shape in other provinces, such as Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Adana, Hatay, Mardin, Elazig and others.

Cig kofte is made of raw fat-free ground meat, fine bulgur wheat, onion, garlic, local chili pepper, tomato and pepper pastes, fresh onions and parsley, which are kneaded together for a long time. Making cig kofte is tiring and hard, and the cook needs a lot of patience. The bulgur has to be ground to its finest so it is not detected while eating the meatballs. It is usually accompanied with ayran, a traditional yogurt drink, or with raki, the national alcoholic beverage.