Cuisine

Basturma is a dry-cured beef preparation made by salting trimmed beef, pressing it to extract moisture, then coating it thickly in chemen — a paste of ground fenugreek, paprika, garlic, allspice, and cumin — and air-drying it for several weeks. The result is a dense, dark-red cured meat with a pungent, earthy aroma derived primarily from the fenugreek and garlic in the chemen coating.