Kesme or erişte is a type of egg

noodle Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures and made into a variety of shapes. The most common noo ...

found in various Central Asian countries. It is also found in

Turkish cuisine Turkish cuisine () is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, Ottoman cuisine (Osmanlı mutfağı), European influences, Seljuk Empire, Seljuk cuisine and the Turkish diaspora. Turkish cuisine with traditional Turkic peoples, Turkic elements s ...

and is called ''erişte'' and “kesme” in modern standard Turkish. The word itself is a nominalisation of the verb ''to cut'' or ''to slice'', referring to the slicing of the

dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes ...

involved in preparing the noodles. The term may refer to the noodles themselves, or the prepared dish made with them. Kesme is traditionally a homemade dish, and not often found at

restaurants A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in app ...

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

s. In

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, kesme is also known as "erişte", and eaten generally in winter. It is made from flour, egg, water, salt and milk. These ingredients are worked into a dough, which is rolled out, cut, and dried in the sun or an oven after dried for a day.

Kesme preparation

The

for kesme usually consists of

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

, and an

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

. The dough is rolled out into a large thin circle, and left to dry for a while. It is then lightly floured, folded over several times accordion-style, and sliced into strips, which are then separated. The process has been illustrated, step by step. The kesme may be boiled immediately in a

broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish, or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups ...

often containing ingredients such as

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es,

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

s, peppers, and

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es, or left to harden and stored. Kesme is often made in a

kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

Reshteh

Reshteh () or reshte are Persian whole wheat

s, traditionally the noodle would be a homemade item. The reshteh used in the

Iranian cuisine Iranian cuisine comprises the culinary traditions of Iran. Due to the historically common usage of the term "Name of Iran, Persia" to refer to Iran in the Western world,Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. ...

can be a thicker, whole wheat noodle used in ''reshteh polow'' (rice and noodle pilaf dish) and in '' ash reshteh'' (noodle soup). "''Reshteh''" was the only word for noodles in

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

cookbooks of the 13th and 14th centuries. A recipe substitution for reshteh noodles, is often

linguine Linguine (, ; English: ; sometimes anglicized as linguini) is a type of Italian pasta similar to fettuccine and trenette, but elliptical in section rather than flat. It is about in width, which is wider than spaghetti, but not as wide as fettu ...

or whole-wheat noodles.

Reshteh polow

Special symbolism is given to dishes that contain noodles when a decision of importance or change is to occur; the noodles or "reins" of one's life are to be taken in hand. A traditional dish in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

is ''reshteh polow'', which is served during the Persian new year with the noodles representing the threads of life and family intertwined. Noodles are used for special occasion dishes in giving thanks and for journeys especially to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

. In ''reshteh polow'' the noodles are broken into parts, fried or grilled brown, and then added to rice.

Mass production

In Turkey, the pasta is mass-produced as ''erişte''.

Gallery

File:Bowl of kesme.jpg, A bowl of kesme in broth File:Drying kesme noodles.jpg, Kesme noodles, laid out to dry File:Faloodeh.jpg,

Faloodeh ''Faloodeh'' (, ), or ''paloodeh'' (, ), is a traditional Iranian cold dessert similar to a sorbet. It consists of thin vermicelli-sized noodles made from starch in a semi-frozen syrup containing sugar and rose water. ''Faloodeh'' is often ...

, a traditional

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

dessert File:Kesme being cut.jpg, Kesme dough being cut into noodles

References