Erciyes Turkish Pide

I was supposed to make another batch of cookies today, but there was a whole day of enjoyment in store so it was bye bye cookies.

Today turned out FANTASTIC. Anyway, my dad and I headed to the city and we decided to try this Turkish Takeaway that is rumoured to have the BEST TURKISH PIDE in SYDNEY. He just couldn't resist since he's such a big fan of pides. We walked for I'd say 30 minutes to get to the Turkish Takeaway, Erciyes. It was hot today and I was sweating like a pig. Upon arriving, I felt so relieved to be out of the scorching sun. The place was quaint and inviting. Some Turkish men, I presume, were making kebabs and cooking around.

Okay, so pide is a Turkish dish which involves oval pieces of flatbread that wraps around some fillings. The common fillings are spinach, cheese, garlic, chicken, beef, and pork. They are cooked in an oven for around 10 minutes until brown. It is brushed with oil and served with lemon.

spinach, cheese, garlic & egg pide

Cured meat pide

We ordered a 2 pides, a spinach, cheese, egg & garlic one and a Turkish cured meat with cheese & onion. As soon as I ordered them, a man behind the counter started rolling out 2 pieces of dough and filling them up. The way the man made the pide was amazing, he moved with such precision and skill. After making them, he placed them in the oven and the dreadful wait began. My stomach was rumbling and I couldn't wait to have a taste of these scrumptious flatbreads.

Lovely wilted spinach pide

The pides came out of the oven and my mouth was watering like there was no tomorrow! The man brushed them with oil, chopped them up and packed them with a wedge of lemon! We hurriedly found a place to sit and started digging in. The smell of the pide with the cured meat was remarkable. It reminded me so much of beef jerky! Oh, beef jerky, how I love thou.

Heavily spiced cured meat pide

I tried the spinach one first, it was mind-blowing! The minute I sunk my teeth into the flatbread, it was soooo chewy! OH THAT'S LOVE RIGHT THERE!:) The spinach was insanely good! The cheese was so stretchy, there were long strands of it everywhere! The cured meat pide was tasty as hell but then it would get a bit salty when you've had quite a bit of it! The egg on both pides were moist like sunny side up eggs. And the lemon heightened everything!:) TWO THUMBS UP!

I now share the love of pide with my dad. And now, I shall devour my Green & Black's Ginger Chocolate. It's been staring at me since who knows when!:)

Erciyes Takeaway and Restaurant
409 Cleveland Street
Surry Hills, Sydney