Head and Trotter Soup (Kelle paça çorbası)
Overview
Kelle paça is a deeply gelatinous soup made from sheep's head and trotters, simmered for hours until the meat falls from the bone and the broth becomes rich and sticky. The meat is picked, chopped and returned to the pot, and the broth is often thickened with flour and egg yolk and sharpened with lemon. As with tripe soup, garlic vinegar and red pepper are added to taste. It is a warming winter dish, traditionally eaten early in the morning, and is valued as nourishing, sustaining food.
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History
Soups made from heads and feet are an old feature of Anatolian, Balkan and Middle Eastern cooking, where nothing from a slaughtered animal was wasted. In Turkey, paça shops became part of city life alongside tripe restaurants, serving workers on cold mornings. Similar dishes, such as khash in the Caucasus, show how widely this hearty, slow-cooked style is shared across the region.
Main ingredients
Sheep's head and trotters, garlic, vinegar, lemon, egg yolk, butter. The soup is built on bone broth and is usually served hot. Diet: contains meat; usually gluten-free.
Recipe outline serves 4 · ~260 min
Ingredients
- 1 cleaned sheep's head and 4 trotters
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 egg yolk, juice of 1 lemon
- 4 garlic cloves in vinegar
- 30 g butter, red pepper flakes
- salt
Method
- Simmer head and trotters in plenty of water for 3-4 hours, skimming.
- Pick the meat from the bones and chop it; strain the broth.
- Thicken the broth with flour mixed with water and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir in tempered egg yolk and lemon, return the meat, and serve with garlic vinegar and pepper butter.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.