What is lahmacun? The difference from döner and pide
If you don’t eat Turkish food every day, it’s easy to lump lahmacun, döner and pide together – understandable, since you often find all three in the same shop. Yet they are three quite different dishes, each with its own preparation and origin.
Lahmacun: origin and preparation
Lahmacun is a wafer-thin, crispy flatbread made from unleavened dough, spread with a spicy mix of finely minced meat, tomatoes, peppers, onions and herbs, then baked briefly at very high heat. The name comes from Arabic and roughly means “meat with dough”. The version from the region around Urfa and Gaziantep in south-eastern Turkey is especially well known – hence the term “Urfa style”, which refers to spicy, often slightly hotter toppings.
Lahmacun is traditionally eaten rolled up or folded, usually topped with fresh salad, parsley, onions and a squeeze of lemon. It is often called “Turkish pizza” – but the comparison falls short: there is traditionally no cheese, the dough is much thinner and crispier, and it is baked far hotter and shorter.
What is the difference from döner?
Döner is layered meat (chicken or veal/beef) cooked on a vertical spit, sliced thinly and served in flatbread, pita or a dürüm wrap with salad and sauce. With lahmacun, on the other hand, the meat is part of the topping from the start and is baked together with the dough, not cooked separately and added afterwards. In short: döner is spit-roasted meat in bread, lahmacun is a baked flatbread with a meat topping.
What is the difference from pide?
Pide is a much thicker, elongated yeast-dough flatbread with a raised edge, often described as “boat-shaped”. It is usually filled or topped with cheese, egg, minced meat, sucuk or vegetables and baked in the oven – which comes closer to the idea of a “pizza” than lahmacun. The dough is airier and softer, the topping usually more generous. Lahmacun, by contrast, stays thin, crispy and simply topped.
Lahmacun, döner and pide in Düsseldorf-Wersten
At Essah Urfa Lahmacun, Kölner Landstraße 263 in Düsseldorf-Wersten, you can get all three – freshly prepared, with a homemade topping and dough made fresh every day. Can’t decide? That’s exactly what our menu is for. And right next door at Trinkhalle by Fero you’ll find drinks, snacks and lottery tickets.