Adana

Hand-minced lamb with tail fat and isot biber (dark dried red pepper), shaped onto a wide flat skewer and grilled over charcoal until the fat renders and the surface chars slightly. The isot gives a slow, smoky heat rather than immediate sharpness. Served on lavaş with grilled tomato, pepper and red onion. The technique of mincing by hand with two cleavers, the proportion of tail fat, and the charcoal temperature are the variables that separate a definitive Adana kebab from a mediocre one. The better kebabcıs in Adana have been working these variables for decades.

Fermented black carrot and turnip juice, tangy and slightly sour, served cold in a tall glass. The sour fermented vegetable drink cuts through the fat of the kebab and is the canonical accompaniment - ordering kebab with anything else in Adana signals that you don't know. There is also an acı (hot) version with isot pepper added. Produced locally and sold from street carts and at every kebab restaurant in the city. Drink it cold, in quantity, without hesitation.

Liver kebab is as central to Adana's grill culture as the lamb kebab. Fresh lamb liver cut into small cubes, threaded onto skewers with tail fat, and grilled over very high heat for a very short time - the inside must remain pink. Seasoned with isot and served with the same accompaniments as the Adana kebab. The dedicated ciğer restaurants open early and serve through the morning as a breakfast food. Order a mixed plate with both liver and lamb kebab at a good kebabcı.

A Çukurova summer dessert specific to Adana: starch pudding cubes layered with shaved ice, rosewater syrup and powdered sugar, served in a shallow bowl. The pleasure is the contrast between the crisp ice and the soft pudding, and the floral cleanness of the rose. It is sold from dedicated bici bici carts around Atatürk Park and the city centre, busiest in the late afternoon when the heat breaks. The classical accompaniment is a glass of cold şıra. Nothing else in the Turkish dessert canon resembles it.

Lamb abomasum stuffed with rice, onion, isot pepper and a small quantity of minced meat, sewn shut and slow-cooked until the casing is tender. Sliced into rounds and served with cumin, isot and lemon at small dedicated stalls in the old bazaar district. The texture is delicate, the flavour heavily spiced. It is a bazaar food rather than a restaurant food - the best şırdancıs open mid-morning and sell out by early afternoon. Not for the squeamish, but technically one of the more accomplished offal preparations in southern Turkish cooking.

Lamb intestine cleaned thoroughly, then stuffed with seasoned rice, minced meat, tomato paste and isot, tied in segments and either boiled or slow-cooked in a tomato-based stock. Served sliced, usually with garlic yoghurt and a drizzle of paprika butter. A homestyle dish more than a restaurant dish - the better local lokantas put it on the menu in winter, alongside other stuffed offal preparations. The Çukurova version is more heavily spiced than the central Anatolian equivalents.