Keepers of the Flame

<!--smart_paging_filter--><small><b>From SAVEUR Issue #157</b></small><br>In the vast kitchen of &#304;mam &Ccedil;a&#287;da, a kebab restaurant in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, Burhan &Ccedil;ada&#351;, the 51-year-old owner, looked on as his staff of 20 labored in perfect harmony. At one counter, a crew worked ground meat and eggplant onto metal skewers. Another cadre stood at a long grill, deftly rotating skewers of various meats and vegetables over glowing oak charcoal. In a corner, a half dozen men reduced cuts of lamb to a fine crimson paste with scimitar-like blades known as <em>z&#305;rh</em>, their rhythmic chopping reverberating like thunder. Hand chopping, explained Burhan, gives his cooks complete control over the texture of the meat, which should hold together on the skewer but crumble under the fork. Besides, he said, "Meat ground by machine has no soul."
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