İskilip Tepsisi (Baked Tray Meat Dish)
İskilip Tepsisi is a meat dish closely associated with İskilip, a district of Çorum province in north-central Turkey. According to the registration certificate it is also widely known locally as “İskilip Tepsi Kebabı” (İskilip tray kebab).
Geographical indication
Following an application by İskilip Municipality (18 June 2025, file no. C2025/000168), the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office registered the dish on 17 April 2026 as a place-of-origin indication (registration no. 1842). The geographical area is İskilip district, and the certificate requires all production stages to take place within it.
Product description and background
The certificate describes a meat dish made with red meat, fat, tomato, garlic, onion, pepper and salt, and says the key to its flavour and consistency is cooking it long enough in a tray in stone-floored ovens. In its history section, the certificate says the dish is known to have been prepared communally, baked in neighbourhood ovens and eaten especially in summer with bread, melon, watermelon and grapes. It adds that the dish is prepared less in homes than by the district’s tradesmen, particularly butchers, who take turns making it and eat it as their lunch.
Local use
According to the certificate, besides lunch it is served when hosting guests and on invitations, religious holidays and festivals. Balancing the meat (preferably lamb) with the other ingredients and the cooking stages require skill. The certificate gives a six-person ingredient list and order of preparation.
Other registered dishes of İskilip
For other registered İskilip dishes see İskilip Dolması, İskilip Su Kabağı Yemeği and Çorum Yırtma Yemeği. The full list is on Geographical Indication Products of Çorum.
Sources
- Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, Geographical Indications Portal, İskilip Tepsisi, Registration No. 1842 (entry: https://ci.turkpatent.gov.tr/cografi-isaretler/detay/13111; certificate: https://ci.turkpatent.gov.tr/Files/GeographicalSigns/8bc8b7e9-8d57-46f7-abf6-291dca872f84.pdf)
🍳 How to make it
Ingredients
- 1 kg red meat (preferably lamb)
- 500 g tomatoes
- 200 g tail fat, suet or butter
- 250 g onion
- 100 g green pepper or capia pepper
- 50 g garlic
- 10 g salt
- 5 g crushed red pepper flakes or black pepper (optional)
Method
- Spread finely chopped onion, pepper and garlic evenly over the bottom of a tray.
- Place the boiled red meat on top, then finish the layers with chopped tomato, salt and the fat on the very top.
- Bake the tray in a stone-floored oven for about 2 hours, stirring the tray a few times while it cooks so the meat does not dry out.
- Serve hot, optionally with black pepper or red pepper flakes.
💡 Tips
- The dish is also widely known locally as "İskilip Tepsi Kebabı" (İskilip tray kebab).
A traditional recipe; quantities and times are approximate and vary by household.