Borsam Taşfırın ★ 4.2
Borsam Taşfırın in Kadıköy, an 80-lira lahmacun from a stone oven, three to a person at the lunch peak, in a market-edge counter open since 1968.
Try: Lahmacun
History
Simit has been baked in Istanbul since at least the 16th century, with documented Ottoman bakery records of the ring-shaped sesame bread. The pekmez (grape molasses) dip before baking is the canonical Istanbul technique, giving the distinctive deep brown crust and slight sweetness. Today simit is sold across the city from the red wooden poles of street vendors and at Borsam Taşfırın, Karaköy bakeries and the morning counters of every meyhane and breakfast room. The ring is the affordable everyday Istanbul snack.
Common allergens: Gluten, Sesame
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 500g strong white flour
- 10g instant dried yeast
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
- 10g fine salt
- 300ml warm water
- 30g sunflower oil
- For the dip: 100ml pekmez (Turkish grape molasses, available at Turkish grocers; substitute pomegranate molasses or 80ml water plus 20ml dark molasses)
- 300ml water (for the dip mixture)
- 300g raw white sesame seeds for coating
Method
- Combine flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
- Add warm water and sunflower oil. Knead 8 minutes to a smooth elastic dough.
- Cover and prove 1 hour until doubled.
- Knock back. Divide into 8 equal pieces (around 100g each).
- Roll each piece into a long thin rope, 50cm long and 1.5cm thick.
- Fold each rope in half, then twist the two strands tightly around each other.
- Bring the two ends together and pinch to form a ring (around 18cm in diameter).
- Mix the pekmez with 300ml water in a wide shallow dish.
- Spread the sesame seeds on a wide plate.
- Dip each simit ring fully into the pekmez water; lift, let drip 2 seconds, then press both sides firmly into the sesame seeds to coat completely.
- Place on lined trays. Prove 20 minutes more.
- Bake at 220C for 18 to 22 minutes until deep mahogany brown and the sesame seeds are toasted.
- Cool 5 minutes. Eat warm with a glass of black tea (cay); the bread should be crisp outside, chewy inside, with the toasted-sesame and slight molasses-sweetness defining.
Tip from the editors. Pekmez is the canonical dip; it gives the deep colour and slight sweetness that distinguishes a real Istanbul simit from a generic sesame bagel.
Where to eat simit
Simit in Istanbul
Borsam Taşfırın Kadıköy ★ 4.2
Borsam Taşfırın in Kadıköy, the 1968 stone-oven lahmacun counter that turns a single 15-minute bake into the city's most reliable lahmacun under 80 lira.
Try: Lahmacun and pide
Tarihi Hocapaşa Pidecisi ★ 4.2
Tarihi Hocapaşa Pidecisi in Sirkeci, where a kıymalı pide costs under 180 lira and beats every tourist trap on the historic peninsula for the same money.
Try: Wood-oven pide
Karaköy Lokantası ★ 4.5
The teal-tiled Karaköy Lokantası, Bib Gourmand listed in the Michelin Guide, runs an Ottoman-leaning lunch lokanta downstairs and a meyhane upstairs at night.
Signature: Lakerda, Hünkar beğendi, Lamb shank
More cities are in research. Want simit covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.