My little grocer’s across the road does a good job of stocking the basics, the kind of place you’ll pop into late in the evening if you’ve run out of milk, bread or beer. However, Alexandros, the grocer, also has an interesting range of processed meats. For example, a while ago he had μπαρούτι Αδάνων = “gunpowder from Adana”. He warned me that the sausage was very hot, a warning I dismissed as Greeks are not used to a good vindaloo curry. How wrong I was! My eyes were tearing up as I was cooking it over a low heat. It was indeed gunpowder, maybe the same gunpowder that was used to breach the walls of Constantinople.
Recently, I noticed a round slice of meat called καβουρμάς. Assured that it wasn’t fiery, I bought the packet. Imagine my surprise and disappointment when it turned out to be corned beef. Looking like an ice hockey puck, it bore no resemblance to the main component of a working person’s high-cholesterol packed lunch. In the series, Endeavour, Inspector Thursday can tell what day of the week it is depending on the sandwich his wife prepares for him. If it’s Monday, it’s corned beef.
From the Turkish ‘kavurma’, it seems to be popular in Macedonia and Thrace. The corned beef we know in its boxy can provided with the finger-slicing key opener is usually called κορν μπιφ or παστό βοδινό.
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