Smyrna meatballs, known as ''soutzoukakia Smyrneika'' () or ''İzmir köfte'' ( Turkish), is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and Turkish dish of spicy oblong meatballs with cumin and garlic served in

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

sauce. This dish was brought to Greece by refugees from Asia Minor. The Greek version is typically made with minced meat (usually beef, also mixed with lamb or pork), bread crumbs, egg, garlic, and parsley, and generously spiced with cumin, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. They are floured before being fried in olive oil. The tomato sauce has tomato, wine, onion, garlic, a bayleaf, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Soutzoukakia are generally served with

pilaf Pilaf (), pilav or pilau () is a rice dish, or in some regions, a wheat dish, whose recipe usually involves cooking in stock or broth, adding spices, and other ingredients such as vegetables or meat, and employing some technique for achieving ...

mashed potatoes Mashed potato or mashed potatoes (American English, American, Canadian English, Canadian, and Australian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butt ...

. Turkish recipes for are very similar, though without pork, and often also include sliced potatoes, diced tomatoes, hot pepper flakes, or other variations.

Name

The Turkish name means köfte (meatballs) from

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, formerly

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

. The Greek name means spicy little sausages ( Turkish sucuk +

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

-) from Smyrna. Soutzoukakia can sometimes refer to the same cylindrical meatballs when grilled (like köfte kebab) rather than served in sauce. Another variation of the dish is ''soutzoukakia politika'' (), meatballs from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

References

{{Cuisine of Turkey, dish Greek cuisine Turkish cuisine İzmir Kofta

Name

See also

References