How to choose basturma and not pay for water

Four things to check: the cut, the fenugreek crust, how it springs back and how it smells. What a pale centre means and why it should not be there.

Look at the cut

Proper basturma is an even dark red the whole way through. A pale patch in the middle means the meat was not dried long enough: the centre is still raw, and such a piece will not keep.

The cut should look slightly moist but never wet. If droplets appear on the slice, brine was injected into the meat. Everything in the air-dried range is judged the same way.

Check the crust

Chaman — the paste of fenugreek, garlic and red pepper — should sit in a thin, firm layer about two millimetres thick. A thick, loose crust often hides a poor piece of meat underneath.

The crust must not peel away from the meat. If it comes off in a sheet, the meat shrank after the paste went on, which means the process was rushed. Once bought, the piece needs to be stored properly or the crust will behave the same way.

Press it

Basturma should be firm and springy, not soft. Press it with a finger: the dent should even out. If the mark stays, there is more moisture inside than there should be.

What it should cost

A kilo of finished basturma takes close to two kilos of raw meat and up to two months of drying. A price well below the market usually means the drying was cut short or the meat was bulked out with brine.