Black Sea Kiofte is very simple in ingredients – minced meat (ground beef or mixture of beef and lamb), tallow inner fat (preferable lamb fat), cloves of fresh garlic, stale bread, salt and black pepper. There are no onions or any other ingredients in it.
Taking two minced meat at the same time helps reach the better taste of Black Sea Kiofte without adding much fat.

Ingredients proportion
3/4 – minced meat
1/6 – bread
1/10 – internal fat
1/100 – salt
1/100 – fresh garlic.

Quality of the meat and other ingredients as well as preparation technique and chef mastery adds a significant difference to the final taste of Black Sea Kiofte.
For preparing stale bread, chop the slices of fresh Black Sea Stone Oven Bread or similar until very small cubes, spread them on the tray, cover by cloth and leave overnight.
Take the fresh meat and rest for 24 hours in the refrigerator. The natural color of the meat should be in shades ranging from pink to brown. It should not have any mold and smell should be natural and fresh and not be stinking.
Carefully separate the meat from bones, nerves, films and tendons. All the leftovers are not suitable for the Kiofte and should be discarded. Cut the meat and tallow fat into small cubes and mince in a meat grinder. If you mix two meats together, it will be blended more easily.
Add the stale bread and peeled and sliced garlic into the minced meat, knead it for 4-5 minutes and put mixture in the machine for a second time grinding. Then add salt and freshly ground black pepper and knead the mixture for at least 15 minutes to ensure that the ingredients match with each other.
Add half a glass of mineral water to make the Kiofte soft at its full consistency. Knead for another 2-3 minutes until the mixture gets needed consistency. At this point, cooking mastery comes to up front. Wrap mixture in the film and rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Put some water into a bowl, wet the hands lightly and take part of the minced mixture. Roll it slightly and flatten it by hands. Form portions in small rectangular or round shape and stretch them a bit. One raw Kiofte is should be around 35 – 40 gr in weight.
Leave them for another rest in the fridge for several hours. Longer rest is more preferable and 24 hours would be recommended for the best taste. But it should be cooked and consumed within 40 hours of preparation.
For better cooking take them away from the fridge in advance. Then, Black Sea Kiofte is ready for the original cooking at the barbecue on wood charcoal without burning. Cooking at the grill or roasting in a well-heated lightly greased pan are also useful.
For storing raw Kiofte in the freezer it is better to place them in the storage container with stretch film between each to avoid sticking together.
Black Sea Kiofte is usually served with grilled or roasted tomatoes and green pepper. Also it can be served with onion, french friers, rice and bulgur pilaf separately. And it goes well with red wine, beer or ayran.

Black Sea Cuisine is simple, tasty, inexpensive, unpretentious, …and unique.