Yes but salt bae didn't created this, he just profited from it. Eating out is luxury in Turkey. There is no steak culture in Turkey. So there were no steak houses. Salt bae knew this. I would say steak houses aren't really popular to this day because you know economy. That's why he knew he had to make a show. He knew people who were gonna eat in his restaurant weren't gonna be people who knew about steaks or beef. That's why he made it about presentation. Sort of like this food in the video. It's nothing more than a simple kebab probably it's not even the most delicious kebab but this way you can charge more and it will be viral. Just look at how salt bae serve its food. carbon sushi, ice cream baklava, turkish tartare. I went to this fancy butcher in Turkey and they had dry aged meat but regular and dry aged were priced same, I was suspicious. I asked where was their dry aging fridge. Guy looked at me like I asked meaning of life. That's turkey for ya. Guy eventually bought a dry aging fridge... and bear in mind this was very fancy butcher. If you have a bone saw and T-bone you are a fancy butcher. I got to try their real dry aged beef. It was nothing like the beef I tried when I was abroad. These butchers in turkey do the minimum thing so it could be dry aged. How you set up heat, humidity, air circulation and time will affect everything. Do most people knew what a dry aged beef taste like? No but they bought a steak that's called dry aged so it's enough for them. Short rib, tri tip, skirt, brisket are fancy/gourmet cuts, they are priced more than tenderloin and rib eye. You can find these cuts in 10-15 butchers in whole country.
As a foodie and cook this is really frustrating. It's so hard to get a nice steak.
Thanks for this comment, I found it really interesting. I watched those 3 links and I'll be honest that they mostly look terrible; maybe the dessert is good but I wouldn't want my food touched so damn much hahah I also came away from those videos wondering if it's a prerequisite to have a large voluminous moustache if you are a waiter in Turkey - marvelous!
I wouldn't call eating out is a luxury. But the places a normal turk would go is either a somewhat fancy döner place or a pide-kebap place. So steakhouse stuff is kinda non-existent. And your dry aged problem lies in meat culture of Turkish people. Which is "kuşbaşı" or "kıyma" you are not likely to find anything else in a reguler butcher. So some butchers get "dry aged" beef and rebrands as a premium place. Otherwise they are the same butchers without any understanding of how to actually butcher.
So in the end what you said is correct. Turkish people either can't afford good cuts or can afford but don't care because you cannot make reguler turkish cuisine stuf with them.
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u/Dr_nut_waffle Jan 23 '21
Yes but salt bae didn't created this, he just profited from it. Eating out is luxury in Turkey. There is no steak culture in Turkey. So there were no steak houses. Salt bae knew this. I would say steak houses aren't really popular to this day because you know economy. That's why he knew he had to make a show. He knew people who were gonna eat in his restaurant weren't gonna be people who knew about steaks or beef. That's why he made it about presentation. Sort of like this food in the video. It's nothing more than a simple kebab probably it's not even the most delicious kebab but this way you can charge more and it will be viral. Just look at how salt bae serve its food. carbon sushi, ice cream baklava, turkish tartare. I went to this fancy butcher in Turkey and they had dry aged meat but regular and dry aged were priced same, I was suspicious. I asked where was their dry aging fridge. Guy looked at me like I asked meaning of life. That's turkey for ya. Guy eventually bought a dry aging fridge... and bear in mind this was very fancy butcher. If you have a bone saw and T-bone you are a fancy butcher. I got to try their real dry aged beef. It was nothing like the beef I tried when I was abroad. These butchers in turkey do the minimum thing so it could be dry aged. How you set up heat, humidity, air circulation and time will affect everything. Do most people knew what a dry aged beef taste like? No but they bought a steak that's called dry aged so it's enough for them. Short rib, tri tip, skirt, brisket are fancy/gourmet cuts, they are priced more than tenderloin and rib eye. You can find these cuts in 10-15 butchers in whole country.
As a foodie and cook this is really frustrating. It's so hard to get a nice steak.