Yuvarlakia

Yuvarlakia
Greek yuvarlakia
Alternative namesYuvarlakia avgolemono, ekşili köfte, terbiyeli köfte, sulu köfte
TypeSoup or stew
Place of originAnatolia
Main ingredientsGround meat, rice, avgolemono sauce
Ingredients generally usedCarrot, potato, yogurt, tomato sauce
VariationsSulu köfte

Yuvarlakia (Greek: γιουβαρλάκια) or ekşili köfte is a meatball soup or stew in Greek and Turkish cuisine. It consists of balls of ground meat mixed with rice, onions, herbs, and spices, which are simmered in a pot with water or meat broth, and then finished in avgolemono (egg-and-lemon sauce) or tomato sauce. The Turkish version additionally includes carrots and potatoes, and flour and yogurt in the sauce. Depending on the thickness of the sauce, it may be considered a soup or a stew. The mixture is similar to that used for making sarma.

Turkish ekşili köfte

Etymology

The name yuvarlakia (Greek: γιουβαρλάκια) is derived from the Turkish word yuvarlak, meaning "round" or "spherical," in reference to the shape of the dish's main component: small, round meatballs. The Greek plural suffix -ia is commonly added to denote a collective or diminutive form, making yuvarlakia roughly translate to "little round ones". The term reflects the influence of Turkish cuisine and broader Ottoman cuisine on Greek cuisine, particularly in regions where the two cultures historically intersected.

In Turkish, the dish is known as ekşili köfte, as well as terbiyeli köfte or sulu köfte. The word terbiye is the Turkish term for the avgolemono sauce, meaning "treatment" or "improvement".

History

The dish is believed to have originated in Anatolia during the Ottoman Empire, where culinary techniques crossed Greek, Turkish, Armenian and Jewish cuisines. It was introduced to Greece by Asia Minor Greeks after the population exchange between Greece and Turkey.

Ottoman Turkish cookbooks Melceü't-Tabbâhîn and Fenn-i Tabâhat give recipes for terbiyeli köfte. The method of preparation for terbiyeli köfte in Melceü't-Tabbâhîn is as follows:

Obtain finely chopped lamb meat, add a generous amount of onions, salt, and pepper, roll into small balls the size of hazelnuts, and cook in water only, then place in a pan. Afterwards, crack a few eggs, whisk them with a generous amount of salt and lemon juice, and stir over the heat. When the mixture begins to thicken, add a spoonful of the broth from the cooked meatballs to each one to temper it, then pour it over the meatballs. This is a well-known method.

Variations

Greece

In Greece, the best-known preparation is yuvarlakia avgolemono (Greek: γιουβαρλακια αυγολεμονο), which features medium-sized meatballs finished with an egg-and-lemon (avgolemono) mixture. Alternatively, yuvarlakia kokkinista (Greek: γιουβαρλακια κοκκινιστα) is simmered in a tomato sauce instead of avgolemono sauce.

Turkey

Yuvalama soup from Gaziantep

Ekşili köfte (also known as terbiyeli köfte or sulu köfte) resemble the Greek style in meatball size and avgolemono sauce but differ in the additions. Carrots and potatoes are cubed and boiled in the broth alongside the meatballs, while the avgolemono sauce is generally blended with strained yogurt and flour. The final dish is often finished with a sizzled garnish of dried mint infused in hot butter or olive oil.

Instead of large meatballs, a regional variant from Gaziantep called yuvalama or yuvarlama çorbası uses a large number of small, chickpea-sized balls made from lean ground meat and rice flour. They are steamed, then combined in a strained-yogurt broth with pre-cooked chickpeas and chunks of stewed lamb or beef.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Raptopoulos, Lilah. "Recipe: The unlikely alchemy of adding rice to your meatballs". Financial Times. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Yerasimos, Marianna (2019). "Kapadokya Mutfağı I: Yemekler". İstanbullu Rum Bir Ailenin Mutfak Serüveni: Tarifler, Hikayeler, Anılar [The Culinary Journey of a Greek Family from Istanbul: Recipes, Stories, Memories] (in Turkish). Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları. p. 31. ISBN 978-9-750-84457-7. [Quote translated from Turkish] Yuvarlakia, formed by adding the Greek plural suffix to the word 'yuvarlak', is the dish known to you as ekşili köfte (also called terbiyeli or sulu köfte); in other words, it is a soup with tiny, round meatballs floating in it. This dish is known by the same name in modern Greek cuisine as well; here is yet another legacy from Cappadocia!
  3. 1 2 Yurtsever, Müjgan (2017). "Yuvarlakia (Terbiyeli Sulu Köfte)". In Yavi, Ayfer; Polat, Raife (eds.). Anadolu’nun Tadı Tuzu: Kardeş Mutfaklar [The Flavor of Anatolia: Sister Cuisines] (PDF) (in Turkish). Oğlak Yayıncılık. p. 112.
  4. 1 2 Mittler-Solak, Fatma; Lauterbach, Enise (2023). Kala? Kala! Unsere kretische Kardio-Küche: Mit mediterranen Rezepten Herz und Gefäße schützen [Good? Good! Our Cretan Cardio Kitchen: Protecting the Heart and Blood Vessels with Mediterranean Recipes] (in German) (1 ed.). Edition Michael Fischer / EMF Verlag. ISBN 978-3-745-91733-8.
  5. 1 2 Λεξικό της κοινής Νεοελληνικής (Dictionary of Common Modern Greek), Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1998. ISBN 960-231-085-5, s.v.
  6. ↑ Georgios Babiniotis, Dictionary of Modern Greek, s.v.
  7. ↑ Nikolaos Tselementes, Οδηγός μαγειρικής και ζαχαροπλαστικής, s.v.
  8. 1 2 3 Bozis, Sula (2012). Istanbul Rumlarından Yemek Tarifleri: Masal Yıllarımın Mutfağı [Recipes from the Greeks of Istanbul: The Kitchen of My Fairy-Tale Years] (in Turkish) (1 ed.). Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları. p. 108. ISBN 978-9-750-82174-5.
  9. 1 2 Kefalides, Nicholas A. (2009). Echoes from the cobblestones : a memoir. New York: iUniverse. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-4401-4353-3. OCLC 610004512.
  10. ↑ Sutton, David E. (19 September 2014). Secrets from the Greek Kitchen: Cooking, Skill, and Everyday Life on an Aegean Island. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-95930-9.
  11. ↑ "Recipes". Fitchburg Sentinel. April 18, 1941.
  12. ↑ Millas, Hercules (Iraklis) (2019). "Greek-Turkish Differences and Similarities: National Stereotypes and Their Implications". In Heraclides, Alexis; Alioğlu Çakmak, Gizem (eds.). Greece and Turkey in Conflict and Cooperation: From Europeanization to De-Europeanization. Taylor & Francis.
  13. ↑ Nedim, Atilla (2001). Tarihten Günümüze İzmir Mutfağı [The Cuisine of İzmir from Past to Present] (1 ed.). İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyesi. p. 51. ISBN 978-9-751-80052-7.
  14. ↑ Kalfoglou, Maria; Anastasiou, Vasilis. "Συνταγές μαγειρικής και φαγητά από την Καππαδοκία". Istorima Archive.
  15. ↑ Davidson, Alan (1999). The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 42.
  16. ↑ Samancı, Samancı (1998). Continuity and Change in the Culinary Culture of the Ottoman Palace in the 19th Century (M.A. Thesis). Boğaziçi University. p. 109.
  17. 1 2 3 Matbah-ı Amire, Üstüdan-ı (2 March 2018). "Terbiyeli Köfte – Melceü't-Tabbâhîn" (in Turkish).
  18. ↑ Reşad, Mehmed (2018). "Terbiyeli Köfte". In Işın, Priscilla Mary (ed.). Fenn-i Tabâhat (Aşçılık Bilimi) (in Turkish). Istanbul: Kitap Yayınevi. p. 148.
  19. ↑ Özcan, Şükran (2015). Cook's Secrets for Legacy Recipes from Anatolia to Istanbul. pp. 10–12.
  1. ↑ Also known as yuvarlakia avgolemono; also spelled as youvarlakia or giouvarlakia
  2. ↑ Also known as terbiyeli köfte, sulu köfte, or any combination thereof