Japanese selling chilled lamb’s head meat in Kadıköy

ISTANBUL

A Japanese national who settled in Turkey 10 years ago has been selling chilled lamb’s head meat on the streets of Kadıköy, one of the busiest quarters on Istanbul’s Asian side.

Yuvi Umeji, a 40-year-old Japanese, tasted chilled lamb’s head meat once and became a keen fan of the famous street food since then, eating at least three times a month for eight years.

Ultimately, Umeji, who wanted to learn how to cook and prepare chilled lamb’s head meat, trained for six months with Muammer Aksoy, one of the city’s famous galantine makers.

Opening a counter initially in Kadıköy a year ago following the training, Umeji decided to open a shop, and after the portions he prepared, he became very popular around the neighborhood.

Umeji told Demirören News Agency about his interesting story and how he became a street food master in Turkey.

“For eight years, I went to Beyoğlu [from Kadıköy] by ferry two or three times a month and ate chilled lamb’s head meat, this has become my routine. When I tasted it, I fell in love with it,” he said.

He said the fact that he is Japanese surprised his customers and that he sometimes told “white lies,” fabricating that he was born and raised in Zeytinburnu, a quarter where Uighurs mostly live.

He said that he loved his job incredibly much, even though his wife and daughter do not like chilled lamb’s head meat, and expressed that he was pleased to carry out this work with his master, glorifying disciplined work and attention to detail.