Kumpir: the Turkish version of the baked potato
Filled with cheese, olives, sausages, pickles and much more: Turkish street food kumpir — a baked and stuffed potato — is heaven for anyone who loves an overload of toppings.
You can eat kumpir (pronounced: koem-peer) all over Turkey, but in Istanbul’s Ortaköy district you’ll find the ultimate kumpir paradise. In fact, the street with all the kumpir stalls has been renamed kumpir sokak by the locals, meaning baked potato street.
Kumpir: what exactly is it?
Simply put: kumpir is a baked potato that is then filled. Large, floury potatoes are used, which go into the oven wrapped in aluminum foil and emerge crispy on the outside and silky soft on the inside.
The potato is then cut open and the inside is mixed with a generous amount of butter and cheese. A Turkish cheese such as tulum (a goat’s cheese) is often used for this, but any cheese that melts well will do. Then you can go wild with toppings such as pickles, sausage, vegetables and various types of sauces.
Kumpir: how to make it yourself
It goes without saying: making kumpir isn’t particularly complicated. The trick is mainly to get the potato perfectly cooked. Need inspiration? This is a recipe for kumpir with sucuk (Turkish spiced sausage). And this version has a topping of olives, Russian salad, bell pepper, pickles and nachos. But of course you can also create your own kumpir with whatever toppings you like.
Getting kumpir to go
Don’t feel like rolling up your sleeves and making it yourself? Then you can simply pick up or order some Kumpir! At King Kumpir in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, you can get delicious kumpir, and at Jacketz in Amsterdam and Utrecht you can get baked potatoes with fillings such as mackerel salad with fresh herbs or chili con carne with black angus beef.
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