Mehmet Usta

Born in 1969 in the narrow streets of Ödemiş. The sound of copper pans, the scent of meat, and the wood fire were among his earliest memories. While still a child, he found himself in that small world behind the kitchen.

He grew up alongside the masters who made Ödemiş famous for its köfte. For years he never put down the copper pan placed in his hand; he learned from them the language of fire, the patience of meat, the memory of copper. "A kavurma cannot exist without passing through a master's hands," his old teacher used to say — Mehmet carried these words with him ever since.

In 2005, he came to Fethiye. The warm Mediterranean wind did not soften the tradition he brought from Ödemiş; on the contrary, it added another layer of aroma to the kavurma in his copper pans. Here he built his own fire, set his own table.

Today, every plate at Fethiye Kavurmacısı carries the trace of a 40-year journey from Ödemiş to Fethiye. The fire is the same fire, the copper is the same copper, the patience is the same patience.