Where to Eat the Best Edirne Style Liver in Bursa? Meshur Edirne Yaprak Ciger, Osmangazi, Bursa

February 9, 2024March 3, 2024 GastroTurfer

Who would have said that the best Edirne-style liver is the one you eat in Bursa? Nobody did. Suddenly, we found ourselves in Selami Usta‘s famous Edirne Yaprak Ciger Salonu in Bursa. And yes, we met Turkey’s most delicious hidden Edirne liver restaurant.

Does it sound ridiculous? Eat, and let’s talk about it. Although the title may have sounded ridiculous anyway, after all, Edirne leaf liver is eaten in Edirne, Turkiye. However, those who know and eat Edirne liver will agree with us after eating liver here.

Now, some gastronomy nationalists may get angry. There will be many of you who will say, “No way! However, we can make this comparison because we have eaten at Aydin, Edirne’s most famous fried liver restaurant, and many other prominent liver restaurants. Also, as Democritus of Thracia said, “Life is a decay. Man is a perception.” According to Democritus of Thrace, no Edirne fried liver restaurant is more enjoyable than Selami Usta’s Edirne Yaprak Cigercisi in Bursa. So this is our perception with all our experiences. Happy for those who can make the most of this knowledge in the decay called Life.

Master Selami’s liver parlor is a tiny, shabby shop with four or five tables. As soon as you walk in, there is a small whiteboard on the left, with the menu items written in red pen. Next to it hangs the famous dried red peppers. So what’s on the menu? Liver, tzatziki, dessert, soda, and water. It is one of the most sympathetic yet compelling menus we have ever seen. Because none of what is written is empty; it has been thought and written. It is as if distilled from the Kaizen philosophy of the Japanese and the Zen of Buddhism.

Selami Usta from Edirne came to Bursa in 1968. After working as a shoemaker for 38 years, he opened this tiny liver parlor in Bursa. He is determined to keep Edirne, where he was born, alive in Bursa. He does this by selling liver the way he learned in Edirne. The leaf livers are coated in flour and fried, and as Selami Usta says, “It flows down the throat like butter.” Five minutes after you order, it is served to your table. Of course, with the famous fried and crispy dried red peppers.

It is worth mentioning that the peppers are served in two categories; “hot” and “very hot” If you tell them this, they serve the peppers accordingly. Onion and red peppers are complimentary. The rest of the menu consists of tzatziki and dessert. Let’s talk about them…

Tzatziki (Cacik) is the best side dish to neutralize those hot peppers and fried liver leaves. When you are burnt from the pain and elevated from the liver, press the tzatziki and refresh yourself. May God bless the first person who invented tzatziki. Whenever we think of tzatziki, a pleasantness, an ambivalence comes to our soul. Selami Ustas’s tzatziki is a very good tzatziki by the way. No need for buttermilk. This tzatziki is the best pain reliever of all time; it is a pleasure for the heart, even as Augusto Escoffier said, an “Amuse-Bouche.”

So, what’s left on the menu, “Dessert,” right?

Don’t be fooled by the simple “dessert” on the menu; the dessert at Selami Usta is a great dessert you can only eat here. Its real name is “Sultan’s Dessert.” aka. Padisah Dessert. It’s eclectic but very harmonious. We won’t tell you what’s inside; try to discover it yourself when you go. (You can make guesses by looking at the photo, but be sure that the taste and texture will be different than what you see and interpret)

We, who are not much of a dessert person, loved this dessert. And we realized that Selami Usta’s famous Edirne Yaprak Ciger Salonu is much more than just liver, tzatziki, and dessert.

And once again, we remembered and realized that despite all the pomp, fanfare, and show on social media, we still have masters and peers who are very good at what they do. And they are still waiting to be discovered, told, and known.

Let’s give a social message without commemorating, recognizing, and archiving our masters who have given their lives to their work. The Michelin and Gault &Millau franchises we import from France may or may not work in our country!