A strange dessert made from chicken.

Meat might seem like an unsuitable ingredient for dessert, but that's before diners have tried "tavuk göğsü"—a pudding with chicken breast as the main ingredient.

According to legend, tavuk göğsü was created about 100 years ago when the head of the Ottoman Empire requested a sweet dessert, but the only food the chef had that day was chicken. He decided to grind the meat and boil it until it dissolved in the milk, with the aim of creating a tavuk göğsü different from ordinary desserts.

Chicken pudding topped with cinnamon powder.

Currently, the best tavuk göğsü can be found at the Özkonak restaurant in Istanbul, where chef Hamdi Bey spent 50 years perfecting the recipe. Hamdi readily shares the recipe for this dessert.

He explained, "Basically, this isn't a dish you can make at home. You need to boil 3 liters of milk and half a kilogram of sugar, then select the best chicken breasts, usually farm-raised, not supermarket-grade. Grind the chicken meat and add it to the boiled milk and sugar mixture, let it cool, and pour it into a wooden mold. Continue heating for about 20 minutes, then pour it into a metal tray and cut the cake into pieces. Also, the amount of sugar added depends on the type of milk used and the texture of the chicken."

Chicken pudding is considered a "must-try" dish when visiting Türkiye.

Explaining why it's difficult to make at home, Hamdi said: "The preparation process requires special equipment and tools, so customers usually prefer to buy takeout to save time and money."

Although tavuk göğsü has been around for a long time, the concept of using chicken in a dessert is still quite unfamiliar to foreign tourists. “Many people eat half the cake, and when they find out it’s made of chicken, they immediately stop and look annoyed; this is quite common,” Hamdi said with a laugh.

According to VNE