Cop Sis in the UK: what it is, how to order it, where to find it
Quick answer
Çöp şiş is lamb cut into very small pieces, threaded on thin wooden or metal skewers and grilled fast over charcoal. The name means 'rubbish skewer', because it was made from the trimmings left over from cutting bigger kebabs, but it is now a dish in its own right and one of the best things on a Turkish grill: small, crisp-edged, intensely flavoured and eaten in wraps or off the stick.
Calories and nutrition
- Calories
- 560
- Protein
- 38 g
- Carbs
- 40 g
- Fat
- 26 g
- Salt
- 1.8 g
460–680 kcal
Portion: A portion of eight sticks (about 150 g cooked) with flatbread and sumac onion.
In a dürüm wrap with salad, about 620 kcal.
Estimates for a typical portion, based on standard UK and USDA food composition data. Actual values depend on the recipe and the restaurant.
What çöp şiş is
Take the off-cuts from lamb shoulder, marinate them in onion, oil, oregano and pepper, thread them tightly on thin skewers and grill them hard and fast. Each skewer holds only a few mouthfuls, so a portion is six to ten sticks, served on flatbread with onion and sumac, parsley and grilled tomato. It comes from the Aegean coast, particularly Selçuk and Şirince near Ephesus, where the stalls sell it by the stick with a bread roll and a glass of ayran. In the UK it appears on ocakbaşı menus as a cheaper, faster alternative to shish and is often the best value on the page.
Çöp şiş versus shish
Shish is walnut-sized cubes on a flat skewer, cooked eight to ten minutes and served as a main. Çöp şiş is fingernail-sized pieces on a thin skewer, cooked three or four minutes, with far more charred surface per gram of meat. It is more intense and more forgiving of lesser cuts, which is why it was invented. Order shish when the lamb is excellent; order çöp şiş when you want flavour and speed, or for a wrap.
How to judge it
The pieces should be crisp and dark at the edges and still juicy, with visible fat between the meat. The skewers should come off the grill straight onto bread. If çöp şiş arrives pale and soft it was cooked away from the coals or from lean meat. The best versions use a marinade that is mostly onion juice and oregano, so the lamb tastes of lamb.
Where in the UK it is done well
It is a staple of the North London ocakbaşı houses and appears on most Turkish grill menus in Birmingham and Manchester. The ranking below counts Turkish restaurants in our directory whose name signals a grill, since few restaurants name themselves after the dish.
How to order it
Order it in a wrap (dürüm) with sumac onions if you want a fast meal, or a portion of eight sticks with bread as a starter for two. It is often the cheapest lamb on the menu; take advantage. Ask for it well charred.
Where it's done well
UK councils with the most cop sis specialists, by restaurant name, in our directory.
Restaurants near you
Search by postcode or use your location to find restaurants likely to serve cop sis near you.
Make it at home
Serves 4 · 30 min
Ingredients
- 600 g lamb shoulder trimmed into 1.5 cm pieces, fat left on
- 1 onion, grated, juice squeezed out
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt, black pepper, a pinch of pepper flakes
- thin skewers, soaked if wooden
- flatbread, onion, sumac, parsley and grilled tomato to serve
Method
- Mix the onion juice, oil, oregano, salt, pepper and flakes and marinate the lamb for at least two hours.
- Thread the pieces tightly onto thin skewers, eight to ten pieces each.
- Grill over very hot charcoal or under the hottest grill for three to four minutes, turning once, until charred at the edges.
- Serve on warm flatbread with sliced onion tossed with sumac and parsley, and grilled tomato.
Keep the pieces small and the heat high; the point of çöp şiş is the ratio of crust to meat.