It’s a curious blend, really. The science is in the salt, the drying, the smoking—an age‑old preservation technique that can be traced back to the Ottoman kitchens, and even earlier in Anatolian trade routes where salt was a currency. The myth, on the other hand, tells of a wandering shepherd who, in a flash of inspiration, mixed herbs and salt to save a batch of meat from spoilage, turning it into a delicacy that would be passed down through generations. In scholarly circles you’ll find evidence in medieval manuscripts, but you’ll also find folk songs that sing of that first “basturma” as a heroic invention. So it’s not strictly myth nor purely science, but a delicious meeting point of the two.