There are several opinions about the history of tantuni.

According to one opinion, "tantuni", which is claimed to originate from Turkmen and nomadic traditions, is a type of wrap identified with Mersin province and widespread throughout the country. It is made with different methods in Antakya and Mersin.

In fact, beating boiled meat with swords on shields and cooking the meat in this way seems to be possible in the nomadic tradition. Therefore, this claim may be true. However, the claim that it is a mobile street food belonging to the Arabs is another claim. According to the reports, tantuni is a food of the poor, where leftover minced meat and offal from the butcher's shop are roasted with tomatoes and onions with sumac and served in a wrap. It is also a type of kebab.

According to another rumour, the rich people who bought good tenderloin nuar from the butcher used to leave the bones at the butcher. Small pieces of meat would remain on these bones, butchers would wrap them in paper and sell them at cheap prices. Of course, even though they were small pieces, they were the best parts of the meat, so they were taken by the poor local people and first boiled and then cooked with spices on the sac and turned into a meal.