The rise of suçuk: do you know this delicious Turkish sausage yet?

Whether you like sausage or not… Turkish sausage, that is! Suçuk is a dried, well-seasoned sausage made mainly from beef, sometimes with the addition of, or entirely from, lamb, and it’s turning up in more and more places. And that’s no wonder, because it’s incredibly flavorful…

Quite a few spices go into the minced meat used to make the sausage; all deliciously spicy and fragrant additions with a kick. Paprika, garlic, cumin, sumac and indispensable chili flakes, which make the whole thing so delicious – especially when you fry the sausage until nicely browned and drizzle the released oil over your dish as well. What can you eat it with?

Sausage works anytime, anywhere

The sausage is best known to us from Turkish cuisine, but it’s also a popular choice in the Balkans, the Middle East and Central Asia. In Turkey, it’s often fried with eggs (including scrambled eggs) instead of bacon, but it certainly wouldn’t be out of place with drinks either. We’re also fans of this whole idea of sausage for breakfast, as we previously wrote about the coffee sausage from Brandt & Levie! Suçuk (which, by the way, is pronounced soo-jook) is also incredibly delicious on pizza, or in small, crispy fried pieces stirred through pasta – for example in a kind of spaghetti carbonara instead of guanciale or pancetta.

All day long

In the morning, garlic and pepper are a great way to wake up, especially in these spiced sausage slices combined with a perfectly fried egg. In the afternoon, serve it on a board with some olives and feta and, for example, some homemade pickles, and your drinks platter is complete.

Try making it yourself

Authentic suçuk needs to dry for a few weeks for an optimal fermentation process. And if you’re a true sausage lover, you might want to try making it yourself sometime! You can choose the meat yourself and possibly opt for organic or free-range meat. On the website worstmaken.nl, you’ll find an easy-to-follow recipe that clearly explains everything you need.

Read also:

• Is this the trick for the perfect fried egg?
• What should you buy at the Turkish supermarket?
• A little hungry? HEMA launches the mini smoked sausage