When Efe Topuzlu recalls the Sunday breakfasts of his childhood in Istanbul, he thinks of . The spicy sausage was one of the most important items on the table alongside breads and during family gatherings in Istanbul.
It’s an experience he re-enacts today at his popular Sydney cafes, . The Turkish breakfast with fried eggs and beef sucuk he serves is just as he enjoyed it as a kid.
Another dish he’s had a long-standing relationship with is with sucuk. Unlike the more common spinach and feta version, the pastry is folded with two cheeses (halloumi and kaşar) and sliced sausages. “I've been doing this maybe for ten years now,” Topuzlu says, with this meat-rich gőzleme making its debut at his very first cafe, in Surry Hills.
The history of Sucuk
Sucuk has been around for . The preserved meat sausage has long been a popular Turkish staple, and is especially famous in the Afyonkarahisar region (in the country’s west). It is also enjoyed elsewhere in the world, in the Balkans and beyond.
And there are variations beyond the classic beef – it might be stuffed with pistachios, buffalo or lamb; in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, it’s . It’s also known as sujuk and soudjouk (which resemble the way it’s pronounced), and is flavoured with various spices (such as cumin and paprika) and can have the distinct charge of garlic. In fact, there’s also a sweet version, made with nuts and grapes, called cevizli-sucuk. This is typically sweetened with grape molasses and gets its crunchiness from walnuts and there are variations of this too in other countries. (, for instance, is known as “Georgian Snickers”.)
Credit: Katje Ford
Sucuk also has a very recognisable shape. “It looks like a horseshoe,” Topuzlu says, trying to describe the air-dried sausage in its pre-cooked state. Butchers usually offer a mild version (his preference) or “a real spicy one” for people who can handle the fiery kind.
Topuzlu sources his meat from Butchery, a Turkish business located on the same street as Malika Bakehouse’s first cafe. This institution has been around for its sucuk and Topuzlu has been purchasing their garlicky, spiced beef sausages since his student days.
Efe Tpouzlu has been getting his sucuk from the same butcher for years. Credit: Supplied
How to enjoy sucuk best
As the weather warms up, he suggests people grill sucuk over charcoal “on your barbecue days”, because the smoky finish can significantly enhance the dish. “If I have time for it, I prefer it on the barbecue,” he says. This harks back to the Turkish tradition of enjoying this meat straight from the , just sizzled and served straight onto bread.
You could also fry it in a pan, and let the oil from the sausage naturally drip out – forming a rich, flavoursome pool that you then dip with bread.
Whether Topuzlu consumes thinly sliced sucuk with sunny-side-up eggs, direct from the barbecue or melted into cheesy gőzleme, there’s something about the sausage’s distinctly spiced flavour that proves so transporting to him.
“I think it tastes like Istanbul,” he says.
