What Is Special About the Sucuk Sausage?

Sucuk sausage is a specialty common in quite a few countries. Nevertheless, it is mostly associated with Turkish cuisine. It is also becoming more and more popular in this country. The raw sausage usually consists of beef, veal, or lamb and is halal. It gets its strong, very spicy aroma from pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, allspice, garlic, and cumin. There are different production methods: Sucuk sausage is usually air-dried, and more rarely smoked.

In addition to Turkey, the sausage specialty is also widespread in the Balkans, in several Arab countries, and in individual states in Central Asia. In Muslim regions mainly the meat of veal, beef, or lamb is used for the roast. In other regions, sucuk is also made from pork, in countries like Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan even from horse meat. The sausage can also vary in appearance, there are basically three different types: the Kangal sucuk is offered as a ring, the Parmak sucuk consists of two individual sausages connected at the ends and the Büfe sucuk is a single, long sausage.

Sucuk sausage is used in many different ways and eaten on various occasions. Fried in slices and combined with scrambled or fried eggs, as in our Menemen recipe, it is a popular breakfast dish, for example. Due to the relatively high-fat content, the sausage can be fried in its own fat. It is also sliced ​​and served in flatbread as a snack, usually fried or grilled beforehand. An example of this is our Pide mit Sucuk recipe. In pies or dumplings, the sausage serves as a spicy filling, cooked with vegetables, it can be part of the main meal.