Sujuk

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Turkish variant, called 'parmak' Sucuk
Turkish variant, called 'parmak' Sucuk
Sujuk made in Gorna Oryahovitsa, Bulgaria.
Sujuk made in Gorna Oryahovitsa, Bulgaria.

Sujuk (Turkish: 'sucuk'; Bulgarian: суджук; Russian: суджук; Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian sudžuk/cyџyk; Armenian երշիկ "yershig"; Arabic سجق "sujuq"; Greek: σουτζούκι "sootsookee"; Kyrgyz: чучук"chuchuk"; Kazakh: шұжық "shuzhyq") is a dry, spicy sausage eaten from the Balkans to the Middle East and Central Asia.

It consists of ground meat (usually beef, in Kazakhstan and Kyrghyzstan made from horse meat[1]), with various spices including cumin, sumac, garlic, salt, and red pepper, fed into a sausage casing and allowed to dry for several weeks. It can be more or less spicy; it is fairly salty and has a high fat content.

Sujuk must be eaten cooked (when raw, it is very hard and stiff). It is often cut into slices and cooked without additional oil, its own fat being sufficient to fry it. At breakfasts, it is used in a way similar to bacon or spam. They are fried in a pan, often with eggs, accompanied by a hot cup of sweet black tea. Sujuk also uses a meal material with haricot bean or in pastries at some regions in Turkey. In Bulgaria, raw, sliced sujuk is often served as an appetizer with raki or other high alcoholic drinks.

Sujuk is also commonly used as a topping on savoury pastries in Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon; sujuk shawarma is also occasionally found. In these countries, it is often regarded as an Armenian speciality.[citation needed] Akin to sujuk shawarma, sujuk döner was also introduced in Turkey in late 1990s.

There is also a sweet called sujuk (churchkhela), which is made from walnuts sewn onto a string, and dipped in thickened white grape juice and dried.

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[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Used that parts of horse that are cheaper from that which used for khazy/kazy (Kazakh: қазы), which is made in the same way as shuzhyq, but more expensive.