One of the true pleasures in life is to sit down on a leisurely weekend morning to a hot cup of Turkish tea and a table set for a traditional Turkish breakfast.

In Turkish cuisine, breakfast plays an important role in daily life. Virtually no one goes without breakfast. Even families and working folks on the run take the time to have a glass of Turkish tea and a few basic breakfast items to start their day.

Turkish breakfast can be as simple or as extravagant as you have the time and budget for. It begins with a few ‘must have’ items like white bread, brewed tea, Turkish white cheese similar to Feta, black olives, sliced cucumber and tomato, and some honey or fruit preserves.

Often, slices of mortadella and breakfast salami, other varieties of Turkish cheese, sweet butter and green olives are added to the line up. And there’s more.

If you have even more time and a larger appetite, you may also be served baked goods like ‘poagça’ filled with cheese, layered cheese pastry called ‘börek,’ slices of grilled or fried Turkish sausage called ‘sucuk’ (soo-JOOK’) and ‘pastirma’ (pah-STIR’-mah), a spicy, cured beef similar to pastrami.

Eggs, both hot and cold, are also an important part of Turkish breakfast. Hard boiled eggs are often added to breakfast fare. Even better are hot eggs, omelets and ‘menemen,’ a vegetable and egg scramble.

What if you like fried eggs and sausage? You’re in luck, too.  The Turkish way to prepare fried eggs and sausage is so delicious, it may become your new favorite.

The traditional way to fry eggs is sunny side up in a small copper skillet with no handles called a ‘sahan’ (SAH’-han). Each person’s eggs are cooked individually in these decorative and functional pans and served piping hot right in the pan.

The best way to make fried eggs is with slices of ‘sucuk’. Simply the fry the sausage in the ‘sahan,’ then crack the eggs right on top and let them cook in the juice. Then use crusty bread to dip in the yolks. 

Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• 1 whole Turkish 'sucuk' sausage 
• Chopped chives or Italian parsley for garnish
• Crusty bread for dipping

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes

• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings

Preparation

1. Remove the casing from the ‘sucuk’ sausage and divide the sausage into 4 equal pieces. Slice each piece into rounds about ¼ inch thick.
2. Place an equal number of rounds in each of your skillets. Begin cooking the sausage slices right in the ‘sahan’ over a low flame. Let the sausage slices brown nicely on one side before you turn them over.
3. The sausages will release a lot of oil as they cook. Don’t drain it. When you turn the slices over, immediately crack two eggs on top of the sausage slices in each skillet. Add some salt and pepper, then let the eggs cook on low heat until the whites are firm but the yolk is still soft.

1. Sprinkle to top of each skillet with the chives or herbs. You can also sprinkle on some grated cheese if you wish.
2. Put each hot skillet on a dinner plate and serve as is with slices of hearty bread. Tear off pieces of bread and dip it in the runny egg yolks and sausage drippings as you eat your eggs.