Sujuk

Sujuk or sucuk is a dry, spicy and fermented sausage which is eaten from the Balkans to the Middle East and Central Asia. Sujuk consists of ground meat (usually beef or lamb, but horse meat is often used in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan).[1][2][3]

This article is about a spicy meat sausage. For the walnut candy, see cevizli sucuk.

Sujuk
Turkish parmak sucuk
Alternative namesSucuk, sudjuk, sudžuk, sudzhuk, suxhuk
TypeSausage
Region or stateMiddle East, Central Asia, Balkans
Main ingredientsGround meat (usually beef), cumin, garlic, salt, red pepper

Etymology and terminology

Sucuk was loaned from Persian word zīcak or zīçak (زيجك/زيچك), originally meaning "mumbar", to Turkish language. This word in turn evolved from Persian zīç (زيچ), meaning "stretching, strip, cord".[4] The first mention of the word in a Turkic language was made by Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati in his early 14th century work titled Kitab al-'idrak li-lisan al-'atrak (كتاب الإدراك للسان الأتراك).[4] Cognate names are also present in other Turkic languages, e.g. Kazakh: шұжық, shujyq; Kyrgyz: чучук, chuchuk.[5][6]

The first early form of Sujuk (Albanian: suxhuk) originated in the Middle Ages in Albania, which at that time was part of the Ottoman Empire.[7]

The Turkish name sucuk has been adopted largely unmodified by other languages in the region, including Gagauz: sucuk; Albanian: suxhuk; Arabic: سجق‎, romanized: sujuq; Armenian: սուջուխ, suǰux; Bosnian: sudžuka; Bulgarian: суджук, sudzhuk; Greek: σουτζούκι, sutzúki; Macedonian: суџук, sudžuk; Azerbaijani: sucuk; Romanian: sugiuc; Russian: суджук, sudzhuk; Serbian/Croatian: sudžuk /cyџyk.

Production

In Turkey, beef is the main raw material for sucuk production. At the beginning of the process the meat is preground in 14–16-millimetre (0.55–0.63 in) plates and tested for its fat content. Afterwards the meat is mixed with curing salt, which contains 0.5% sodium nitrite, and stored for 8–16 hours in 8–12 °C (46–54 °F) for further processing. Later the preground meat is mixed with frozen and ground tail fat, beef tallow, suet and additives like spices, ascorbate, dextrose and starter culture. The mixture is ground again in 1.6–5-millimetre (0.063–0.197 in) plates, which forms the mosaic structure of sucuk. Thenceforth the product is filled in casings made of collagen or fiber and these casings are twisted or tied to portionize sucuk.[8]

Sucuk is then prepared for ripening process, which consists of fermentation and post-fermentation stages. In the first day of fermentation stage the product is left in a high relative humidity (RH) environment around 22–23 °C (72–73 °F). After that the RH and the temperature is gradually dropped each day, resulting to 18 °C (64 °F) and 88% RH in the last and third day of fermentation. At the end of the stage pH of the product must be dropped to 4.9–5.0. In the post-fermantation stage sucuk is matured and dried until the moisture content of the sausage is under 40%.[8]

Nutrition

It was reported that sucuk from Turkey on average contained 24.5% protein, 31.6% fat, 35.65% moisture and 3.79% salt. Fat content of sucuk is highly variable; some sucuk brands tested contained only 23% fat, meanwhile others exceeded 42%.[9][10]

Dishes prepared with sujuk

Thin slices of sujuk can be pan-fried in a bit of butter, while larger pieces may be grilled. Sucuklu yumurta, which literally means "eggs with sujuk", is commonly served as a Turkish breakfast dish.[11] Sucuklu yumurta is a simple dish of fried eggs cooked together with sujuk,[12] but sujuk may also be added to other egg dishes like menemen (which is similar to shakshouka but with scrambled eggs instead of poached).[13][14]

Sujuk can be added to many dishes including fava bean stew (kuru fasulye), filled phyllo dough pastries (burek) and as a topping for pizza or pide.[15][16]

  • Eggs with sujuk
  • Bread with sujuk

See also

References
  1. Gregory-Smith, John (2018). Turkish Delights: Stunning regional recipes from the Bosphorus to the Black Sea. London: Hachette UK. ISBN 978-08-57-83596-3.
  2. Пальгов, Н. Н.; М. Ш. Ярмухамедов (1970). Казахстан (in Russian). Москва: Мысль. p. 138.
  3. Кадыров, Виктор (2019). Кыргызстан. Традиции и обычаи киргизов (in Russian). Москва: Litres. p. 53. ISBN 978-50-41-88963-0.
  4. "sucuk". Nişanyan Sözlük (in Turkish). Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  5. Eren, Hasan (1999). Türk Dilinin Etimolojik Sözlüğü (in Turkish). Ankara. p. 376.
  6. Csató, Éva Ágnes; Isaksson, Bo; Jahani, Carina (2005). Linguistic Convergence and Areal Diffusion: Case Studies from Iranian, Semitic and Turkic. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-30804-5.
  7. "Sucuk: Alles Wurst in der Türkei - Foodwiki". Lieferando.de (in German). Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  8. Yılmaz, Ismail; Velioğlu, Hasan (2009). "Fermented meat products Figure 2. General Production Process of Turkish Sucuk". Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  9. Omurtag, A. Cemal; Orbey, M. Tevfik; Yıldız, Sulhiye (1973). "Yerli Sucuklarımızın Besin Değerleri Üzerinde Araştırma" [The Research on the Food Value of the Native Sucuk (Suchuck) in a Rational and Balanced Nutrition] (PDF). J. Fac. Pharm (in Turkish). Ankara. 3 (71).
  10. Yılmaz, Ismail (April 2009). "Determination of Fatty Acid Composition and Total Trans Fatty Acids in Meat Products" (PDF). Food science and biotechnology. 18: 350–355.
  11. Emina, Seb; Eggs, Malcolm (14 March 2013). The Breakfast Bible. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4088-3990-4.
  12. "Sucuklu Yumurta Nasıl Yapılır?". Sabah (in Turkish). Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  13. Khong, Rachel; Peach, Lucky (2017). Lucky Peach All about Eggs. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8041-8775-6.
  14. Rutherford, Tristan; Tomasetti, Kathryn (2011). National Geographic Traveler: Istanbul & Western Turkey. National Geographic Books. ISBN 978-1-4262-0708-2.
  15. Sarlık, E. Emel; Sarlık, Mehmet (1995). IV. Afyonkarahisar Araştırmaları Sempozyumu Bildirileri: 29-30 Eylül 1995, Afyonkarahisar (in Turkish). Hazer Ofset Matbaacılık Gazetecilik Limited Şti.
  16. Pelin Karahan'la Nefis Tariflerundefined (Director). Sucuklu Pide Tarifi. Event occurs at 869 seconds. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
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