Sucuk is the dry, garlicky, paprika-red Turkish sausage that turns a plain breakfast into something worth getting up for. It is also the product most often faked: what gets sold as sucuk in Europe is frequently a soft, mild, industrially produced sausage that shares the colour and nothing else.
Here is how to tell the difference, and where to buy the real thing in Prague.
What sucuk actually is
Proper sucuk is beef, lamb, or a mix of both — never pork — seasoned heavily with garlic, red pepper, cumin, black pepper and allspice, then cured. The spice load is much higher than in most European sausages, and the garlic is meant to be assertive.
The fat matters as much as the spice. Sucuk needs enough fat to render out in the pan and carry the seasoning; a lean sucuk goes tough and tastes flat.
What we make ourselves
We produce our own butcher’s sausage in the shop, to a traditional Anatolian recipe:
Řeznické klobásy — 50% beef, 50% lamb, salt, garlic, sweet red pepper, black pepper, hot pepper, allspice. Fresh meat, made in house.
394,50 Kč / 500 g
That is a sucuk formula: the beef-and-lamb base, the garlic, the two paprikas and the allspice. Because we make it on site from meat we have butchered ourselves, we control the fat ratio and the spice level — and we can tell you exactly what is in it, which is more than most packets will.
We also stock Turkish sausage and charcuterie brands including Egetürk on our grocery shelves, alongside Turkish salami and cured products.
How to cook it
The single most common mistake is adding oil. Do not. Sucuk is fatty enough to cook in its own fat, and adding oil gives you a greasy result.
- Slice it on the diagonal, about 5 mm thick. Thicker slices stay raw in the middle; thinner ones burn.
- Start in a cold, dry pan. Bringing the pan up slowly renders the fat out gradually instead of searing the outside shut.
- Cook over medium heat until the edges curl and darken and there is a pool of red fat in the pan.
- Do not drain that fat. It is the best part.
Sucuklu yumurta — the classic
Fry the slices as above, then crack eggs straight into the rendered fat around them. Cook until the whites are just set and the yolks still runny. Serve in the pan, with plenty of bread for the fat. Two eggs and six slices per person is about right.
Sucuk also works in a toasted sandwich, on top of pide, in menemen, and — grilled rather than fried — alongside grilled vegetables.
Buying and storing
Judge sucuk by three things: the smell should be strongly garlicky and spiced, not sour; the colour should be a deep brick red, not orange; and the texture should be firm with visible fat marbling, not uniformly pink and soft.
Keep it refrigerated and wrapped. Once you have cut into it, use it within a few days — the exposed face dries out and darkens. Sucuk freezes well if you slice it first and separate the portions.
Come and try it
Our sausage is made in the shop at Anatolia Meat Market, Na Poříčí 1933/36, Prague 1, a few minutes from Náměstí Republiky. We are open every day 09:00–21:00.
Ask at the counter about the spice level — we are happy to talk you through what we have made that week. Call +420 727 974 844 or see the online menu.
Prices listed are those on our online menu and may change; the current price is always shown there and in store.
