Soujouk libanais
Levantine variant of the Turkish sucuk, less dry than the Turkish version, with cumin and fenugreek.
| Lean beef, finely minced | 800 g |
| Beef fat, diced | 150 g |
| Fatty sheep’s tail (or suet) | 50 g |
| Ground cumin | 10 g |
| Ground fenugreek | 6 g |
| Aleppo pepper (or Turkish chilli) | 8 g |
| Fresh garlic, crushed | 20 g |
| Lebanese seven-spice | 5 g |
| Fine salt | 20 g |
| Ground black pepper | 3 g |
| Fine natural sheep casing | — |
- Mixing: Combine the beef, the fat and the fatty tail. Add the cumin, fenugreek, Aleppo pepper, garlic, seven-spice, salt, and pepper. Work vigorously for 10 minutes, until the forcemeat is very sticky.
- Resting: Cover and refrigerate for 48 hours, turning once. Maturation is essential to the development of aromas.
- Stuffing: Fill fine sheep casings to form sausages 8 to 10 cm long. Leave to dry for 2 to 3 days in a cool, well-ventilated place.
- Cooking: Pan-fry over high heat in a little fat for 5 to 7 minutes; cut into thick rounds. Serve with runny fried eggs.
- Serving: Arrange the grilled rounds of soujouk on warm flatbread with labneh, fresh mint and a drizzle of olive oil.
The Lebanese soujouk descends from the Turkish sucuk (see that entry) and was introduced to the Levant during the Ottoman period (1516–1918). The Lebanese version freed itself from its model on two points: the prolonged drying of several weeks, characteristic of the Turkish sucuk, was abandoned in favour of a partial drying of two to three days, better suited to the humid climate of the Lebanese coast; and the aromatic profile took in the Levantine seven-spice and fenugreek, absent from the mainland sucuk.
Fenugreek is the spice that sets the Lebanese soujouk apart from every other Levantine sausage. Faintly bitter, with notes of celery and maple, it constitutes the preparation’s most recognisable aromatic imprint. The butchers of the north of the country use more of it than those of Beirut. The prolonged kneading, ten minutes at least, gives the forcemeat a very sticky texture, followed by a forty-eight-hour rest indispensable for the fenugreek and the cumin to diffuse evenly through the mass.
The soujouk bi bayd (pan-fried soujouk with eggs) is one of the pillars of the Lebanese breakfast, served with labneh, zaatar, olives, and warm bread. The soujouk is also a common topping for the manouché, the flatbread sold from dawn in bakeries across the country. In the restaurants and at family tables, it appears among the hot mezze, alongside the makanek and the fried kebbe. Its making is artisanal, carried on daily by the traditional butchers (lahham).
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