Sujuk

{{Infobox food

| name = Sujuk

| image = Sucuk-1.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption = Parmak sucuk

| alternate_name = Sucuk, suxhuk, sudjuk, sudžuk, sudžuka, sudzhuk, sugiuc, sodjouk, soudjuk

| country =

| region = Central Asia, Ottoman Empire

| creator =

| course =

| type = Sausage

| served =

| main_ingredient = Ground meat (usually beef, lamb), cumin, garlic, salt, red pepper

| variations =

| calories =

| other =

}}

Sujuk or sucuk (/suːˈd͡ʒʊk/) is a dry, spicy and fermented sausage which is consumed in several Turkish, Balkan, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cuisines. Sujuk mainly consists of ground meat and animal fat usually obtained from beef or lamb, but beef is mainly used in Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.{{cite book|last=Gregory-Smith|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xideDwAAQBAJ&q=sujuk|title=Turkish Delights: Stunning regional recipes from the Bosphorus to the Black Sea|publisher=Hachette UK|year=2018|isbn=978-08-57-83596-3|location=London}}{{cite book|last=Пальгов|first=Н. Н.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8dkyAAAAIAAJ&q=шужук+колбаса+казахстан|title=Казахстан|author2=М. Ш. Ярмухамедов|publisher=Мысль|year=1970|location=Москва|page=138|language=ru}}{{cite book|last=Кадыров|first=Виктор|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cv2uDwAAQBAJ&q=чучук&pg=PA53|title=Кыргызстан. Традиции и обычаи киргизов|publisher=Litres|year=2019|isbn=978-50-41-88963-0|location=Москва|page=53|language=ru}}{{cite book|url=https://tmarketonline.bg/product/sudjuk-elenko-s-konsko-meso-170gr|title=Конски Суджук "Еленко" във верига магазини "T-Market"|language=bg|access-date=12 April 2021|archive-date=12 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412184543/https://tmarketonline.bg/product/sudjuk-elenko-s-konsko-meso-170gr|url-status=dead}}

Etymology and terminology

Sucuk was first mentioned in the 11th century by Mahmud al-Kashgari in his Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk as suɣut. Another mention was made by Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati in his early 14th century work titled Kitab al-'idrak li-lisan al-'atrak ({{lang|ar|كتاب الإدراك للسان الأتراك}}). The word "suɣut" itself means "sujuk, or dried thing" and derived from Turkic root -suɣur meaning to dry or to drain off and the suffix "-çïk/-çuk" is Turkic diminutive suffix (Suɣutçuk => Sucuk).{{Cite web|title=sucuk|url=https://nisanyansozluk.com/?k=sucuk|access-date=2020-09-22|website=Nişanyan Sözlük|language=tr}}^ Clauson, Gerard (1972) “suğut”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 806Hindoglu, Artin (1838) “سجوق”, in Hazine-i lûgat ou dictionnaire abrégé turc-français[1], Vienna: F. Beck, page 265aKélékian, Diran (1911) “صوجوق”, in Dictionnaire turc-français[2], Constantinople: Mihran, page 771 But according to some sources, this word evolved from a Middle Iranian word attested in Early New Persian as zīç ({{lang|fa|زيچ}}) and ziwīdj ({{lang|fa|زویج}}) (meaning "stretching, strip, cord" and "sausage" respectively) which later took the form of zīçak ({{lang|fa|زیچک}}),Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892), “{{lang|fa|زیجك}}”, A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul Cognate names are also present in other Turkic languages, e.g. {{langx|kk|шұжық}}, shujyq; {{langx|ky|чучук}}, chuchuk.{{cite book|last=Eren|first=Hasan|author-link=Hasan Eren|year=1999|title=Türk Dilinin Etimolojik Sözlüğü|location=Ankara|language=tr|page=376}}{{Cite book| publisher = Psychology Press| isbn = 978-0-415-30804-5| last1 = Csató| first1 = Éva Ágnes| last2 = Isaksson| first2 = Bo| last3 = Jahani| first3 = Carina| title = Linguistic Convergence and Areal Diffusion: Case Studies from Iranian, Semitic and Turkic| date = 2005| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qdA1K3E66UgC&pg=PA195}} Franciscus a Mesgnien Meninski in his Thesaurus recorded the word sucuk ({{lang|ota|سجوق}}) for the first time in Ottoman Turkish in late 17th century.

The Turkish name {{lang|tr|sucuk}} has been adopted largely unmodified by other languages in the region, including: {{langx|gag|sucuk}}; {{langx|sq|suxhuk}}; {{langx|ar|سُجُق|translit=sujuq}}; {{langx|hy|սուջուխ|suǰux}}; {{langx|bs|sudžuk or sudžuka}}; {{langx|bg|суджук|sudzhuk}}; {{langx|el|σουτζούκι|sutzúki}}; {{langx|mk|суџук|sudzhuk}}; {{langx|az|sucuq}}; {{langx|ro|sugiuc or ghiuden}}; {{langx|ru|суджук|sudzhuk}}; {{lang-sh-Latn-Cyrl|separator=" / "|sudžuk|cyџyк}}; {{langx|ku|benî, sicûq|italics=yes}}.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

Production

In Turkey, beef is the main raw material for sucuk production. At the beginning of the process the meat is preground in {{convert|14|-|16|mm|in|adj=on}} 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 {{convert|8|-|12|C|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 {{convert|1.6|-|5|mm|adj=on}} 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.{{Cite web|last1=Yılmaz|first1=Ismail|last2=Velioğlu|first2=Hasan|year=2009|title=Fermented meat products Figure 2. General Production Process of Turkish Sucuk|url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/General-Production-Process-of-Turkish-Sucuk_fig1_273203736|access-date=2020-09-22}}

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 {{convert|22|-|23|C|F}}. After that the RH and the temperature is gradually dropped each day, resulting to {{convert|18|C|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-fermentation stage sucuk is matured and dried until the moisture content of the sausage is under 40%.

File:Sudzhuk from Armenia 2.JPG|Suǰux from Armenia

File:Sudjuk.jpg|Sudzhuk from Bulgaria

File:Sucuk-1.jpg|Sucuk from Turkey

File:Sucuk_(1).jpg|Home-made suxhuk from Kosovo

Nutrition

It was reported that sucuk from Turkey on average contained 24.5% protein, 31.5% fat, 35.65% moisture and 3.80% salt. Fat content of sucuk is highly variable; some sucuk brands tested contained only 23% fat, meanwhile others exceeded 42%.{{Cite journal|last1=Omurtag|first1=A. Cemal|last2=Orbey|first2=M. Tevfik|last3=Yıldız|first3=Sulhiye|year=1973|title=Yerli Sucuklarımızın Besin Değerleri Üzerinde Araştırma|trans-title=The Research on the Food Value of the Native Sucuk (Suchuck) in a Rational and Balanced Nutrition|url=http://dspace.ankara.edu.tr/xmlui/bitstream/handle/20.500.12575/45172/12809.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|journal=J. Fac. Pharm|location=Ankara|volume=3|issue=71|language=tr}}{{cite journal|last=Yılmaz|first=Ismail|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272681090|title=Determination of Fatty Acid Composition and Total Trans Fatty Acids in Meat Products|journal=Food Science and Biotechnology|volume=18|pages=350–355|date=April 2009}}

Dishes prepared with sujuk

While sujuk can be eaten raw, it is typically cooked before consumption.https://www.yayla.de/en/products/garlic-sausage 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.{{Cite book| publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing| isbn = 978-1-4088-3990-4| last1 = Emina| first1 = Seb| last2 = Eggs| first2 = Malcolm| title = The Breakfast Bible| date = 2013-03-14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ve2DaGd_7EC&pg=PT110}} Sucuklu yumurta is a simple dish of fried eggs cooked together with sujuk,{{Cite web| title = Sucuklu Yumurta Nasıl Yapılır?| work = Sabah| access-date = 2018-07-17| url = https://www.sabah.com.tr/yemek-tarifleri/yumurta-tarifleri/2016/03/09/sucuklu-yumurta-nasil-yapilir | language = tr}} but sujuk may also be added to other egg dishes like menemen (which is similar to shakshouka but with scrambled eggs instead of poached).{{Cite book| publisher = Crown Publishing Group| isbn = 978-0-8041-8775-6| last1 = Khong| first1 = Rachel| last2 = Peach| first2 = Lucky| title = Lucky Peach All about Eggs| date = 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GvZMDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA112}}{{Cite book| publisher = National Geographic Books| isbn = 978-1-4262-0708-2| last1 = Rutherford| first1 = Tristan| last2 = Tomasetti| first2 = Kathryn| title = National Geographic Traveler: Istanbul & Western Turkey| date = 2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gm8E1By4D6EC&pg=PA42}}

Sujuk can be added to many dishes including bean stew (kuru fasulye), filled phyllo dough pastries (burek) and as a topping for pizza or pide.{{Cite book| publisher = Hazer Ofset Matbaacılık Gazetecilik Limited Şti.| last1 = Sarlık| first1 = E. Emel| last2 = Sarlık| first2 = Mehmet| title = IV. Afyonkarahisar Araştırmaları Sempozyumu Bildirileri: 29-30 Eylül 1995, Afyonkarahisar| date = 1995 | language = tr}}{{Cite AV media| people = Pelin Karahan'la Nefis Tariflerundefined (Director)| title = Sucuklu Pide Tarifi| access-date = 2018-07-17| time = 869 seconds| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDb1EeGm228}}

File:Sucuk with eggs.jpg|Eggs with sujuk

File:Samuna me suxhuk.JPG|Bread with sujuk