The Turk Burger
The man in my life and in our home is an American Turk. He grew up with a Turkish father in Astoria, Queens, which is where my mother calls home too. After years there, in Long Island, and California, he is still very Turkish, also somewhat French from his mother’s side, and, yet, American enough that he is, to put it mildly, obsessed with burgers–any kind you can find, but the smashed fast food variety is his favorite. He darkened the doors of many an In n’ Out in the state of California while in school there.
One day, he was watching one of an endless stream of burger shows on Youtube. He decided then and there that he wanted to create a Turkish burger. How he would do this wasn’t quite clear yet, but he was determined. Finally having time off (we are both at home since Covid 19 hit NYC; it has been a curse and a blessing since we get to spend time together finally. We worked different schedules, mainly since he worked in a restaurant), we decided it was time to put this creation together.
At the heart of this Turk burger is Sucuk (soo-jook), a firm spiced Turkish sausage flavored with garlic, cumin, and chili flake, mainly. Being still an American, he wanted the sucuk mixed into the beef burger. He decided to dry saute the sucuk before adding into the burger mix in order to allow the flavors to bloom a bit.
I did my part by making Ozlem’s Ekmek bread, traditionally a seeded flat bread, only I made them look like burger buns (sort of…they were very oversized, which made me order a kitchen scale lickety split) and only added sesame seed on top.
Where the real magic happens, Turkish style, is how the rest of the accompaniments to the burger interact and compliment each other. He made a simple, yet potent onion-parlsey garnish with sumac, the grand daddy of Turkish spices with a tangy, lemony flavor; Kashar cheese (aka Turkish mozzarella); a pepperoncini relish; garlic-tahini aioli; and a simple sliced tomato.
What follows is our process and recipe. Me (Mimi, the Croat), and my Turk, have not so secret dreams of a little place upstate in the Hudson Valley (where I mostly grew up) serving casual Croatian-Turkish comfort foods and sweets. Mimi & The Turk has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
The Turk Burger
Equipment
- grill (though burgers can be sauteed
Ingredients
For the Burger
- 1/2 lb Ground beef (80/20 blend or higher)
- 1.5 – 2 links Turkish Sucuk sausages, casings removed
- Salt to season
- 4 slices Tomatoes (one slice for each burger)
- 4 slices Turkish Kashar cheese (very similar to mozzarella, which you can substitute if you cannot find Kashar), sliced (one to each burger)
- Garlic Tahini Aioli (see below)
- Pepperoncini Relish (see below)
- Onion Parsley Garnish (see below)
- 4 Hamburger buns (I made Turkish style Ekmek from Ozlem’s Turkish Table and formed into buns)
For the Aioli
- 1/2 cup Mayo
- 1/4 cup Tahini
- 2-3 large Garlic cloves, minced
- Juice of one lemon
- 1/4 tsp Salt
For the Garnish
- 1 Medium onion, diced
- 1/2 bunch Parsley, chopped
- Drizzle Olive oil
- 1 tbsp Sumac
For the Relish
- 10 Pepperoncini, finely chopped
- 2 medium Dill pickle, finely chopped
Instructions
For the Burger
- After removing the casings from the sucuk sausage, crumble and saute in a saucepan over medium heat for 3-5 minutes in order to bring out the flavors before adding to the ground meat.
- Once cooled, add the ground beef and sausage to a food processor (or use a hand blender) and blend the two together until combined.
- Form 4 burgers and set aside (refrigerate if pre-prepping early.)
- Grill the burgers (can also saute or cook on a griddle) until desired doneness (approximately 5 minutes each side for medium). Add the slice once turned over and cover if having trouble melting.
For the Aioli
- Add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk until sauce is formed.
For the Relish
- Add ingredients to a food processor and pulse until desired consistency (can hand chop as well).
For the Garnish
- Add the onion and parsley to a food processor and pulse until diced (not too fine, because we want it to sit under the burger.) Add the sumac into the mix.
To Build the Burger
- On the toasted bun, spread the aioli, add a layer of the onion-parsley garnish, sit the burger with cheese down, add some of the relish, followed by a slice of tomato and the top bun with a little more aioli. Enjoy!
Notes
- Saute the crumbled pieces of sucuk beforehand, since it will bring out the flavor of the sausage in the most fantastic manner!
- It’s always a good idea to let the burgers sit, once packed, since putting cold burgers on a grill is never a good idea.
- Find what combination of garnish/relish/elements works for you and experiment…we did;)