Cilbir - Turkish Eggs with Yoghurt

This is a very different egg dish. He’ll need to trust you completely to try it. It’s Turkish. They make the best yoghurt in the world so make sure you’re using really good stuff for this recipe. The boy will be suspicious. The way he comes sniffing around the kitchen  is endearing. He’s hungry but he’s not at all sure about this.  You might need to work him up to it but it is good.

350g Turkish yoghurt
1 small bunch sage, the leaves picked off

1 clove garlic, crushed with salt

75g butter

1tbsp vinegar

4 organic free range eggs

1 heaped tsp Turkish chilli flakes (Pul Biber)

The ingredients first. Eggs are the main feature, so don’t compromise on them please. Pul Biber is a Turkish flaked chilli that is dried and then rubbed in oil. It’s a very dark red and not massively hot. And Turkish yoghurt is thick – use Greek if you don’t live near a good source. If you do live near Turkish yoghurt buy it in the small plastic pails with a handle. You’ll find no end of uses for it. Don’t buy the low fat kind if you can help it.

Sage is evergreen so it grows in January. I have a big pot full of sage and thyme just outside the front door. If your boy picks these he will think he has helped with both the cooking and the gardening. About 10 leaves would be good.

First bit – slightly tricky is caramelising the butter. Heat slowly in a small saucepan. White bits (the whey) will soon separate. Continue cooking slowly until these white bits turn brown. This is caramelised butter, though be careful as it will easily burn from this point. It’s worth mastering (especially if you live in Wood Green) as many Turkish dishes use this. Spoon some of the clarified butter into another pan and add the sage, cooking until it’s crisp. Fish the leaves out and drain on kitchen paper. Keep the butter.

Get a large pan of water on to boil. While it’s heating up, add the garlic to the yoghurt. To crush the garlic, sprinkle salt on a board and then slice the garlic on top of it, using the side of the knife to mash the garlic into the salt every now and then. The salt is an abrasive agent but also mops up the oil from the garlic.

When the water is rolling, add the vinegar, swirl it and add the eggs to poach. I admit poaching eggs is not my talent so gadgets are welcome. Drain well and trim any unnecessarily frilly bits.

Pour the yoghurt onto a serving dish. If needed thin it with a tablespoon or so of water, and then place the drained poached eggs on top. Sprinkle the chilli flakes over and add the sage leaves. Plenty of salt and pepper.  Reheat the butter and pour it over.

Serve with as much panache as you can manage. He’ll be convinced eggs and yoghurt won’t be his thing. This is strongly flavoured though and to be honest, he’s been convinced before that a great many things won’t be his thing. Intellectualise it though: sharp yoghurt, creamy egg yolk, hot chilli, aromatic sage. Give it a go, even if only this once.

Ideally serve with glasses of black Turkish tea (Cay), though you must decide whether this is labouring the point.