Turkish · Breakfast · From the menu Media Mañana

Turkish eggs, warm harissa oil, artisan bread

Huevos turcos, aceite de harissa, pan artesano

Poached eggs on garlic yoghurt brought to body temperature, with harissa butter poured over hot so it runs red into the white. Twelve minutes from a standing start.

Serves
Six
Prep
15 min
Cook
10 min
Cuisine
Turkish

The yoghurt temperature is the whole dish and it is the thing almost nobody specifies. Of the sources I read, one gives a precise instruction: stir the yoghurt until it reaches body temperature and has the consistency of lightly whipped cream. Another says room temperature. Not one endorses it cold from the fridge, which is how it is usually served and why it is usually disappointing.

Ingredients

  • 600 g thick Greek yoghurt
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste with salt
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 12 very fresh eggs
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar for the water
  • 150 g butter
  • 2 tbsp harissa
  • 2 tsp Aleppo pepper or pul biber
  • Dill and mint, chopped
  • Good bread, thickly sliced and toasted

Method

  1. Beat the yoghurt with the garlic, lemon and a good pinch of salt. Then warm it, stirring, until it reaches body temperature and falls like lightly whipped cream. Do not let it get hot or it will split.
  2. Warm the serving bowls. Warm, not hot: a hot bowl turns yoghurt grainy within a minute and it never comes back.
  3. Bring a wide pan of water to the boil, add the vinegar, then take it off the heat and cover it. Cooking the eggs in water that is off the boil is the version that survives a distracted service.
  4. Slide the eggs in and poach three to four minutes for a set white and a completely liquid yolk. Lift them onto kitchen paper.
  5. Melt the butter and let it foam and just begin to brown, then take it off the heat and stir in the harissa and the Aleppo pepper.
  6. Spread the warm yoghurt across the warmed bowls. Sit two eggs on each, pour the harissa butter over so it bleeds into the yoghurt, then herbs and salt.
  7. Serve with the toast immediately, while the butter is still moving.

Serve it with. Strong coffee and nothing sweet until after.

Cook it with

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The rest of this menu: Media Mañana

French toast, caramelised plantain, mascarpone, maple Torrija, plátano caramelizado, mascarpone, sirope de arce Buttermilk pancakes, whipped mascarpone, maple Tortitas de suero, mascarpone, sirope de arce

See the full menu