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The dish
Menemen, Turkey
Plate up
Is there any single ingredient greater, more versatile, more delicious, than a simple egg? This is one of the world’s favourite foodstuffs, a source of protein you will find on menus everywhere from Mexico to Moldova, from Japan to Jamaica. There are so many famous egg dishes out there, and that list must surely include Turkey’s gift to the shell-cracking world, menemen.
Turkey’s favourite egg recipe, menemen, is made with eggs, tomatoes and spices.Louise Kennerley
This is a one-pan wonder that would make any morning on a Mediterranean shore just that bit more beautiful: diced tomatoes, green capsicum and sometimes onions are sauteed in a shallow pan, before the occasional addition of sucuk sausage and then, finally, beaten eggs, which are scrambled with all the other ingredients, topped with crumbled cheese and minced herbs, and served (in the pan) with a hunk of crusty bread. Pair this wonder with a hearty Turkish coffee and a view of sparkling waters, and your day is off to a flyer.
First serve
Single-pan egg dishes are not exactly uncommon in the lands around the Mediterranean: consider shakshuka from the Maghreb region, or huevos revueltos (scrambled eggs) in Spain. The unique origins of menemen, however, are easy to discern, given it is named after the town in which it was supposedly conceived: Menemen, in the coastal Izmir region of Turkey. The dish is thought to have emerged during the Ottoman Empire, though an exact timeline is difficult to discern. Regardless, the creation was a simple blending of ingredients that came easily to hand on the fertile Aegean plains: vegetables, eggs and bread were staples begging to be combined.
Order there
In beautiful, coastal Antalya, try menemen with a view of the sea at 7 Mehmet (7mehmet.com).
Order hereRelated Article
For a cracking Turkish breakfast in Sydney, visit Taste of Turkey in Newtown (tasteofturkey.com.au). If you’re in Melbourne, try the Sunday breakfast at Halikarnas (halikarnas.com.au). And in Adelaide, head to Hatun Cafe (hatuncafe.com.au).
One more thing
If you want to eat menemen like a local: ditch the fork and tuck in with your hands. Many Turkish people will scoop up the eggs with hunks of bread, rather than cutlery – which seems a lot more fun.
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Ben Groundwater is a Sydney-based travel writer, columnist, broadcaster, author and occasional tour guide with more than 25 years’ experience in media, and a lifetime of experience traversing the globe. He specialises in food and wine – writing about it, as well as consuming it – and at any given moment in time Ben is probably thinking about either ramen in Tokyo, pintxos in San Sebastian, or carbonara in Rome. Follow him on Instagram @bengroundwaterConnect via email.Traveller GuidesFrom our partners
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