Soujouk at Nazar Produce

It is only with the upmost gravity that I compare anything favorably to bacon.

Ah, bacon. . .  The thick-cut bacon from one of Howard County's butchers is one of the best tasty treats that you can give yourself.  Two slices can turn breakfast or other dishes into something spectacular.  Now, you need to pick up Turkish soujouk from the Nazar Produce Market in Columbia.

Soujouk is one of the halal meats in Nazar's refrigerated section.  It's a spicy, dried beef sausage.  I wouldn't have known what to buy or cook except that the guy who cuts my hair turned me on to scrambled eggs with onions and soujok.  This is the Turkish bacon and eggs, and it is just as delicious.

Let's repeat:  Just as delicious as bacon.

I bought the soujouk that comes in six little salamis because Nazar's owner pointed out that you just use one at a time and save the rest.  (He says they last months.  So far, I'm eating through too fast to test that theory.)  You saute some onion in butter until it softens.  Peel the paper casing from the soujouk, then chop it and add to the onion.  In a few minutes, a light film of oil has rendered out, and you cook scrambled eggs.  Soujouk tastes of spice and meat.  Strong spice to balance the eggs with no risk of the fattiness or the burnt section that you can get from bacon.

One small salami serves a hardy breakfast for two.  You could add less, but it's like bacon.  You'll miss it when you scrimp.

(Update:  Mrs. HowChow correctly notes that today's photo is horrible.  But I'm snapping with a cell phone in our kitchen, and it would have been her eggs getting cold if I had stopped to run a photo shoot.  Trust me that the soujouk tastes better than I made it look -- and I'm always open to photographers who want to build clips by shooting for a blog.)

If you are going to Nazar, you have to try the baklava.  They generally have several varieties.  Ask for the burma or the saragi burma variations.  And check out HowICook's comment that includes discussion of Soujouk and other items you can buy at Nazar.