Scrambled Eggs with Arabic Sausage and Za’atar Toast recipe
There is nothing quite as relaxing as a late weekend eggs breakfast, or a slow breakfast on a holiday. This scrambled eggs with Arabic sausage and za’atar toast recipe gives a Middle Eastern twist to classic scrambled eggs.
After a couple of coffees and an attempt at working your way through the weekend edition of your favourite newspaper, you’re probably getting peckish. One of the things we love about a rental house or apartment over a hotel is that you can make breakfast at your leisure rather than have to rush down to the dining room with wet hair after a quick shower to find that breakfast service has ten minutes to go, the buffet looks like it has been raided by plundering pirates, and the waiters are looking at their watches as they start to prep the room for lunch.
My favourite dish to make on these lackadaisical days is simple – eggs. Eggs to me are a blank canvas. When I’m visiting a new place I try to make some breakfast eggs with a local flavour. In Spain and Mexico that would be scrambled eggs with chorizo; in France an omelette with some Gruyère cheese and perhaps mushrooms; in some parts of Italy I’ll make a frittata. Here in Dubai I’ve opted for my own version: scrambled eggs with Arabic sausage and za’atar toast. The sausages I use are small lamb ones and are very spicy. They’re readily available at the major supermarkets in Dubai. Za’atar is a spice mix that’s very popular in the Middle East. You can buy za’atar croissants for breakfast and have manaeesh bi za’atar, a type of ‘pizza’ with a za’atar topping as a late night snack. Actually, za’atar is popular any time of the day here! Thankfully, if you’re on holidays you can buy a small scoop of za’atar from Carrefour or the spice souq for less than a dollar – you don’t have to buy a giant bag of it – although you might be tempted into sneaking some home after you’ve tried my eggs! There are many variations of za’atar, but it generally includes sumac, thyme, marjoram and roasted sesame seeds. For rich, creamy and moist scrambled eggs I use a variation of the ones Gordon Ramsay does.
Scrambled Eggs with Arabic Sausage and Za’atar Toast recipe
Cook the sausages in a pan. If you need instructions for this, go to a café for brunch instead. If you’re fussy detail oriented, warm some plates in the oven like you should do when you make pasta – scrambled eggs, like pasta, go cold quickly on an unwarmed plate.
While the sausages are cooking, break the eggs into a saucepan and add the blob of butter. We want silky, rich eggs, so this is important: don’t whisk the eggs.
Place the saucepan on moderate to high heat and stir the eggs. The eggs will start to solidify as you mix. If you see they’re cooking too fast just take them off the heat, but keep stirring. You should take them on and off the heat a few times until the eggs come together.
When they’re almost cooked, add the yoghurt or crème fraiche – this will help halt the cooking process. Season to taste.
Add some olive oil to the za’atar in a bowl and mix. This mix is called za’atar w zeit. Zeit means oil in Arabic. Spread the mixture over your toast.
Professional travel/food editorial/commercial photographer and food and travel writer based in Asia. His photography and writing assignments has seen him visit over 70 countries. Has authored some 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides. Photography has appeared in Conde Nast Traveler, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Wanderlust, Get Lost, Travel+Leisure Asia, DestinAsian, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee and many more.
2 Comments
Jen Laceda February 7, 2010 at 8:28 am
You can come to our home and cook us breakfast anytime! You know, my husband would just kiss the ground I walk on if scrambled his eggs with butter like that (ahem, nothing inappropriate – lol!). Thanks for sharing this!
Terence Carter February 8, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Your welcome Jen. I think NYC is as close as we’ll get though! I used to love cooking weekend brunches for friends. The only stipulation was that they bought some thing bubbly to drink…
You can come to our home and cook us breakfast anytime! You know, my husband would just kiss the ground I walk on if scrambled his eggs with butter like that (ahem, nothing inappropriate – lol!). Thanks for sharing this!
Your welcome Jen. I think NYC is as close as we’ll get though!
I used to love cooking weekend brunches for friends. The only stipulation was that they bought some thing bubbly to drink…