Izmir Kumru - Turkish Sandwich

5 from 2 votes

Izmir Kumru - Turkish Sandwich is a very popular street food originating from Çesme, a beautiful Aegean small beach town in İzmir.

Prep Time10

Cook Time5

Total Time15

Course: Main Course, Snack

Cuisine: Turkish

Diet: Halal, Low Lactose

Servings: sandwiches

Calories: 494kcal

Cut your sandwich bread in half lengthwise and spread the softened butter.
Grill the bread pieces on a skillet or a heavy-based pan until they are nicely browned and crisped, for about 5 minutes. Set them aside.
Cook the sliced sucuk pieces and salami until crispy and slightly curled on the edges in the same pan.
Remove the sucuk and salami from the pan and transfer them onto a plate. Keep the grease from the sucuk and sausages. They will add flavor to the cheese and prevent them to stick to the pan.
Place the sliced kasar cheese onto the pan and then let them grill until they are lightly browned with the grease from the sucuk and salami.
Flip the cheese slices with a metal spatula and grill for a few more minutes.
When they are lightly browned on both sides, carefully remove the cheeses from the pan and place them on top of the bottom half of the kumru bread.
Add the sucuk and salami, and then top them with sliced tomatoes along with sliced pickles.
Garnish with a squeeze of ketchup, and mayonnaise if desired.

If you can't find kumru bread, use a sandwich roll with sesame seeds that is lightly crusty but yielding enough to keep your sandwich fillings safely contained.
To get your cheese grilled properly get your grill pan really hot, and make sure there is enough fat to grease the cheese as it cooks.
Make sure the tomatoes are ripe and sweet, and you use the right type of cheese. Kasar cheese sears and retains its shape for a short time when given a blast of heat If you can't find kasar cheese, substitute it with provolone or Gruyère.