My Bristol Recipes: Arnolfini’s Turkish poached eggs

I’ve spent many hours wandering the halls of the Arnolfini immersed in various art installations, have heard poetry performed and songs sung there, I’ve even learnt how to felt in a workshop on the top floor. But never have I eaten brunch there, and it’s clear very quickly that I’ve been missing out.

Head chef Oskar Long joined the Arnolfini around a year ago and devised a menu inspired by his travels around Australia and South-East Asia. He started his career in a pub before moving to London to work in a range of fine dining restaurants, but decided that he prefers wholesome, hearty food in which the ingredients speak for themselves. Prior the the Arnolfini, Oskar was head chef at much-loved Bristol burger restaurant Asado.

Centered around all-day brunch, Oskar’s menu features ingredients such as crispy tempeh, sumac and za’atar as well as classic avocado, eggs and bacon. With a very strong vegan and gluten-free offering the Arnolfini seems able to cater to almost all dietary requirements and does so with originality and style.

Oskar is proud of the origin of the ingredients on his menu, most of which are sourced in or just outside Bristol. This doesn’t surprise me given the relationship the Arnolfini has with Bristol Beer Factory who are based just up the road in Southville.

Today we’re making Turkish poached eggs; a spicy and sweet tomato-based sauce topped with garlic yoghurt and perfectly poached eggs, served with lightly toasted sourdough. This is the perfect brunch dish for a lazy weekend when you don’t mind spending a couple of hours making the sauce. Oskar recommends making a large batch and freezing some – so you can enjoy your lie in!

Turkish poached eggs

Ingredients (makes 6-8 portions)

Sauce

3 white onions, sliced

1/2 head of celery, sliced

3 red peppers, sliced

3 green peppers, sliced

50g harissa paste

35g garlic purée

15g ground cumin

30g smoked paprika

2.5kg tin of whole tomatoes (not chopped!)

20g sugar (although this may vary depending on the quality of the tomatoes)

Garlic yoghurt (make as much as you like!)

Greek yoghurt

Garlic purée

Rapeseed oil

Salt

Garnish

2 poached eggs per person

30g dill, chopped

30g parsley, chopped

Handful chives, chopped

30g coriander, chopped

handful spring onions, sliced

1 teaspoon per person of za’atar

1 teaspoon per person of sumac

Sourdough, to serve

You could scale down the sauce and ingredients if you were only cooking for a few people. Photo: Meg Houghton-Gilmour

Method

Sauce

Start by making the sauce. Put a large pan on a high heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Add the sliced onions and celery and stir.

After around 5 minutes, the onions should have started to soften slightly and become translucent. Add the red and green peppers, and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

When the peppers have also started to soften slightly but still retain some crunch, add the garlic purée, harissa paste, smoked paprika and cumin with a grind of black pepper and a few pinches of salt. Stir and continue to cook for another few minutes.

Oskar starts by softening the onions and celery before adding the colourful peppers. Photo: Meg Houghton-Gilmour

Add the tinned tomatoes. It’s important to use whole tomatoes as they will break down into the sauce better than chopped tomatoes. Add the sugar and stir.

Simmer the sauce on a low heat with a lid on for around two hours, stirring occasionally. During the two hours, you want the tomatoes to break down into the sauce – if this hasn’t started to happen after an hour you can encourage them with the back of a spoon.

Garlic yoghurt

When the sauce is almost ready, make the garlic yoghurt. Mix garlic purée, salt and rapeseed oil into the yoghurt. You could also add dill, lemon or smoked paprika if you want to!

Oskar made a vat of garlic yoghurt but how much you make is up to you! Photo: Meg Houghton-Gilmour

Poached eggs

Oskar is a poached egg wizard and he shared his tips with me. He recommends using a wide pan and filling it with water almost to the brim, to allow the eggs to form a tear drop shape as they fall through the water.

The water in the pan should be just below simmering; the surface should be still. Oskar cracks the egg on the side of the pan and releases it into the water right on the surface. He then turns the heat right up and allows the eggs to cook for 2-3 minutes. As someone who has previously always used the drop of vinegar and swirling the water trick when poaching eggs this is most interesting! The then bubbling water will lift the eggs off the bottom of the pan.

The perfect poached egg is an art form that Oskar has mastered. Photo: Meg Houghton-Gilmour

To serve, ladle the sauce into a bowl and top with a tablespoon of garlic yoghurt. Add the poached eggs on top, and then sprinkle on the fresh herbs, spring onions, za’atar and sumac. Drizzle over a little bit of oil and serve with lightly toasted sourdough.

Watch the video below for tips and tricks!

This is the perfect brunch dish; fresh, healthy, spicy and original. Oskar suggested you could add chorizo which I imagine would compliment the dish wonderfully. He also added a little fresh spinach to the sauce at the last minute, which worked well. The yoghurt is delightfully punchy and the garlic fiend in me wants more.

The contrasting colours make this brunch delicious to look at as well as eat. Photo: Meg Houghton-Gilmour

Turkish poached eggs is ideal if you’re catering for a bunch of friends, or you can freeze some of the sauce as Oskar suggested for lazy weekends.

In the meantime if anyone needs me, I’ll be brunching at the Arnolfini.

If you make this, I’d love to see pictures! You can send me photos, questions and ideas for features on Twitter via @meghoughtongilm or on Instagram @meghoughtongilmour

All photos by Meg Houghton-Gilmour

Arnolfini cafe and bar, 16 Narrow Quay, BS1 4QA

arnolfini.org.uk/cafe-bar/

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