Çılbır is often traced back to the Ottoman palace kitchens in Istanbul, where the word covered poached egg dishes of many kinds, and food writers like to say sultans were eating it as early as the 15th century, though the exact story is hard to pin down. The idea is perfectly simple and perfectly judged: warm, runny eggs on cool yogurt beaten with garlic, finished with butter heated with pul biber until it turns red. Today it is a favorite weekend breakfast and a fixture of Istanbul's brunch cafés, mopped up with plenty of bread.

It takes 15 minutes, needs only five ingredients, and teaches the most useful skill in egg cookery. For a race weekend morning before the drive out to Istanbul Park, it is hard to improve on.

Garlic yogurt

Ingredients

• 1 cup (245 g) thick plain yogurt
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

Method

1. Beat the yogurt, garlic and salt in the bowl until smooth. Spread it on two shallow plates, making a slight hollow in the middle.

Poached eggs

Ingredients

• 4 very fresh large eggs
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) white vinegar

Method

1. Fill the wide pan with water about 3 inches (8 cm) deep, add the vinegar and bring to a bare simmer over medium heat.
2. Crack each egg into its own small cup.
3. Stir the water gently to make a slow swirl, then tip one egg at a time into the middle, lowering the cup to the surface. Poach two at a time for 3 minutes.
4. Lift out with the slotted spoon and rest briefly on the paper towel.

Red pepper butter

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons (30 g) butter
• 1 teaspoon pul biber
• 1 pinch dried mint
• 1 tablespoon chopped dill or parsley

Method

1. Melt the butter in the small saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Take off the heat and stir in the pul biber and mint.
2. Set two eggs on each plate of yogurt and spoon the red butter over the eggs and yogurt. Scatter with dill.

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