Serbian Roast Pig on a Spit (Prase na ražnju)

Most of my American friends know that there is something off about my Christmas. Indeed, it is two weeks after regular Christmas, only because Serbian church decided not to follow the new, Gregorian, calendar. The same applies for Russian church and few others Christian Orthodox churches. 

It is not easy to celebrate two-week-later Christmas, especially on a workday. Plus, in January, people are usually tired of holidays, holiday fever is practically over. People crave peace and detox diet. But, for Serbs in the U.S. holiday season is not over with New Year Eve's, we are waiting for our Christmas that comes on January 7th. It is nice that it is not about presents, but rich and festive food. And, the leading role on the Christmas feast is taken by whole roasted pig, to be more precise, roasted suckling pig. Serbs prefer young pig, because it has tender and leaner meat.

Typical Serbian feast with whole roasted piglet.

Until recently I didn't appreciate roast pig thing, it looked a little bit barbarian to me and it is far away from healthy Mediterranean diet that is my favorite. But one day I realized how cool roast pig is, how special role it had and still has in human diet. For a big part of human population that is the most festive food, many important events such as Christmas, weddings, graduations, family gatherings and so on, include roast pig. It must be a very special food I reckon, long human history proved it. And, to be honest, there is too much hype over "clean food", you just wish to go against the popular eating trends. I mean you can still have healthy diet but on holidays just relax and enjoy heavy and delicious food.

I will tell you what is my favorite part on roast pig - crispy skin and the first layer of buttery meat that is just next to the skin, if I am lucky enough not to have fatty layer instead. And, the meat must be warm, but I know many people who prefer cold pork.

Honestly, I thought for many years that only Serbs are attracted to pig roasting, but I discovered that in many other parts of the world this specialty is highly prized too.

In Serbia, the most common way of preparing roast pig is on a spit. Hot coal and grape leaves are traditionally used for roasting, it is placed over shallow dig or over concrete surface. It is not recommended to roast pig over open flame, it is going to burn and ruin meat. Before piglet goes to fire, it is skinned and cleaned of organs and it is put on a long stick. Pig should be rubbed with salt before cooking, at the end people sprinkle the piglet with beer because it adds nice flavor. Piglet is usually very young, it weights about 40 pounds, and it takes about 3 hours to be done.

I forgot to mention that there is always  a boy who will volunteer to flip the piglet by turning the stick, and it can take for hours. As you can see this is rather time consuming and physically demanding method, so today in Serbia people usually order roast pig in specialized roasting houses with motorized rotisseries. Plus, it is not easy to make good spit roast pig, you need high-quality professionals to do the job. In the same way they roast lamb, that is also very popular in Serbia.

When it's done, roasted piglet is cut into small pieces and served on plates with cabbage salad, Russian salad and horseradish sauce ("ren").

Porchetta in  Italy.

Last year I was fortunate to try roast pig on a couple of occasions. In Serbia I ordered it for my daughter's christening, and it was a huge hit among kids and grown-ups on the party. In Italy I had an opportunity to try famous Porchetta, whole roasted boneless pig. It is a street food, you can buy slice of porchetta on panini. I had it even in the U.S. two times, once on a summer party and recently on New Year Eve's party. I didn't know that there is a Chinese restaurant in Baltimore county that roasts whole pigs of different sizes as a carry out.

Man selling porchetta, farmers market in Rome.

I want to end this story on roast pig with the wisdom - hyped food comes and goes, but only the real stuff inspires people through the centuries.

Happy Serbian Christmas!

Naturally Dyed and Decorated Easter Eggs (Using Onion Peel and Turmeric)

At some point of my life I decided to make only all-natural Easter eggs. Although I like to see variety of egg colors in an Easter basket, I don't feel comfortable using artificial dye, even if it says it's food-grade. That's especially the case if the dye penetrates below egg shell, for example seeing blue strains on my egg white is not really appetizing for me.

Dying with onion peel is a traditional and still very popular way of decorating Easter eggs in my homeland, Serbia. You wouldn't believe how many eggs are decorated over there, I am talking about several dozens per single family. Egg hunt is not so popular; instead we exchange Easter eggs with neighbors, friends and relatives. We also have egg-cracking competition, tournament style: each family member chooses an egg and then gently (or less gently) bumps against someone else's egg, trying to crack it, while keeping their own whole. Ultimately, whomever is left with unbroken egg is a winner.

On the pictures you can see how Easter eggs look like when dyed with onion skin (brown eggs) or turmeric (yellow ones). Very natural, indeed. Below, I will show you how to do it, plus, I will teach you how to make beautiful decoration with leaf imprints.

White or brown eggs?

If you use onion skin for dying you can use both, brown eggs will get deep brown color, white ones will be more light brown and reddish. However, if you use turmeric try white eggs.


How to get dry onion skin?

Last few years I have been collecting dry onion skin weeks ahead of Easter. But, you can always buy a lot of onions and peel off their skin. Also, many times I was allowed to peel onions placed on display in grocery stores.

I typically use brown and yellow onion, but you can try red onion skin too.

Onion peel dying 

You need:

12 eggs, white or brown

5 cups packed dry onion skin

4 or more cups of water to cover eggs in a pot

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 teaspoons salt

Vegetable oil for shiny look


Steps:

In a  medium pot, place half of onion peel on the bottom, than 12 eggs on them, and the rest of onion peel place over the eggs. Pour in water to be 1-2 inch above eggs and peel, then add vinegar and salt. Heat the water until it starts to boil, then reduce the heat. Simmer the eggs for about 20 minutes on low temperature. Check if the eggs are turning brown. When done, remove the saucepan from the cooker, wait for the eggs to cool down.

Give the eggs final touch by gently rubbing vegetable oil on them. Use cotton towel. They will be smooth and shiny, just perfect.

Turmeric egg dying

You need:

12 white eggs

6 tablespoons turmeric powder

Water to cover eggs

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 teaspoons salt



Steps:

Follow instructions for onion peel coloring above. Instead of using onion peel add turmeric powder.

When done, place eggs on paper towel to dry.

Leaf imprint decoration

Eggs decorated with arugula, parsley, sage, geranium leaves and geranium flower

You need:

Bunch of leaves of early spring plants that you can find nearby. Tender leaves are better choice. My favorites are Italian parsley and Chervil (French parsley).

A pair of old panty hose, cut into 4-5 inches wide stripes

Strings


Steps:

Before you use leaves leave them in a dish filled with water, it will be easier for you to apply them on the eggs.

After you lay leaf on the egg, cover it with hose stripe, then pull the hose very tightly on the opposite side of the egg, make a twist and secure it with string. Cut the part that hangs. Place the eggs into the saucepan with onion peel and follow cooking instructions from above.

When the eggs are done and cooled down, remove hose and leaves using scissors and let them dry. Then apply vegetable oil.

Sarma, Stuffed Cabagge Rolls

Sarma is the king when we are talking about Serbian food. Probably the most authentic dish in Serbian cuisine. Sure, you will find stuffed cabbage rolls in other Eastern European countries, but Serbian recipe calls for pickled cabbage leaves, not fresh ones, and, believe me, that makes a huge difference.

Serbs are so crazy about Sarma that they make it for any important event: weddings, slava (holiday dedicated to family's patron saint), Christmas, New Year's Eve, name it.

Serbian Christmas Feast: SMashed Potato, Sarma and Prebranac (Baked beans).

Fall and Winter are the seasons for making Sarma. This dish is too heavy for the Summer, plus it is hard to find pickled cabbage that time of the year. In Serbia, people pickle cabbage at home, starting in the early Fall, by putting whole cabbage heads in big barrels, adding only water and salt. Although I've never made it myself, I know it is not easy to make good pickled cabbage. One of the tricks is to keep cabbage heads tightly pressed by putting heavy weight on top of the barrel. Although we preserve cabbage mostly for use in Sarma, we also shred it to make healthy low-calorie winter salad, adding sweet paprika on top of it. It is very similar to sauerkraut and the taste is the same. Also, people drink the juice from barrel to cure hangover.

Around Spring time, as the weather warms up, if supplies have not been completely depleted, you will start to notice rather unpleasant smell from barrels with preserved cabbage. Pray that your neighbors, who keep cabbage barrel on their balcony, remove it soon, otherwise you are in trouble.

For good Sarma you need well preserved cabbage leaves, not too firm or soft, not damaged either. If you do not live in Serbia, you can buy it in some specialized ethnic stores with imported food. They are sold in big jars or plastic bags.

Pickled Cabbage Leaves in the Jar.

The most complicated part of this recipe is folding cabbage leaves into Sarma rolls. Pay attention to the steps on the pictures below. Also, although Sarma takes long to be cooked, do not overcook it. Rice in the filling should stay firm enough.

Serve the dish with mashed potatoes, and pair it with Merlot. 

You need:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

5-6 slices of smoked bacon

1 large onion, chopped

1 garlic, finely chopped

500g (1 1/10 lb) ground beef

500g (1 1/10 lb) ground pork

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 ground black pepper

1 cup rice

2 large jars / packages pickled cabbage leaves

Water to cover

Smoked pork ribs, optional

Finishing sauce:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 tablespoon paprika

Preparation:

In a saucepan, cook oil and onion on medium heat for few minutes. Add beef, pork, salt and black pepper, mix everything together and keep stirring until meat is cooked medium well. Remove from the heat and add garlic and uncooked rice. Mix rice with the meat uniformly.

Now you are ready to fold rolls.

Lay cabbage leaf flat on the cutting board.

Trim down the central rib, so the leaf remains uniformly thick and soft. Make sure you don't puncture it.

Put about 2 tablespoons of meat-rice mixture on the leaf, side closer to you.

 

Roll the leaf outward. When completely rolled, use your index finger to push leaf sides in the middle of the roll. 

Finished roll should have shape of a cylinder.

Gently put roll in a big saucepan which bottom had been previously covered with few leaves (this is to protect rolls from being burnt at the bottom).

Repeat the process until you run out of ingredients and saucepan is filled with rolls.

Tuck in slices of bacon among rolls, this will give Sarma nice, smoky flavor. Gourmet option would be to add smoked pork ribs.

Cover rolls completely with water and if there are any leaves left, use them to cover the dish on the top. Simmer Sarma covered for about 90 minutes on low-medium heat.

When Sarma is done, pour over it the sauce that you made by lightly browning flour on oil on medium heat for a minute or so, adding paprika at the very end. The sauce will give thickness, color and extra flavor to the water in which the dish was cooked, so the liquid can be used when serving Sarma, as a gravy on top of rolls or mashed potatoes.

Yule Log Cake, Bûche de Noël, Panj torta

This is a famous Christmas cake. In Serbia people make it for other occasions too, birthday parties for example.


Although it looks complicated, it is really easy to make and the focus is on presentation: I wanted my cake to have a very natural look of an old log, deeply in the woods, covered with snow and mushrooms, and surrounded with pine tree branches.


My preparation took a bit longer because I wanted to make chestnut filling from scratch, starting with peeled chestnuts, rather than using canned chestnut puree.

You need for the sponge:

4 large eggs, at room temperature
100g powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g all-purpose flour


For chestnut filling:

300g chestnut puree, see the recipe for homemade chestnut puree
100g whipped cream
1 tablespoon dark rum (if there is none in chestnut puree)


For the chocolate glaze:

150g dark chocolate
1/2 cup (113g) butter
1 tablespoon dark rum


For decoration: Powdered sugar, meringues, marshmallows, pine branches


For meringue mushrooms:

1 large egg white
70g powdered sugar


Steps:

First make the sponge. It is same one as for the Genoise jelly roll.

Preheat the oven to 425F (220C).

Line the baking sheet (15''x10'') with parchment paper.

Mix the eggs with sugar until they triple in volume. Add salt and vanilla extract. Combine with flour using a wooden spoon, not hand mixer. Batter should be fluffy and light if you want to get soft and nice sponge.

Pour the batter onto the baking sheet, make it even, and place in the oven. Bake it for about 10 minutes, until color is light brown and the sponge springs back when touched.

Take the sponge out from the oven, let it rest for a minute. Remove it from the baking sheet, with the parchment paper, and place it over clean kitchen towel. Roll up everything together, sponge, parchment paper and kitchen towel, starting from a long side, and leave it to cool down completely. Then peel off the parchment paper.

In the meantime make the frosting. Mix together chestnut puree with whipped cream using spatula. You can reduce the amount of frosting but I love the taste of chestnut so much that I usually go wild with it.

When the sponge and frosting are completely cooled down, spread the chestnut frosting over the unrolled sponge and roll it back. Place the log on a serving plate. Cut one side of log diagonally about 2'' from the end. Place the cut on the side of the log just as you see on the pictures.

Make the chocolate glaze. I usually go with chocolate cream made of butter and chocolate, but you can use heavy cream instead of butter to get ganache. Melt chocolate over double boiler and add butter and dark rum. Cool it over a dish filled with ice. When it is tick enough, spread it over the log. Drag a fork through the glaze to get bark texture.

To make meringues mix egg white with sugar to get thick mixture. Pipe it over baking sheet lined with a parchment paper. Bake it for about one hour on 195F (90C). 

Decoration:

Use marshmallows for base and meringues for cap to create mushrooms. Glue those two parts using chocolate cream. Place them over and around the log. Arrange pine branches. Sprinkle powdered sugar over everything to resemble snow.