I have been travelling in the Balkans for a long time. Not only with a fishing rod, but also with a knife and fork. At dusty roadside rest stops, in the squares of old towns and even in the icy Neretva, you can always smell the distinct Balkan barbecue smells. If it's not a whole sheep roasting, it's definitely a chicken.
The iconic dish known by the name of csevapcsicsa or csevapi, csevapcsic and many other similar sounding names is a real street food dish from the days of the sandbag. You don't need Ivo Andricsot to get the imagination going. In my mind's eye, I can see the caravans of donkeys stopping at the stalls outside the city wall and swapping their half-open plums for the lepinjay chevapot. Okay, now I'm thinking of Sontarney. No coincidence, as we started our current Balkan fishing trip at Jajce. I tasted the tourist place's csevap because they leave out the pork here and put mutton next to the beef. We were going to a place inhabited by Serbs, where the chevap is peeing itself.
Needless to say, it was not the „real thing”. It was a mixture of mutton and beef, but not the careful home-made variety, I might add, I wish they sold that here at home. Actually, it was only cooked on both sides, as it wasn't sliced, so that's how it got into the lepin.
The lepinja
The lepinja is a special dough, quickly baked at 500 degrees Celsius, only in a huge wood-fired oven to get the desired texture and flavour. The secrets of shaping and scooping the 15-decond dumplings are still kept by lepinja makers today. You can also buy them in bakeries, of course, and there must be thousands of varieties. But I think it's the freshness and the inevitable bone broth sauce that makes them taste like bombs. Of course, immediately before serving, the flatbread is taken off the grid or iron plate and dipped into the lukewarm broth.
Meat on the bonea
As I mentioned, several variations are possible, depending on religious customs. The original chevap does not only include sheep, beef or beef-sheep. The pig was probably included because of the price, but not much of that either. Don't experiment with poultry, because if the meat doesn't have enough fat, the result is just something horribly dry. The meat, which is not too finely minced, is rolled into a cylinder about 2 cm in diameter with a little salt and usually no seasoning (garlic, pepper, maybe), then cut into 5 cm pieces and placed on an iron plate or grill grate. A for good quality raw material there really is no need for seasoning.
Baking, serving
Needless to say, the next day in an authentic chat room I got what I came for...
The main thing is not to get too much heat on the small pieces of meat, as the edges can easily get burnt (this is not meatloaf). Often they are even sprayed with water. In principle, the amount of fat that the meat hides and releases onto the cooking surface is enough. This is also used to heat and brown the cut in half flatbread.
The finished small chickpeas should be springy, some toasted.
It is usually served in a lepin dipped in bone broth, served with chopped onions and ajvar. The dish is served with or without the lechon, or dipped in it.
Even if you can't get your hands on lepinja, chevap can still be the star of your weekend barbecue with lots and lots of salad. In summer, it goes very well with a not too characterful lager-style beer.
Prijatno!
-Pupa-
