Bosnia-Herzegovina:
The Bosnian burger
(by Ren
Behan)
We’ve
reached the slightly flat stage of the World Cup where some teams are playing
their final game, already knowing they are going home. Bosnia-Herzegovina
is one such team, taking on World Cup favourites Argentina – let’s hope they
can leave Brazil on a high, just like our Foodie World Cup is going to.
When I started to think around Bosnia-Herzegovia as a
“virtual” destination for this month, I was intrigued to learn more about the
kinds of cuisine found there. Bosnia-Herzegovia is pretty much landlocked,
except for a tiny piece of coastline along the Adriatic Sea. As with much of
the cuisine of Eastern Europe, centuries of changing rulers and borders have
resulted in a flavourful mix of culinary influence – Turkish, Austrian, Middle
Eastern and Mediterranean – as well as similarities with Romanian and Bulgarian
kitchens, too.
Beef, lamb, pork and veal will very often find their way
into kebabs called Ćevapi, or into soups and stews such as goulash, loaded up with onions, garlic, tomatoes
and other vegetables. The food isn’t so much spicy as robust, often full of
peppers and paprika. You’ll also find smaller bites you will recognise, such as
stuffed grape leaves with rice (dolma) and flaky pastry filled with meat,
cheese, spinach or potatoes (burek). There’s plenty of local, village-made
cheese to be found, and good wines. For sweet treats, you’ll be served stewed
fruits, filled doughnuts, and the absolutely delicious baklava, which are
bite-sized flaky pastry layers lusciously combined with honey and nuts.
For a fitting football snack, I was keen to try my hand at
Pljeskavica burgers, because every host should serve a plate of good burgers
for guests watching the footy! The word “pljesak” means “to clap the hands”,
which is what you do to flatten these particular patties. Some say these
burgers are the Serbian national dish (known as the Serbian hamburger), while
others refer to them as Bosnian burgers (particularly US chains, oddly!) or
Balkan burgers.
The burgers are traditionally thrown onto charcoals to cook
– an outside BBQ would be ideal – and sandwiched inside a flatbread
(traditionally a thick pita called lepinja). They will need to be prepped
before the guests arrive but, because the Balkan burger is thin, it cooks
through quickly and will be ready in no time.
You can serve the burgers with pickled vegetables, known as
Turšija, or fresh onions, tomatoes and bell peppers, also typical of the
region. If you have the time, you could quickly make some of these easy flatbreads to go with them.
Pljeskavica – Balkan / Bosnian burger recipe
Ingredients:
250g minced beef
250g minced pork
250g minced veal
1 onion, very finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon paprika
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Flatbread to serve
A little oil if you are cooking on a griddle pan
Method
In a large bowl, combine the beef, pork and veal (you could
use lamb, instead) and add the onions, garlic, paprika and salt and pepper. Mix
everything together really well with your hands. Cover with clingfilm and leave
in the fridge for a couple of hours.
When you are ready to make the burgers, keep a bowl of water
to your side to dip your hands into – moist hands will prevent the meat from
becoming too sticky. Take a large, palm-sized portion of meat and form a flat
burger, about the size of a small side plate and around 0.5cm in thickness. You
could also place the meat between two sheets of clingfilm to form and flatten
the burgers out – I found this to be the easiest way.
Repeat until all the meat is used up then place the burgers
onto a tray, cover with clingfilm and leave them in the fridge for a further
hour or so.
To cook, heat the barbecue or a large, oiled griddle pan.
The burgers will cook in around five minutes – flip occasionally so that both
sides are equally cooked.
Serve with warmed flat breads, cut in half horizontally,
along with pickles, onions and peppers.
For more countries from Jamie’s Foodie World Cup, click here.
About the author
Ren Behan is a well-known food writer and mum-of-two based
in Hertfordshire in the UK. She grew up in a food-loving Polish household and
now writes a popular family-friendly and seasonally-inspired blog at www.renbehan.com. Ren enjoys cooking with her two children,
aged 6 and 4.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen