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Peka
Peka
“This is a very specific way of cooking, found only in
Croatia,” says Kuvačić. “Most Croatians have a komin
- an outdoor, open wood-fired oven with bricks on
the bottom and a peka (a cast-iron bell-shaped cover)
hanging next to it. A peka is also used to bake a
special kind of bread we call brašenica, and seafood
can also be baked under a peka – most famously
octopus. We light a fire on the brick bottom and, when
the wood or coal is burnt and only hot coals are left,
we start to cook. If you don’t have this equipment,
cook the dish in the oven, covering the baking tray
with foil. It will still taste great, but won’t have that
special smoky flavour of true peka.”
Serves 4
50 ml vegetable or olive oil
100 gm lard
400 gm waxy potatoes, such as Desiree, sebago
or Nicola, cut into wedges
6 shallots, halved
1 eggplant, thickly sliced
2 capsicums, cored and halved
4 garlic cloves
1 rosemary sprig
1 kg meat (beef, veal, chicken or lamb),
in one piece
1 Grease a roasting tin with oil and lard. Place the
vegetables, garlic and rosemary in the tin, put the
meat on top, then season to taste. If you’re cooking
this in a wood-fired oven, put the roasting tin on
the hot bricks in the oven and cover with the
peka or other metal lid (see note). Cover with hot
coals and ashes and cook for 1 hour.
2 Remove the coals and ashes and open the peka
to check it. Gently mix the vegetables and turn the
meat so everything is evenly cooked and coloured.
Cover again with the peka, coals and ashes, and
cook for a further 20-30 minutes. It should take
about 1½ hours all together to cook. If the meat
is still not tender, cook it a bit longer. Season to
taste and serve.
NoteIf you’re doing this in the oven, place
everything in a heavy baking tin and cover with foil.
Bake at 220C for about 1½ hours. Remove the foil
for the last 20 minutes to brown the meat.Stuffed bread from Vis
Viška pogača
“Vis, an island in the Adriatic Sea, was founded in
397BC by the ancient Greeks from Syracuse, which is
known today as southern Sicily,” says Kuvačić. “Viška
pogača actually resembles some Sicilian dishes cooked
today. I can imagine that this savoury treat was made
in a similar way 2,400 years ago – except with no
tomatoes, which were only introduced to Europe in the
17th century. In the Vis town of Komiža, this pastry is
often still prepared the ancient way without tomato,
but with the addition of olives.”
Serves 4 (pictured p107)80 ml (^1 / 3 cup) olive oil, plus extra for greasing
6 onions, thinly sliced
6 large tomatoes, cut into 1cm dice
3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
100 gm anchovy fillets, chopped
Dough
500 gm plain flour
10 gm fresh yeast (or 5gm died yeast)
10 gm salt, plus extra for scattering
80 ml (^1 / 3 cup) olive oil1 Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium
heat, add the onions and sauté until translucent
(10 minutes). Add the tomato and season to taste
with sea salt and freshly ground pepper, then
cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow
to cool, then stir in the parsley and anchovies.
2 For the dough, put the flour, yeast, salt and
300ml water in an electric mixer – or in a bowl
if you’re using a hand-held mixer. On medium
speed, mix the dough for about 20 minutes, then
add the olive oil and mix for 5 minutes. Put the
dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a clean cloth or
plastic wrap and stand in a warm spot (22C-28C)
until it doubles in size (30-40 minutes).
3 Oil a 20cm baking tray. Divide the dough in two.
Roll out the first piece of dough to a thickness of
1.5cm and the dimensions of the baking tray, 1cm
of overhang all around. Place the dough on the
baking tray, leaving the extra dough overhanging.
Spread the filling over the dough. Roll out the
second piece of dough the same way, then place
it over the first with the filling. Twist the edges
to seal, prick with a fork and let it sit for
20-25 minutes in a warm place.
4 Preheat the oven to 180C. Brush the top of the
dough with water and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake
until golden brown (25-30 minutes). Cover the
pogača with a clean cloth and leave it to cool,
then cut it into squares or triangles and serve.Peka