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The Hirshon Bulgarian Sudzhuk Sausages – Горнооряховски Cуджук

September 9, 2019 by The Generalissimo Leave a Comment

Bulgarian Sudzhuk Image Used Under Creative Commons License From inlife.bg

My Citizens, now that we are entering the Autumnal season I am gratified to feel the chill return to the air and the leaves enrobing themselves anew in the noble colors of scarlet and gold! TFD – the Pasha of Preservation Himself! – must now turn his all-seeing eye towards the traditional activity of the season in generations past: sausage making! Few recipes delight the palate more than this delicious version of a sausage enjoyed throughout the Balkans region but with a specific recipe to Bulgaria – sudzhuk!

As noted in an article from inlife.bg on the subject:

The first evidence of the mass production of this delicate product is from the year 1538 during the reign of Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent, who granted the Pasha of Rustem the right to own lands and collect taxes on the production of sujuci in Rahovich-i-gebra, the present-day city of Gorna Oryahovitz.

In 1861, sudzhuk from the region was awarded a medal at the International Exhibition in the Italian city of Turin. Strong local traditions in the production of dried sausages and appetizers are also noted by the well-known Austro-Hungarian ethnologist and traveler Felix Kanitz, who did not fail to reflect on this in his book “Danube Bulgaria and the Balkans” in 1882.

An advertisement from the 1911 of the works of the upper-Aryakh family, Nedev Sudzhuk, was found in the Bulgarian Almanac, which speaks about the popularity of the product from time to time. Thus, unnoticed over the years, a food product has become in a unique way a symbol not only of Gorna Oryahovitsa, but also of the region around it.

There are many different versions of this sausage on the market, but the most delicious is the home-made sausage made from fresh meat at home, according to old recipes.

Citizens, if you want to get your start with home curing, I strongly recommend you invest in a good digital hygrometer to properly measure humidity and moisture levels – this is an excellent one. A full and outstanding primer on how to make salami at home is required reading before you begin – this tutorial is excellent.

The traditional sudzhuk is not inoculated with any starter cultures as it simply uses the endemic and unique blend of different molds that exist solely in the Gorna Oryahovitsa region (Penicillinum and Aspergillus).

To replicate that microbiome, we will use a starter culture in this version, one that closely replicates the microbiome of North Bulgaria – specifically, this one.

The sausage is flavored with a combination of cumin, black pepper and Summer savory. Savory is a strong pepper-flavored herb that plays an important role in Bulgarian cuisine where it is known as chubritsa. You can buy excellent-quality ground Summer savory here. You can purchase the proper casings for the sausage here. Dextrose for sausage making can be bought here.

My version of this sausage is truly delicious and I truly hope you enjoy its delicious flavors and the satisfaction of making your own! 🙂 Enjoy it with a starter of Bulgarian ‘snow-white’ salad!

Battle on – the Generalissimo

The Hirshon Bulgarian Sudzhuk Sausages - Горнооряховски Cуджук

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9 ratings

Ingredients

10 kg top-quality beef chuck
250 g kosher salt
25.1 g cure #2
6.6 g LC-007 starter culture (activated in 264 ml distilled water)
30 g dextrose
25 g freshly-ground black pepper
25 g freshly-ground cumin
10 g ground dried Summer savory

Instructions

Partially freeze the beef before processing to make sure it stays cold.
Cut the meat into 100-150 g pieces, remove sinew. Grind through a medium size plate (3/16" or 4.5 mm).
Mix the ground meat, spices, dextrose, and the starter culture and allow to stand overnight or up to 24 hours, stirring every 6 hours.
Stuff into 28-32mm hog casings, making 18" (45 cm) links, and tie with twine.
Ferment at 71-77F (22-25C), 85-100% RH for about 48 hours in an area with good ventilation, until the meat firms up and turns dark red.
Dry at 59-64F (15-18C), 75-85% RH for 10-20 days (or up to 30, if needed to reach target weight loss) with good ventilation, until target weight loss of about 55% is achieved. Ideally, dry in a horseshoe shape to match the traditional method of presentation.
Starting on day two of the drying stage, flatten sudzhuk by gently rolling it with a rolling pin. Do not press too hard otherwise the casings may burst. Continue doing this once a day for about 5-6 days.
Once the proper weight loss has been achieved, enjoy with a fruity red wine and full satisfaction of a job well-done!

https://www.thefooddictator.com/the-hirshon-bulgarian-sudzhuk-sausages-%d0%b3%d0%be%d1%80%d0%bd%d0%be%d0%be%d1%80%d1%8f%d1%85%d0%be%d0%b2%d1%81%d0%ba%d0%b8-c%d1%83%d0%b4%d0%b6%d1%83%d0%ba/

The Hirshon Carpathian Beef and Pork Stew with Dumplings – Bogrács Gulyás

September 3, 2019 by The Generalissimo Leave a Comment

Bogrács Gulyás Image Used Under Creative Commons License From budapest101.com

My Citizens – I hope your Summer has been convivial, and filled with epic outdoor excursions worthy of TFD Nation and your families! I must confess, however, that I – the Autumnal One who ALONE is your Suzerain! – am glad that we are now coasting into my favorite Fall season where crisp weather demands an outdoors stew feast over an open fire!

Of all the recipes I know designed for outdoor cooking, none is as mighty and deserving of your attention as Bogrács Gulyás, the hearty meat and dumpling stew from Hungary (and also enjoyed by Hungarians living in the Carpathian mountains of Romania)!

As eruditely written up at magyarvagyok.hu:

A special episode in our gastronomy is cooking over open fire, which we call bográcsozás. The name comes from bogrács, the kettle we use to cook the meals in (TFD Note – in Romania, it’s called a ceaun). Even though it takes quite a lot of practice and preparation, the final result is divine and incomparable. Several of our one-pot dishes originate from this tradition of outdoor cooking.

The use of the kettle can be traced back to the nomad horse-cultures. The early medieval Eurasia can be divided into two gastronomic parts. While the region between the Far East and the Black Sea was dominated by cooking methods, the westward region from the Black Sea was dominated by frying, roasting methods, especially in the sacrificial ceremonies. The traces of these traditions can still be found in these regions, for instance, the cooking, steaming, roasting methods in the East.

And the most obvious tool for outdoor cooking was/is the kettle that can be hung over the fire. The ancestor of today’s bogrács, the earthen kettle was brought to the Carpathian Basin by the first Magyars. It was the most common pot of 10th-13th century Hungarian pottery. Based on the finds of archaeologists, the traditions of its making originate from the Don region.

The word bogrács has Ottoman-Turkish roots (bakraç – copper kettle) even though it’s only used from the 1700s. The metal kettle also appeared in the late medieval times, when economies, societies, settlement structures were changed by the norms of feudalism. Some written documents from 1420 say that the iron kettle belonged to the serf house.

The cast-iron kettles spread in the middle of the 18th century, thus replacing copper kettles.

The shape of the Árpád era earthen kettles was determined by their usage. The walls which grew narrow inwards were created so that the fire wouldn’t burn the rope that held the kettle. The shapes of the kettles changed with time. For instance, the ones used in the Great Hungarian Plain and Transdanubia were deep bowls that had splayed edges, except for the pear-shaped iron kettles used in the southern region of Transdanubia. The kettles used in Transylvania were hemispheric.

Besides the industrially enameled iron kettles used nowadays, reconstructed earthen kettles are trending again.

The basic rules of Hungarian outdoor cooking (bográcsozás):

Everything starts with choosing the dish you’d like to make in the kettle. It could be anything from onions & beans, goulash, fish soup to stews.
Prepare the dishes and place them near at hand. Get some water, a kitchen towel and a big wooden spoon (and some helping hands maybe?).
Choose a kettle that fits your desired meal. Ask professionals or do some research, because there are plenty of options.
Choose an outdoor spot that’s suitable for making fire. Make a circle with stones, and then make the fire itself.
Have fun, enjoy the company of your friends, family, eat like it’s the end of the world, and make unforgettable memories 🙂

As noted previously, the etymology of the word ‘Bogrács” stems from Ottoman Turkish: باقراج‎ (bakrac, “copper bucket”), from باقر‎ (bâkır, “copper”) + آغاج‎ (ağac, “tree”).

Bogrács can still be made the old way, in a copper cauldron with a tripod base – there is one source I found in Europe (that ships!) who still make them by hand the old way – you can get them here. If you prefer to use an iron kettle, you certainly can’t go wrong with any of the versions found here.

As to the fire – follow the directions here to make a perfect fire for cooking!

As this is a goulash variant (my indoor version may be found here), it does require goulash seasoning paste – fortunately, the best version may be ordered here in the United States from here. Since this is served outdoors and with beer, I have called for beer (not wine like the indoor version) in the ingredients list. Unlike goulash made indoors, the outdoor recipe calls for hearty dumplings as opposed to the tiny pasta bits used in the other version.

As this is also popular in the Transylvania region of Romania, I’ve also added in a LOT of garlic, as the region is famous for it (forget the vampires, Transylvanian garlic is where it’s at!). The Hungarian version would either use just a few cloves or none at all. Leave it out or drastically reduce it for a more Hungarian version.

Citizens, if you are going out on a camping or hunting trip into the woods this Autumn, you MUST try this recipe, as it is truly delicious and special – make it in quantity and ONLY outdoors, as the dish was designed. You will thank me, I promise!

Battle on – the Generalissimo

The Hirshon Carpathian Beef and Pork Stew with Dumplings - Bogrács Gulyás

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2 ratings

Ingredients

⅝ cup rendered beef fat
10 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
3 heads garlic, peeled and chopped
1 ⅔ lb. carrots peeled and finely diced
1 lb. leafy celery, de-stringed and finely diced - reserve the leaves and chop
3 yellow bell peppers, de-seeded and diced
2 red peppers de-seeded and diced
2 ⅔ lb. braising beef, cubed
1 lb. bacon, cut into lardons
3 Tbsp. smoked paprika
Boiling beef stock mixed with 1 liter dark beer (enough to cover all ingredients in pot / cauldron) - you're going to need a lot!
2 ⅔ lb. pork leg meat, cut into cubes
26 ounces Pomi chopped tomato
4 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tube Univer brand sweet goulash paste - "Piros Arany Paprikakrem - Edes"
½ tube Univer brand hot goulash paste (use it all if you dig the spicy) - "Piros Arany Paprikakrem - Eros"
1 red jalapeño or fresno pepper (left whole)
3 bay leaves
2 ¼ lb. yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
chopped fresh dill + chopped fresh parsley + reserved chopped fresh celery leaves – for garnish
freshly-ground black pepper – to taste
Salt – to taste
***
Dumplings (kept in metric form for accuracy):
2 eggs
200g flour
100ml water
2 Tbsp sunflower oil
¼ tsp. salt

Instructions

Melt the lard in an extremely large pot, ideally a 10 liter cauldron over an open wood fire.
Sauté the onion, garlic, carrot, celery and peppers in the lard until translucent.
Season generously with salt and pepper, then stir in the beef and smoked bacon and cook for about 30 minutes stirring regularly.
Stir in the paprika, slowly mix in 500ml of boiling beef stock and cook for an hour and a half stirring regularly and topping up the water as needed.
Stir in the pork and cook for ten minutes, stirring regularly.
Mix the goulash paste and tomatoes together and stir into the bograc.
Add enough stock/beer mixture to sit about 5-6cm above the ingredients, top with the bay leaves and whole chili pepper and cook for a further 1 ½ hours or until the meat is very tender.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan, boil the potatoes for ten minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.
To prepare the dumplings simply mix together all the ingredients.
Stir the potatoes into the stew. Drop in teaspoons of the dumpling batter into the bográc and cook for approximately ten minutes.
Serve with garnishes.

https://www.thefooddictator.com/the-hirshon-carpathian-beef-and-pork-stew-with-dumplings-bogracs-gulyas/

The Hirshon Portuguese Spicy “Woodpecker” Beef And Pickled Vegetables – Pica Pau

August 20, 2019 by The Generalissimo Leave a Comment

Pica Pau Image Used Under Creative Commons License From portugalia.com.mo

My Citizens, there can be no arguing the fact that the cuisine of Portugal is both delicious and sadly far less well known than its neighbor on the Iberian peninsula (aka Spain). Former Portuguese colonies such as Brazil, Mozambique and Macau DO know the savor of this windswept country’s recipes and today I would very much like to share a delicious appetizer with you from the land of Port. I speak of the oddly-named ‘pica pau’, which means ‘woodpecker’ in Portuguese.

The odd name does not mean in any way, shape or form that this recipe calls for woodpecker – the name actually derives from the fact that you have to keep using a toothpick or cocktail fork to eat the delicious meat and pickled vegetables from the dish. Do it fast enough – and you should do it fast, or risk other people eating your food! – and the motion is like a woodpecker pecking at a tree. 🙂

It is traditionally served in cervejarias (beer houses), where it is usually washed down with lots of draught beer. I’d personally serve it with this spectacular Portuguese dessert and a simple roast meat entrée – and a cold draught beer.

The origins of this dish are rather obscure, but it may in fact derive from a popular Portuguese sandwich known as Francesinha (meaning Little Frenchie or simply Frenchie in Portuguese).

This Portuguese sandwich, originally from Porto, is made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like chipolata, steak or roast meat, and covered with melted cheese and a hot thick tomato and beer sauce.

Daniel da Silva, a returned emigrant from France and Belgium, tried to adapt the croque-monsieur to the Portuguese taste when he moved to Porto. He first created the special sauce and populated the sandwich with local meats in 1953 at ‘A Regaleira’, a restaurant in Rua do Bonjardim, Porto; the Francesinha quickly became a very popular dish and deeply associated with the city, although it can be sometimes found elsewhere in Portugal.

Pica pau may in fact be a breadless variant of this sandwich, in which a steak is cut into bite-sized pieces and covered with sauce.

As to making this delectable appetizer, you first need to start with some seriously good beef – I prefer fillet of beef, but it can be expensive. Be sure and ask your butcher to give you the tail ends of the fillet, as it will be significantly less expensive without compromising flavor.

The pickled vegetables are also an integral part of the flavor profile of the dish – rather than make my own, I actually prefer to use a pre-made substitute of Chicago-style giardiniera. It uses carrots and cauliflower, which are the traditional pickled veggies used in pica pau and you can buy it in a hot and mild version bundle on Amazon! I also like a bit of pickled onion in my pica pau – this is my preferred brand.

The spicy condiment that ties all this together is called piri piri oil, and it is made from African birds eye peppers known – unsurprisingly – as piri piri. Fresh piri piri peppers are nearly impossible to find in the States, but I find Thai bird peppers make a fine substitute. Dried piri piri peppers may be bought here. The recipe is lightly adapted from one I found on the Los Angeles Times website by by Tessa Kiros.

The sauce is flavored with white wine, brandy and sweet yellow mustard – again, Portuguese mustard is really tough to find here in the States, so I suggest either use your favorite sweet mustard or my heretical choice of French spiced mustard. Given the probably origins of pica pau, I don’t think I’m venturing too far down the apostate path. You can buy it here.

Citizens, this recipe is one that I am positive will find favor with the bold palates of TFD Nation – I hope you see fit to try it post-haste!

Battle on – the Generalissimo

The Hirshon Portuguese Spicy "Woodpecker" Beef And Pickled Vegetables - Pica Pau

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6 ratings

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. grapeseed oil
1 ¾ lb. good-quality beef tenderloin, cubed
Sea salt and ground white pepper
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 ½ ounces lardo (pork fat), diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp. Portuguese sweet mustard, or use your favorite sweet mustard or TFD's heretical choice of Savora mustard condiment
Splash of white wine
Splash of brandy
2 Tbsp. pickled vegetables, diced - TFD prefers a 50/50 mix of mild and hot giardiniera
2 Tbsp. gherkins, diced
malt vinegar cocktail onions, whole to taste
¼ cup top-quality black olives, pitted
4 Tbsp. thick-sliced cured ham, diced - ideally Ibérico, Serrano or Parma ham
½ bunch of parsley, finely chopped
***
Piri-Piri chili oil:
5 fresh Thai 'Bird' chiles with seeds (TFD change, original called for red fresno chiles, which are also good)
7 small dried piri piri chiles
3 garlic cloves, peeled (TFD change, original was 2)
2 Tbsp. whiskey
½ tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. black peppercorns (TFD addition to original recipe)
1 tsp. coarse salt
1 cup olive oil, divided
***
Country bread and lemon wedges, to serve

Instructions

At least 4 days before making the woodpecker beef, make the piri-piri oil so it has time to mellow.
Stem and roughly chop the fresh and dried chiles. Pulse the chiles and garlic in a food processor or use a mortar and pestle to mash them to a paste. You need about 2 tablespoons of chile paste.
Scrape the paste out into a small saucepan, add the whiskey and heat over low heat until warm. Add the lemon zest and juice, vinegar, bay leaf, salt and 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil (you can add extra garlic if you want it more garlicky). Simmer until aromatic, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and lightly whisk in the rest of the oil.
Pour into a sterilized jar and refrigerate for at least a few days for the flavors to mingle. The oil will be hot at first, but you’ll find it will settle and mellow later.
Place a large pan over high heat and sear the beef in the grapeseed oil, seasoning generously with salt and pepper. Once seared – but NOT cooked through – move the beef on to a tray, reserving the juices.
Add butter and olive oil to the pan, then the pork fat. Add the onions and cook quickly, stirring constantly. Add the garlic and bay leaves, then the mustard, and stir through. Add the meat and reserved juices, the wine, brandy, pickles, pickled onions, gherkins, ham and parsley. Adjust the seasoning with salt and white pepper.
Mix everything for 15 seconds, still on high heat, then remove from the stove. Transfer to a warm serving tray and serve immediately with the suggested garnishes and a small dish of the piri piri oil for dipping or sprinkling on individual portions.

https://www.thefooddictator.com/the-hirshon-portuguese-spicy-woodpecker-beef-and-pickled-vegetables-pica-pau/