Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2 2/3 pounds of boneless pork neck meat, cut into cubes
- 1 white onion
- 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, lightly crushed
- 1 Tbsp. khmeli-suneli spice mix
- 1 3/4 cups (or more as needed) POM brand 100% pomegranate juice
- 5 Tbsp. tarragon-flavored white wine vinegar
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 Tbsp. adzhika
- ***
- For basting: 2 large bottles fruity red wine, mixed with 1 Tbsp. salt per liter
- ***
- For garnish:
- Salt (TFD loves Svanetian salt, but it is not traditional)
- 1 medium-sized pomegranate
- 1 red onion
- 1 bunch flat leaf parsley
- pita breads
Instructions
- Add the meat to a large, non-reactive bowl. Slice and add 1 white onion, the adzhika, coriander seeds, khmeli-suneli, pomegranate juice, bay leaves and salt.
- Mix the ingredients. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.
- When ready to barbecue, remove the marinated pork from the refrigerator, discarding the marinade and solids, and thread the individual meat pieces onto skewers (Georgian: შამფური). Sprinkle the meat on all sides with coarse sea or kosher salt.
- Take a big bunch of dry vine twigs and light them, making sure you keep some in reserve in case the fire dies down and you need to feed it. They will. Burn quickly and fiercely, and will produce quite a bit of smoke, so warn your neighbors if you are doing this in the city. Let the twigs burn down to coals. The meat should be quite close to the coals, and the coals glowing intensely. If they should start burning when the meat is over them, douse the fire with a touch of water.
- Meanwhile mix some salt into red or white wine for basting, 2 Tbsp. of salt to 1 liter of wine.
- Cook the skewers over the vine embers, turning every so often and basting with the salted wine from time to time. This can take from 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of the meat pieces and the heat of the embers. The
- Remember: As the fat drips off the meat (especially with pork) it will often cause the hot coals to flame up. Watch carefully and make sure to prevent the flames from burning the meat. Remove the skewer for a few seconds if the flames are large.
- Tip: Use a stick to push the coals around to put out the flame. Make sure the coals are evenly dispersed. The trick is to have all the glowing coals burning (not flaming) consistently. This method of slow-cooking the meat over an open fire not only makes the meat tender but it also will add tremendous flavor.
- In Georgia, a piece of bread (shotis puri) is used to remove the meat from the skewers. The bread absorbs some of the meat juices and is eaten with the meat.
- Slice the onion thinly and remove the seeds from the pomegranate. Chop some parsley and combine with the onion and pomegranate seeds as a salad to serve on the side.
- Serve with Svanetian salt on the side, if you’d like, plus pita breads so people can use them to pull the hot meat off the even-hotter metal skewers!
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
- Category: Recipes
