Peka

Ingredients

• Lamb or veal — in large pieces2 kg
• Potatoes — in large wedges1.5 kg
• Onions3
• Carrots3
• Garlic10 clove
• Rosemary4 sprig
• Bay leaves3
• Dry white wine250 ml
• Olive oil150 ml
• Tomatoes3
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Build a fire of hardwood and let it burn down to substantial embers, about an hour.

   65 min

2. 2

   Rub the meat with salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary and leave it half an hour.

   32 min

3. 3

   Spread the potatoes, onion, carrot and tomatoes over the tray in one layer.

   12 min

4. 4

   Lay the meat over the vegetables, pour on the olive oil and wine and add the bay leaves.

   8 min

5. 5

   Cover with the bell and bury it in embers completely, until no metal shows.

   10 min

6. 6

   Cook an hour and a half, then lift the bell, turn the potatoes and baste everything with the juices from the tray.

   95 min

7. 7

   Replace the bell and embers and give it another hour and twenty. Serve straight from the tray.

   85 min

About the dish

The peka bell sits on a tray and is buried completely in hot embers. The heat comes from above and the sides rather than below, and the food cooks in its own steam under the metal.

The lid is lifted once, at about ninety minutes, to turn the potatoes. Every extra opening lets steam out and the meat begins to dry.

The vegetables and meat go in in a single layer and are never stirred. Peka is a dish where interference only does harm, and in Dalmatia that is its first rule.

Worth knowing

• — In an oven peka is made at 200 °C in a deep dish under tight foil. There is no smoke, but the texture holds, and that is an honest city version.
• — Add more embers if the bell starts cooling. The metal has to stay hot for all three hours, or the steam collapses.
• — Cut the vegetables large. Over three hours small pieces turn to purée and nothing is left of them but sauce.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

820 kcal

Protein

54 g

Fat

44 g

Carbs

48 g

More from Croatia

• Black risotto — Risotto with cuttlefish and its own ink. The ink goes in at the end, or it turns bitter.
• Zagorje štrukli — Thin dough with a curd filling, boiled and then baked under cream.
• Fritule — Small doughnuts with raisins, citrus zest and rakija, deep-fried.