One of those great relishes thats served with food in slovenia is Ajvar. It is red bel lpepper and aubergines that are roasted and mashed together with salt, vinegar and olive oil. It comes "not picante" ( not hot) and "picante" (hot), which suggest a difference from the recipes for ajvar around that also include garlic. I wonder if the slovenian version replaced garlic with hot peppers.

There's an interesting article on the process of making it, comparing grill vs stove and simmering:

http://www.examiner.com/article/how-...n-ajvar-recipe

Anyone here have experience with which approach is good and whether to adjust hotness with chili powder, fresh chillies, hot paprika (maybe the spanish smoked paprika in case of using stove)?

On Tuesday, August 5, 2014 8:23:22 AM UTC-7, Michael Nielsen wrote:
> One of those great relishes thats served with food in slovenia is Ajvar. It is red bel lpepper and aubergines that are roasted and mashed together with salt, vinegar and olive oil. It comes "not picante" ( not hot) and "picante" (hot), which suggest a difference from the recipes for ajvar around that also include garlic. I wonder if the slovenian version replaced garlic with hot peppers.
>
>
>
> There's an interesting article on the process of making it, comparing grill vs stove and simmering:
>
>
>
> http://www.examiner.com/article/how-...n-ajvar-recipe
>
>
>
> Anyone here have experience with which approach is good and whether to adjust hotness with chili powder, fresh chillies, hot paprika (maybe the spanish smoked paprika in case of using stove)?

I just buy it in jars from the Middle Eastern store (which caters
to a wide array of Muslims and Middle Easterners)

I would be interested in recipes for kajmak and cevapcici.

> I would be interested in recipes for kajmak and cevapcici.

Chihuahuapee (as I tease my wife called cevapcici) I made and they were approved by lifelong cevapcici eaters:

Hand knead equal amounts of ground pork and ground beef, together with salt, pepper, paprika (I use smoked spanish paprika), a bit of water. Shape them as cut off little fingers. Fry them in oil. Serve with ajvar and a salad.

I see recipes around with garlic and onions, and some even with eggs. At my in-law family frequent slovenian restaurant they confirmed that the ingredient list I used is the traditional one. I guess that is for that region, that is. Theirs is a bit more fluffy than mine was. They said it is a matter of finding good meat. thats the "secret" to good chihuahuapee.

On Tuesday, August 5, 2014 11:12:37 PM UTC+2, Michael Nielsen wrote:

> I see recipes around with garlic and onions, and some even with eggs. At my in-law family frequent slovenian restaurant they confirmed that the ingredient list I used is the traditional one. I guess that is for that region, that is. Theirs is a bit more fluffy than mine was. They said it is a matter of finding good meat. thats the "secret" to good chihuahuapee.


My MIL buys cevapcici from the butcher, premixed and shaped, to be put on the pan. I had them yesterday and it seems they use garlic, but no onion. And a LOT more salt than I use.

In article >,
wrote:

> On Tuesday, August 5, 2014 8:23:22 AM UTC-7, Michael Nielsen wrote:
> > One of those great relishes thats served with food in slovenia is Ajvar. It
> > is red bel lpepper and aubergines that are roasted and mashed together with
> > salt, vinegar and olive oil. It comes "not picante" ( not hot) and
> > "picante" (hot), which suggest a difference from the recipes for ajvar
> > around that also include garlic. I wonder if the slovenian version replaced
> > garlic with hot peppers.
> >
> >
> >
> > There's an interesting article on the process of making it, comparing grill
> > vs stove and simmering:
> >
> >
> >
> > http://www.examiner.com/article/how-...asted-red-pepp
> > er-relish-an-ajvar-recipe
> >
> >
> >
> > Anyone here have experience with which approach is good and whether to
> > adjust hotness with chili powder, fresh chillies, hot paprika (maybe the
> > spanish smoked paprika in case of using stove)?
>
> I just buy it in jars from the Middle Eastern store (which caters
> to a wide array of Muslims and Middle Easterners)
>
> I would be interested in recipes for kajmak and cevapcici.

For cevapcici, I use ground beef and pork, chopped onions, parsley, and
garlic, salt, black pepper, and Hungarian paprika, and grill them over
fruit wood fires if available.

D.M.

On Tue, 05 Aug 2014 20:53:55 -0700, Don Martinich >
wrote:

> For cevapcici, I use ground beef and pork, chopped onions, parsley, and
> garlic, salt, black pepper, and Hungarian paprika, and grill them over
> fruit wood fires if available.

Sounds good, but after Googling - it also sounds like Farmer John's
Sausages are based on that casingless concept.

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On Tue, 5 Aug 2014 09:53:38 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

> I just buy it in jars from the Middle Eastern store (which caters
> to a wide array of Muslims and Middle Easterners)

It's more widely available than that.

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

In article >,
Michael Nielsen > wrote:

> One of those great relishes thats served with food in slovenia is Ajvar. It
> is red bel lpepper and aubergines that are roasted and mashed together with
> salt, vinegar and olive oil. It comes "not picante" ( not hot) and "picante"
> (hot), which suggest a difference from the recipes for ajvar around that also
> include garlic. I wonder if the slovenian version replaced garlic with hot
> peppers.
>
> There's an interesting article on the process of making it, comparing grill
> vs stove and simmering:
>
> http://www.examiner.com/article/how-...ted-red-pepper
> -relish-an-ajvar-recipe
>
> Anyone here have experience with which approach is good and whether to adjust
> hotness with chili powder, fresh chillies, hot paprika (maybe the spanish
> smoked paprika in case of using stove)?

That Slovenian recipe looks pretty similar to some other Balkan versions
I've seen. If you don't have access to the same variety of peppers
though, regional recipes may not help. You can buy ajvar on line of
course, like at Balkan Buy-
http://balkanbuy.com/shop/index.php?l=product_list&c=9
And I can buy a couple of brands here in the Sacramento Valley from
Germany and Bulgaria. I can tell you that Croats use Hungarian paprika
in their cooking but there are also local varieties of peppers. If you
use smoked paprika the flavor is just not the same. When I was in
Croatia the restaurants were serving ajvar from the local food giant,
Podravka. It was similar to what I've bought here locally. I would say
start with hot Hungarian paprika if you want it hot. There's plenty of
mild ajvar out there also.

D.M.

On Wednesday, August 6, 2014 5:46:11 AM UTC+2, Don Martinich wrote:
> though, regional recipes may not help. You can buy ajvar on line of
>
> course, like at Balkan Buy-
>
> http://balkanbuy.com/shop/index.php?l=product_list&c=9
>

Its available from most supermarkets in Denmark as well as Italy. But Im not a fan of factory made food, so I want to try making my own.

On 2014-08-06, Don Martinich > wrote:

> http://balkanbuy.com/shop/index.php?l=product_list&c=9
> And I can buy a couple of brands here in the Sacramento Valley from
> Germany and Bulgaria. I can tell you that Croats use Hungarian paprika
> in their cooking but there are also local varieties of peppers. If you
> use smoked paprika the flavor is just not the same. When I was in
> Croatia the restaurants were serving ajvar from the local food giant,
> Podravka. It was similar to what I've bought here locally. I would say
> start with hot Hungarian paprika if you want it hot. There's plenty of
> mild ajvar out there also.

Probably the best ajvar I've ever tasted was a commercial brand from
the Balkans (don't recall which country) that had carrots in the
ingredient list. It was definitely not picante, but had a unique
flavor. I bought 2 cases and gave them as Xmas presents and everyone
was favorably impressed. Never seen that brand again, even at Whole
Foods, where I originally bought 'em.

nb