When people want to come to a restaurant to eat with family, friends, or refresh themselves after a tiring workout or business load, they are most likely to be interested in the main meat dish. Such a dish should be hearty, tasty and healthy. And therefore, in the restaurant Old Stanovchich Kitchen, Herceg Novi, traditionally lamb, veal or beef meat under its juice is prepared with vegetables for the main course. We are talking with Svetlana Stanovchich, the owner of the Old Stanovchich Kitchen restaurant in Herceg Novi about what the meat under the juice is.
- Good afternoon, Svetlana! When I first saw ready-served meat under juice, it was not entirely clear to me whether it was fried or stewed. It had a beautiful crust on it, but it clearly had not been in the pan. How is meat cooked under juice traditionally in Montenegro, in Kameno, near Herceg Novi?
- Good day, Elena! Yes, this is the deep secret of the Balkan Mountains - cooking meat under juice. I'm kidding. .. Although, no, I'm not kidding. Because I can’t remember where else in Europe this attitude to cooking remained, as to the sacrament of love, care, uniting close ones at the table. I mean, you take the meat of a wonderful lamb that recently ran across the grass and gratefully sacrifice it for the sake of your family and friends. And you cook lamb in a cauldron over an open fire, adding lovely simple vegetables like carrots, potatoes, onions, in big chunks, and those fragrant Mediterranean herbs like rosemary. White wine, olive oil, salt and pepper are added to this ... And first, the meat lies at the bottom of the cauldron, it comes to half-cooked ... And then you do this secret action - mixing, the meat goes at the top, and there it gets this beautiful crust, because fire wood really burns around the cauldron ... We do it the same way our ancestors did for generations, that's why I said that cooking is a sacrament, we maintain our authenticity ... And the vegetables, being at the bottom of the cauldron, absorb the juice of meat and marinade from white wine...
- I want to participate immediately…
- That's not all... Laying out the finished meat on the dish is also very important. You see, this simple dish of Montenegrin cuisine has been gathering a family around the hearth and table for centuries in the literal and broad sense. I mean, people looked at the fire, warmed themselves by the hearth, and when the meat was ready, the older members of the family took out these large pieces of lamb, veal or beef and vegetables, laid them in the center of the table on a large dish, and separated each piece. .. It really was love and care for each other in action. Imagine your children have been doing physical exercises all day, and you, as a parent, separate the exact piece for them with your own hands, allowing them to restore strength ...
- I understand that the whole family gathers at the table and tells how the day went, and about what will happen tomorrow ... Such vespers of sincere souls ...
- Of course. That is our everything. That is why companies of close people like to come to us at the Old Stanovchich Kitchen restaurant in Kameno to receive a kind of healing in communication with each other. We are happy to keep the tradition this way.
- Yes, that's understandable. Simple necessary components, with a wise approach, become an expression of the essence of any communication. Okay, let's try, where is my piece ... Ooh ...
- Nice to share joy with you!
- Thank you!
