Tastes of Serbia » Ukusi Srbije | 89 Cabbage receives a special winter treatment in the Balkans. Salted heads of fresh cabbage are placed in a barrel and allowed to stand and release their juices. Then, when the cabbage starts to dry, we addwater and ensure the cabbage absorbs asmuch as possible by placing something heavy and hard on top, such as a stone, before leaving it to settle and pickle in its barrel during the autumn. Here the process is important, as is time, but also our anticipation of that irreplaceablewinter salad. Following a boisterous night out in Serbia, nothing makes for a good day like a glass of cold cabbage brine. And thenwe’re also ready for sarma cabbage rolls. Sarma is the queen of Serbia’s winter spread. We use the cabbage leaves that we’ve pickled tomake rolls filledwithmincedmeat and rice. A truewinter fairy tale is told by the pot inwhich sarma rolls slowly cook and simmer for a long time, combining flavours and overlapping aromas, guided by smokedmeat. It also has its own vegetarian version, inwhich themeat is replacedwith sunflower seeds. An experienced cook will prepare it in such away that you can hardly tell any difference in taste. The name of this beloved dish on the Serbian spread is derived from theword “sarmak”, which translates as wrap or swaddle. Yaprak sarma, which is included in Turkish culinary heritage, replaces the cabbagewith vine leaves stuffed with some ingredients, most commonly rice and added other vegetables, and less commonly rice andmeat, or just meat. All that remains of that Turkish influence in our country is the name and the fact that certain ingredients arewrapped in a leaf, though in our case the leaf in question is frompickled cabbage, which came to our country from the sauerkraut of Central Europe. Awell-known fact is that Serbian sarma is best prepared frommixedminced meat, which dominates the other ingredient of the filling, i.e., rice. We use pork for sarma to gain its characteristic taste, whilewe also add driedmeat, bacon, and sometimes a roux thickener. Sarma became a popular dish in the 19th century, when Serbia began the process of liberating itself fromOttoman rule and the rural population beganmigrating to the cities. It was during this time that sarma as we knowand enjoy it todaywas created. Kupus na Balkanu ima posebnu zimsku obradu. Posoljene glavice svežeg kupusa ređaju se u bure i puštaju da odstoje i puste svoj sok. Kad kupus ožedni, dodajemo mu vodu i da bi se što bolje napio te vode, poklapamo ga nečim tvrdim, na primer kamenom, i ostavljamo da se tokom jeseni ušuškava i kiseli u tom svom buretu. Proces je tu važan, kao i vreme, ali i naše iščekivanje te nezamenljive zimske salate. Posle burne noći u Srbiji ništa tako lepo ne poželi dobar dan kao čaša hladnog rasola. A onda smo spremni i za sarmu. Sarma je kraljica srpske zimske trpeze. Listove kupusa koje smo ukiselili sad koristimo da urolamo sa mlevenimmesom i pirinčem. Pravu zimsku bajku priča lonac u kojem se sarma dugo kuva i krčka, spajaju ukusi i preklapaju mirisi, vođeni dimljenim suvimmesom. Sarma ima i svoju posnu, vegetarijansku varijantu, gde umesto mesa idu semenke suncokreta. Iskusna kuvarica zgotoviće je tako da se razlika u ukusu gotovo i ne oseti. Naziv jednog od omiljenih jela na srpskim trpezama vezan je za reč sarmak, što u prevodu znači zaviti, umotati. Japrak sarma je u turskom kulinarskom nasleđu neki sadržaj, najčešće pirinač sa dodacima drugog povrća, ređe pirinač sa mesom ili samo meso umotano u list vinove loze. Kod nas je od tog turskog uticaja ostalo ime i činjenica da određeni sadržaj uvijamo u list, ali u domaćem slučaju u pitanju je list kiselog kupusa, koji nam dolazi iz centralne Evrope. Kao što je dobro poznato, srpska sarma je najbolja ako se sprema od mešanog mlevenog mesa, koje dominira nad drugim sastojkom fila – pirinčem. Mi koristimo svinjetinu u sarmi da bi dobila karakterističan ukus, dodajemo suvo meso, slaninu, ponekad i zapršku. Sarma postaje traženo jelo tek u 19. veku, kada je Srbija započela proces oslobađanja i kada je krenula migracija seoskog stanovništva u gradove. To je vreme u kojem je kreirana srpska sarma kakvu i danas rado jedemo. Kiseli kuvani kupus s kolenicom najbol je se slaže sa najobičnijom sel jačkom projom Boiled pickled cabbage with pork knuckle goes best with regular “peasant” cornbread Foto:blic zena / Vladislav Mitic
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