How to prepare meat under the oven? Dishes prepared under sach (peke) are great specialties in Serbia, but also in the Balkans. Our elders prepared bread, meat, and all other dishes under the stove. Unfortunately, the majority of young people have not tried dishes prepared in this way, and they certainly have not had the opportunity to prepare traditional dishes in this way.
When you think of food that is prepared slowly, that is simmered, you surely think of cooking under the stove. In today's living conditions, in most cases, it is impossible to prepare food in this way.
Roast beef, lamb and pork are specialties that you can't prepare at home, especially if you live in an apartment. If you have a stove and a space where you can start a fire, then try to prepare these dishes.
If you don't have the opportunity to use a pan, you can cook the meat under the pan in the oven. You can always use the oven to prepare meals that will be similar to those prepared under the stove. All you need is an earthenware or ceramic baking dish (you can also use glass). The best ones are those that have a lid, and in them the preparation of food is more similar to the preparation of food under a pan.
How to prepare meat under the oven?
Depending on the size of the earthenware or ceramic pot, adjust the amount of food. You can put beef (any kind of meat), potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage and parsley, etc. in a dish like this... You can also add a little smoked meat to taste, for a better aroma.
Add salt, season with ground paprika, pepper and spices to taste and desire. You can also add a little white wine and a little olive oil to taste. If you like the taste of rosemary, you can add a sprig of fresh or a spoonful of dried spice.
Cover your baking dish with aluminum foil, then put a lid on it, so that the liquid does not evaporate during baking. Place the prepared dish with the dish in a cold oven (ceramics and glassware should not be placed in a heated oven, as a precaution against cracking), then turn on the oven at 160-180 degrees and let it bake for about 2 hours. The general rule for grilling or simmering in the oven is: 1 kg of meat = 1 hour of grilling. Always be careful, and check a few times whether the meat is cooked enough (for example, every 30 or 45 minutes).
Your oven-baked meat is ready to serve! Enjoy!
Read: The most delicious homemade bread - 10 best recipes!
What is sach?
Sach or vrešnik is a spherical metal, ceramic or earthen lid under which bread, buns, pies, meat and the like are baked on the hearth. They were created from a combination of a shell, but without a hole in the middle of the bottom and a cover - a honeycomb. The term sach in Serbia usually refers to the metal cover that was replaced by the vrsnik, the cover that followed the crepluja, back in the 19th century. The word saç originates from the Turkish language.
This way of preparing food is also used crepula, since the lid can be made of baked earth similar to tiles.
Sač - terms/dictionary
Sach – the defacto lid of the pan. Note that the lid has a metal ring so that you can place the embers on the top as well.
meha - a spatula/burner that is used for fanning the fire, adding embers, but also for sliding the red-hot sachka at the end of baking
Legs - on which the pan is placed, so that the embers - fire - would be more easily distributed under it
The original sach consists only of a lid and is baked both in the oven and on the bare ground.
Method of preparing food under the sach
In an open fire pit, a fire is built in the middle and in that place, i.e. in the hearth, a pot with food is placed. Then a straw is placed over it, and everything is covered with embers. After a certain time required for the food to be baked, the embers and ashes are removed from the pan with a poker or a spatula, the pan is lifted with the poker and the baked food is taken from the pan. Dishes prepared in this way belong to ethnic specialties in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
There are cases, when e.g. bakes a cake or bread, not to use a pan (or other container), but the dough is placed directly on a heated stone slab or a hearth paved with bricks, preheated and cleaned of embers and ashes, and only covered with a sach — a leveler and embers from above.
Originally published: 13.04.2018.
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