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Serbia: Slow braised pork hock recipe (kolenice)
- Cuisine: Serbian
- Serves 4
Michael Bjelanovic of Sydney's The Village Grill restaurant talks about food and football.
How has your heritage affected your cooking?
Throughout my career I have mostly cooked Italian, French, Mediterranean cuisines. Having a Serbian background I decided to go back my roots and cook the food that I grew up on. I felt that Balkan cuisine of which Serbian food is par of is still not well known in this country, so it has become almost mission of mine to bring Balkan cuisine to the be recognized and even on par with other cuisine available in Australia.
Why is this dish representative of Serbian food/cuisine?
Serbs place importance on fresh vegetables and the use of the whole animal, including offal and secondary cuts of meat. Some of dishes can be heavy at times but it is representative of the colder climate experienced in Serbia. The biggest part of a Serbian cuisine is based on slow and long cooking and Serbs still manage to keep old fashion way of preparing the food which according to my opinion makes food even more tasty.
How closely will you be following the World Cup?
I will make sure that I am up to see every game I can, particularly the ones involving Australia and Serbia.
Is food or football more important to Australian people?
You will find that food and football play equal importance to Serbian people. If you had to choose one it would probably be the food as it represents life, family and togetherness.
This interview is part of a series on chefs representing each of the countries in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. More interviews.
Ingredients
4 smoked pork hock2 carrots
2 brown onions
2 sticks of celery
1 leek
1 bunch Dutch carrots
10 French shallots
12 baby potatoes
2 bay leafs
3 cloves
2 star anise
2 cloves of garlic
10g pepper corns
salt
1/2 bunch continental parsley (chopped)
10g chopped fresh dill
1 tea spoon of horseradish (optional)
4 cardamom pods
Preparation
Place the pork hocks into braising pot. Peel the carrots and the brown onions and cut into rough shapes together with leek and celery.Add vegetables to the pot with pork and just cover with water. Bring to the boil and reduce the cooking temperature to a simmer.Add the bay leafs, star anise, cloves, cardamom pods, and peppercorns and simmer for 3 hours or until the meat starts to fall of the bone, making sure that you skim the scum from the surface.
Meanwhile boil the baby potatoes in salted water with skin on until tender. Remove the meat from the braising pot set a side strain and reserve the cooking liquid.
Peel the Dutch carrots, parsnip, and French shallots. Return the cooking liquid (stock) back to the braising pot, bring to the boil and add the peeled vegetables.
Reduce to the simmer and cook vegetables until tender. Add the boiled potatoes and cook for further 5 minutes or until potatoes are hot.
To serve
Plate the hock to one side of a long oval plate or similar and garnish with braised vegetables and sprinkle with chopped parsley and dill.
Drizzle with a ladle of cooking liquid and side of minced horse radish.
If you enjoyed this Serbia: Slow braised pork hock recipe (kolenice) then browse more Serbian recipes, stew recipes, meat recipes and our most popular hainanese chicken rice recipe.
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Displaying 2 of 2 Serbian Restaurants.
| Restaurant | Book Online | Suburb | |
| 1. | Mediterraneo Charcoal Grill and Wine Bar | Albert Park | |
| 2. | Madera Boutique Coffee | Adelaide |
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