Istarski žgvacet (kokošji!)

Ako niste znali, istarski žgvacet je samo jedan, ne onaj od janjetine, ni od teletine. Istarski je samo i jedino kokošji. Eto, to sam ja naučila u iščitavanju recepata za pravi istarski žgvacet.

No dobro. Dok su se šurlice iz prethodnog posta sušile, krenula sam pripremati žgvacet. Od prave domaće kokice, naravno.

Recept:

60dkg kokošjeg mesa
2 veće glavice luka
40 dkg rajčice
1 dcl maslinovog ulja
2-3 češnja češnjaka
4 dcl vina
peršin
ružmarin
sol, papar
voda ili temeljac

To je recept. Ja sam više manje duplo radila, ali onako, odokativno. Kokicu sam rasjekla na komade još prije nego sam krenula mijesiti tjesteninu, da bih od leđa skuhala temeljac za kasnije podlijevanje žgvaceta. Za temeljac sam ubacila u lonac leđa kokoši, mrkvu, prešin, celer i luk i kuhala na laganoj vatrici otprilike dva sata. Kad je gotov, procijediti i dalje s njim u žgvacet.

In case you didn't know, there's only one true Istrian žgvacet (stew), not the one made of lamb, nor the one made of veal. Istrian is only the one made of chicken. There, that is what I've learned while searching the recipe for a true Istrian žgvacet.

Well, okay. While the šurlice from our previous post were drying, I started making žgvacet. With a real, free range chicken, of course.

Ingredients:

600 g of chicken,

2 whole big onions,

400 g of tomatoes,

100 ml of olive oil,

2-3 cloves of garlic,

400 ml of wine,

Parsley,

Rosemary,

Salt, pepper,

water  or chicken stock

These are the ingredients. I pretty much doubled everything, but only approximately.

I sliced up the chicken before I even started making pasta, to use the back for chicken stock that I will put in žgvacet later. For the stock, I put in the pot chickens back, along with carrot, parsley, celery and onion and cooked over low heat for about two hours.  Once it's done, strain it and put it in žgvacet.

Pošto imamo kotlić pri ruci, odlučili smo ga ovom prilikom iskoristiti i kuhati vani. Ni tu baš nisam previše iskusna pa je bilo zabavno, ajmo tako reći. Umalo sam se zapalila jer je vatra bila prejaka a kotlić previsoko. Između ostalog. Eto, naučili smo da ni to nije sam tak kako sam si ja zamislila.

Since our pot was already at hand, we decided to use it here as well and cook outside. I don't have much experience with it either, so it was fun, to say at least. I almost caught on fire as the fire was too big and pot too high up, among other things. There, we've learned that that isn't as I pictured it either.

Ajmo dalje na recept. Dakle, razlika između gulaša i žgvaceta je prvenstveno u prvom dijelu pripreme. Znači, na maslinovo ulje ide prvo meso dok se za gulaše prvo dinsta luk na koji se dodaje meso.

Let's continue with the recipe. So, the difference between goulash and žgvacet is primarily in the first part of cooking. Which means that you put the meat on the olive oil first, while for goulash you would sauté the onions first, and then add meat.

Ok, meso na ugrijano maslinovo ulje, da se fino zapeče i dobije lijepu zlatnu boju. Ovdje sam se borila sa jačinom vatre ispod kotlića. Znači, pazite da ne zagori. Kad se meso ispeče, dodala sam luk i dinstala dok luk nije omekšao. I zalila s malo vina jer zašto ne.

Okay, put meat on a heated olive oil, 'til it's nice and done and gets a pretty golden colour. I struggled with the fire temperature under the kotlich in this part. So be careful not to burn it. When the meat was done I added onions and sautéed until they got soft. And I added a bit of wine, because, why not

Na sve to ide rajčica. Nju sam prethodno ogulila i narezala na sitne kockice. Ako niste znali do sad, dobra stvar za guliti rajčicu je da je prvo uronimo na koju minutu u vrelu vodu, nakon toga se guli bez problema.

To all this we add tomatoes. I peeled them first and diced them. If you didn't know, a good way of peeling tomatoes is to put them under hot water for a minute, after which you can peel it off without any problem.

Prodinstala sam to sve skupa, dodala ostatak vina, protisnuti češnjak, nasjeckani peršin, svježi upravo ubrani ružmarin, sol, papar. I pošto imamo prekrasnog bosiljka, nisam mogla odolijeti da ne stavim koji listić tako da je moj dodatak ovom receptu prefini svježi bosiljak. Nije naštetilo, vjerujte mi.

I stewed that all together, added crushed garlic, chopped parsley, freshly picked rosemary, salt and pepper. And, because we had some beautiful basil, I couldn't resist not putting a few leafs of it, so my addition to this recipe is tasty fresh basil. It didn't hurt the recipe, trust me.

Kuhamo otprilike sat vremena i dolijevamo po potrebi temeljac. Ako vam je ostalo vina, nalite ga u čašu, kao ja, i uživajte dok se žgvacet fino krčka.

We cook this for about an hour, adding the stock when necessary. If you have any wine left over, pour some for yourself, like I did, and enjoy while the žgvacet is slowly simmering.

Tradicionalno se istarski žgvacet najčešće poslužuje s fužima, no ja sam odlučila spojiti Istru i Kvarner te istarski žgvacet poslužiti sa krčkim šurlicama.

I ako imate, naribajte obilno ovčjeg sira na sve. Ako nemate, nabavite ga. Savršeno je.

Traditionally, Istrian žgvacet is served with fusi pasta, but I decided to get together Istra and Kvarner region, and serve the Istrian žgvacet with šurlice from island Krk.

If you have any, grate some sheep cheese on it, if not, get it. It's perfect.

Prijevod/translation: Margareta Tilošanec