Russian BBQ: Shashlik

I am going to a barbeque tonight to celebrate the 4th of July. No doubt we will have traditional BBQ foods – hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, etc. I am bringing the devilled eggs, natch. It’s my specialty as a born-again Southerner. (How many devilled egg plates do you have? That’s a sign of how much of a southern lady you are…”

Anyhoo, although there will be no Russians at this party beside my son, the concept of BBQ is not at all strange in Russia. The Russians have a very special kind of BBQ, actually: Shashlik.

Shashlik is a kebob with origins in the Middle East, although I’ve also read it was invented in the Caucasus. No matter – whoever invented it did a good job! It’s closely related to the shiskabob – in fact, in Bulgaria they call Shashlik Shishche. You can see how all of this is related.

Here is a recipe for Shaslik made with lamb, which is a traditional way to make it. This recipe is from cookitsimply.com:

Ingredients:

(1 1/2 lb) boneless lamb, from the leg or shoulder, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 cm (1/2 inch) cubes
1 onion, thinly sliced
salt
pepper
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons white wine or cider
6 small tomatoes
6 button mushrooms
melted butter or dripping (fat from roasted meat)
savoury boiled rice to serve

Directions:

1. Put the lamb cubes in a dish and scatter over the onion slices.

2. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, lemon juice and wine or cider, then cover and leave overnight.

3. When ready to cook, thread the lamb cubes onto skewers, alternating them with tomatoes and mushrooms.

4. Brush with butter or dripping and grill for 15 minutes, turning frequently.

5. Serve on a bed of savoury rice.

You can also make Shashlik with beef or chicken or pork, with a variety of marinades. The trick with the Shashlik is to let the meat marinade a good long time.

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