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Peka
Split, Dalmatia, Croatia
A Dalmatian cooking method as much as a dish: chunks of lamb and veal (sometimes octopus, chicken, or game) are arranged in a heavy round pan with whole potatoes, onions, garlic, rosemary, and a generous pour of olive oil and white wine. The pan is covered with a thick bell-shaped iron lid, the peka itself, and buried under glowing embers and ash inside an open hearth, where it slow-roasts for two to three hours. The trapped heat and humidity make the meat impossibly tender while the potatoes absorb the rendered fat, herbs, and meat juices, turning crackling-crisp on top and silken underneath. The technique predates ovens entirely: Illyrian and Roman-era pottery shards found along the Adriatic coast suggest a near-identical method was in use 2,000 years ago. Today peka is an event, not a meal. Ordering one at a Dalmatian konoba (rustic family tavern) typically requires booking 24 hours in advance so the fire can be built and the bell properly heated. Outside Croatia and pockets of Bosnia and Montenegro, the method has almost no global recognition, despite producing what many Croatians consider their country's finest dish.
Ingredients
- 800 glamb shoulder (bone-in, in 5 cm chunks)
- 800 gveal shoulder (in 5 cm chunks)
- 1 kgwaxy potatoes (peeled, halved if large)
- 3 mediumyellow onions (quartered)
- 8 clovesgarlic (whole peeled cloves)
- 4 sprigsfresh rosemary sprigs
- 3 leavesbay leaves
- 100 mlextra-virgin olive oil
- 250 mldry white wine
- 2 tspcoarse sea salt
- 1 tspground black pepper
Directions
- 1
Pat the meats dry and season generously with salt and pepper.
- 2
Arrange the lamb and veal in a single layer in a wide, shallow round pan (cast iron or a traditional Croatian sac).
- 3
Tuck the onions, potatoes, garlic, rosemary, and bay leaves around and on top of the meat.
- 4
Pour the olive oil and white wine over everything and cover with a heavy domed lid (the peka itself).
- 5
Traditional method: build a wood fire, then heap glowing embers and ash up over and around the lid; roast 2.5 to 3 hours, topping up the embers as they cool.
- 6
Home oven alternative: preheat to 220C, place the covered pan on the lowest rack for 30 minutes, then lower to 170C and roast 2 hours undisturbed.
- 7
Lift the lid carefully; the lamb should pull from the bone and the potatoes should be crisp-edged and saturated in juices.
- 8
Bring the pan to the table; serve with crusty bread and a glass of Plavac Mali.