Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 1 or more large pieces of szalonna – select the thickest the butcher has to offer
2 or 12 loaves of sliced, fresh, seeded rye bread
Cucumbers - peeled and sliced (pickling cukes are a personal favorite)
Red or green or any sweet peppers - seeded and sliced into rings
Sliced sandwich tomatoes - like beefsteak or large heirloom tomatoes
Large red or sweet onions, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Hot or sweet paprika for additional seasoning (optional)
|
Directions: |
Directions:Build an open wood campfire. (NOTE TO THE TERMINALLY OBTUSE: THIS MANUVER IS BEST ACCOMPLISHED OUTDOORS, AWAY FROM THE HOUSE, AUTOMOBILES AND KIDDIE POOLS.) Don’t use big logs or you won’t get enough flames. Wood that is 2-3” in diameter works well. Use hardwoods – no pine! If you have some apple wood, that adds really great flavor. Make sure you have plenty of wood on hand to keep the fire hot and flamey.
Take a knife and slice the szalonna into pieces about the size of a deck of good pinochle cards, but don’t worry too much about size - 3 X 5 or 4 X 6 works, too. With the knife, cut two small slits in the rind of each individual piece. One slit should be close to one end and the other should be close to the other end.
Make roasting sticks (skewers) from small branches, about 3/8 inch in diameter. Use green wood – fresh off the tree is best – to inhibit stick combustion! Whittle the ends of the sticks to make it easier to spear the szalonna. The little ones generally enjoy this sort of knife play
Now take your knife and cut a criss cross pattern into the fat side of the szalonna. Make your cuts only about a 1/4 inch deep.
Layer slices of bread onto an aluminum foil-lined tray and place on a table near the fire.
Put all your fresh sliced vegetables on a separate tray.
Impale the szalonna on the pointy stick and hold it over the fire while slowly turning. Soon the delicious fat will begin to run. The szalonna will start to blacken. The drippy fat will blacken. This is normal and that blackness is especially delicious, so do not be alarmed. Now, drip the fat onto the bread. Return the szalonna to the fire and repeat the process until all the pieces of bread on the tray are sufficiently covered with drippings.
Begin layering your fresh vegetables onto each slice. Use whatever combinations appeal to your tastes and aesthetics. Then, drip more szalonna renderings over the vegetables. Once everything is good and greasy and blackened, add salt, pepper, and the paprikas as your taste warrants.
At some point, the outside of the szalonna will become crisp. If you are particularly adventurous, slice the crisp (not horribly burnt) pieces off and add small amounts on top of these vegetables or just stuff these crispy bits directly in your mouth (be careful not to burn your palate!). This is an acquired taste and while szalonna drippings are universally embraced, for the neophyte, my recommendation is to first try eating a small piece of fat by itself rather than putting it on your sandwich.
Serve open faced. Eat with your hands. NEVER use a fork and knife to eat sutni szalonna.
As it renders, the szalonna will become less productive (fewer drippings). You can extend the life of a piece of szalonna by scoring it more times. Once the szalonna yields no more drippings, has received extreme unction, and is clinically dead, you may try feeding it to the dog. If you do this, leave the dog outside for at least 18 hours after to prevent incurring unnecessary and costly steam cleaning bills for your carpet and upholstery. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: If you want to try an ethnic twist on the typical cook out, I highly recommend giving this a try. It sure beats hot dogs!
Szalonna (pronounced SUE-len-a) is the Hungarian word for bacon. This particular recipe calls for a smoked szalonna that is, essentially, a very thick layer of cured pork fat with the rind intact. Since there are different types and cures of szalonna, be sure to clarify you want szalonna for sutni (pronounced SHOOT-ney), or sutni szalonna. You can get szalonna from a Polish or Hungarian butcher or via the internet. The Fairfield Meat Emporium in Fairfield CT is a Hungarian butcher who sells it. This is a great late/end of summer recipe when garden tomatoes are in season.
|
This recipe for Sutni Szalonna "Hungarian for Bacon" is from