Shashlik

 “Shashlik or shashlyk is a dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat popular in Iran, Eastern and Central Europe, the Baltic region in Northern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Afganistan, Israel, Iraq, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey and other places.”

Wikipedia

Originally, shashlik was made from lamb. Nowadays it can be made also from pork, chicken or beef.

This word for us triggers precious memories about our friends, songs by the fire and that good time when we were young.

Back in Ukraine, shashlik always meant a social event. Each weekend, starting from May, groups of “tourists” armed with buckets of marinated meat and skewers would pack nearby parks. The air quickly will get filled with smoke, loud talks and laugh.

We were attending such events with our parents when we were kids, then when we became adults we started bringing our own children. I’m very glad that here, in Canada, we have friends who every year organize shashlik party and invite us. Our children grew up with this tradition and now those shashlik gatherings are part of their best memories.

There are a lot of recipes for shashlik as well as cooking technics. You can use lamb, pork, beef, chicken and marinate the meat in vinegar, wine or lemon juice. We use pork and marinate the meat overnight in white wine with spices and onions.

And no matter what recipe you will choose don’t forget to add the main ingredient – a good company.