A rare trip to the nature dispenses with barbecue. Preparation of this ancient cuisine - a ritual: first meticulously selected meat, then carefully cut, marinated in a delicious marinade, roasted over the coals, and finally an impromptu barbecue served table with fresh vegetables, herbs and young red wine or beer foam.

Origin

Roasting on a spit - one of the oldest methods of cooking meat. Thus prepared meat and poultry in prehistoric times and Antiquity carcasses boars and bulls on the spit were very popular. Similar dishes in different variations have almost all nations of the world.

Shish kebab is different from many other dishes on a spit so that the meat is cut into small pieces, which greatly speeds up the preparation of dishes. In addition, the meat is cooked faster and due to its pre-treatment - soaking in marinade. Without this treatment can be baked fresh meat only very young animals.

The word "barbecue" comes from the Turkic group of languages. Literally it means "roasted on a spit." According to another version, the word is derived from the Scythian language and means "incised flesh."

Selection of raw materials

Traditionally, in the East for the barbecue lamb used: loin or back of the carcass. Also make skewers of mutton offal: heart, kidneys, liver, ribs are sometimes used. In countries where there is no ban on the consumption of pork, barbecue and make out of it. It can also be used beef or veal. The meat is often added fat of tail, tomato, bell pepper, mushrooms, and, of course, onion.

Very popular kebabs poultry - chicken is most often used. Chicken, especially the marinated meat is preparing much faster, thus saving time. Instead, you can make chicken kebab venison, for example, from the quail.

A very popular fish dishes on a spit. As a rule, use fatty fish. The most popular kebab sturgeon are also very tasty skewers of salmon. Suffice exotic option - skewers of shrimp or crayfish.

Pickling

Experts say that it is in the secret marinating surprising taste shashlik. The basis for the marinade is usually taken sour - it can be an inexpensive wine, wine vinegar, lemon or pomegranate juice, dairy products, mashed tomatoes or paste of onions. Vinegar, however, is not the best option: according to experts, vinegar marinade makes the meat tough and gives it a bad taste. But marinade of mineral water, on the contrary, it is best preserves the taste of meat. However, this method is suitable only for marinating lamb, poultry or pork Pork - meat guide .

For the most commonly used pork marinade or wine marinade based on soy sauce, lamb is usually soaked in onion juice or dairy products and for meat, poultry is the best suited sour-sweet juices - orange, pineapple, apricot. Rabbit meat is well soaked in beer. As for the fish, it often marinated in a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil Olive oil: useful properties .

If meat is fatty, the marinade can be taken pokislee. Well add to it alcohol, which gives the dish flavor and consistency makes the meat tender. And for lean cuts, such as chicken breast, it is desirable to add to the marinade fats - usually various vegetable oils.

If time is short, it is to prepare the marinade, you can use ready-made mayonnaise-based sauces - they already contain in its composition acids and fats. However, the addition of these ingredients mayonnaise also contains a lot of different artificial additives, which do not necessarily make the best barbecue. For this reason, professional chefs avoid adding marinades mayonnaise sauce, preferring natural ingredients.

The duration is determined by the composition of the pickling marinade raw and original state. Lamb enough to marinate for an hour, and for the old lamb or beef Beef - Meat Guide   It may need two days of soaking. The more acid in the marinade and alcohol, the faster the meat softens. Very quickly (10-20 minutes) marinated meat puree of kiwi or pineapple: These fruits contain enzymes, softening muscle tissue.

Baking

Marinated pieces of meat are placed on metal bars, skewers and roasted over hot coals. Sometimes pieces of meat on skewers alternating with slices of bacon (preferably of sheep), onions, vegetables, mushrooms.

In the process of cooking barbecue skewers continually roll over to fry the meat evenly. Sometimes pieces of juicy kebabs sprinkled with lemon juice, red wine or just water. A very important time to remove the skewers with fire because if the meat dry up, it will already be tasteless.

Sometimes kebabs cooked in elektroshashlychnitsy, but with this method of cooking barbecue does not get the flavor of smoke. A dish called "skewers in a pan" - it's just fried marinated meat, which is common with barbecue just soak in the marinade.

Laying

The best side dish to serve shish kebab vegetables. It can be salads (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions) or vegetables, grilled - tomatoes, eggplant, peppers. Sometimes skewers garnished baked potatoes and fresh spicy greens, wrapped in pita bread. Another traditional side dish - onion marinated in pomegranate juice.

In addition, shish kebabs are usually served thick tomato-based sauces. Instead of the usual ketchup is better to use Barbecue - this species is usually more severe, it added pepper and garlic. Also suitable for shashlik savory-sweet barbecue sauce.

It skewers of fish suitable for some types of tomato sauces and more delicate sauces, for example, based on yogurt with spicy greens. Well combined fish kebabs and green sauces like "pesto".

Maria Bykov

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