 Several rounds of elenski but Elenski but (Bulgarian: еленски бут or (more precisely[1] but less commonly) бут по еленски, sometimes translated as Elena round or Elena leg) is a dry-cured ham from the town of Elena in northern Bulgaria and a popular delicacy throughout the country. The meat has a specific taste and can be preserved in the course of several years, owing much to the special process of making and the climatic conditions of the part of Stara Planina where Elena is located. In polymer chemistry and Process Engineering, curing refers to the toughening or hardening of a polymer material by cross-linking of polymer chains, brought about by chemical additives, ultraviolet radiation or heat. ...
For other meanings of ham or Ham, see Ham (disambiguation). ...
Elena is a Bulgarian town in the Middle Balkan Range, 42 km south-east of Veliko Turnovo; a mountain resort at an altitude of 280 m. ...
Various meats Meat, in its broadest modern definition, is all animal tissue intended to be used as food. ...
Stara Planina, Rhodope, Rila and Pirin Mountains The Stara Planina (Old Mountain) or Balkan mountain range is an extension of the Carpathian mountain range, separated from it by the Danube River. ...
Preparation
The legs and quarters of the pig, traditionally singed and scraped, are taken from the body. Later the redundant parts are removed, so that the remaining meat is protected by hide or the skin that surrounds the muscle tissue. After the legs are shaped, they are well salted and put at the bottom of a postav, a special type of barrel designed for the occasion. The delicacy traditionally remains in salt for 40 days, then is taken out and left to get dry. A top-down view of skeletal muscle Muscle is the contractile tissue of the body and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. ...
This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...
Preservation technologies There are various preservation technologies used to prepare elenski but that typically vary considerably from family to family, as oppposed to regionally. In the past, the rounds were put in well trampled upon maize meal or processed with lime milk. The meat could also be stored in specially sewn bags of cheesecloth or wooden containers with thick nets instead of walls (muharnik), but is as a rule put somewhere airy, where the clear mountain air could aid the drying and conservation, and also in order to prevent houseflies to lay eggs on the rounds. Binomial name Zea mays L. Maize (Zea mays ssp. ...
Cheesecloth is a loosewoven cotton cloth, such as is used in pressing cheese curds. ...
Binomial name Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758 The housefly (also house-fly or house fly) (Musca domestica) is the most common fly occurring in homes and indeed one of the most widely distributed animals and the most familiar of all flies; it is a pest that can facilitate serious diseases. ...
In many of the hamlets around Elena, the rounds were in the past left in conservation in the rooms where the daily housefire was lit, so that a certain amount of smoking could be achieved in order to add some nippy flavour. Wikibooks Cookbook has more about this subject: Smoking Smoking is the process of preserving, cooking, or flavoring food by exposing it to the smoke from burning or smoldering plant materials, most often wood. ...
Notes - ^ Bulgarians that are unfamiliar with the delicacy sometimes think, mislead by its name, that it is prepared from venison and not pork. This is because the common meaning of the Bulgarian adjective elenski is deer's, while in this case it is used to denote the town of Elena. When the less popular name бут по еленски is used, this confusion is mostly eliminated.
Venison is the term for the meat of deer. ...
Two halves of a pig being delivered Pork is the meat taken from pigs. ...
See also Prosciutto Prosciutto (also known as Parma ham) is a dry-cured ham from central and northern Italy and other Adriatic countries -- Slovenia (Kras), Croatia (Dalmatia) and Montenegro, where it is called pršut. ...
Jamón serrano (literally sierra (mountain) ham) is a dry-cured Spanish ham, which is generally served raw in thin slices, similar to the Italian prosciutto. ...
Bulgarian cuisine (Bulgarian: българÑка кухнÑ) is a typical representative of the cuisine of the Balkans, showing substantial Turkish, Greek and Middle Eastern influences and to a lesser extent Italian, Mediterranean and Hungarian ones. ...
External links - ((Bulgarian)) Short Journey.bg article on elenski but, featuring a couple of pictures
|
Feeds |
Contact