Under the Lid

Serbs would say that nothing is so tasty as food cooked under sаč (a ceramic lid). This way of roasting is traditional in Serbia. Sаč is a large lid, usually made of metal, but it can be a ceramic one, used for covering a crеpulја, a casserole, a not very deep clay dish. Anything can be cooked, roasted or baked in a shallow casserole – first of all, bread, but also pies, meat, potato, vegetables …. For cooking in a casserole we need hot embers, meaning, the cooking takes place on the ground, outdoors. The casserole is placed into hot embers and is “tucked in” from all the sides, a lid is placed on top and then buried by the hot coals. This way of cooking is slow process, but it covers all the sides, and when the dish is ready, the embers are removed and … enjoy! One only has to be careful not to get burnt! Once it was easy to bake bread – each house had its hearth, but today this way of cooking can only be done outdoors or just go – to an inn

LANGUAGE

Sаč comes from Turkish, while crеpulја is a Serbian word derived from crеp, a roof tile. And it made like the roof tiles – of fired clay.