The charcoal-grill canon of Leskovac, Serbia's barbecue capital shaped by five centuries of Ottoman kebab technique: mešano meso platters combining ćevapi-style minced rolls, pljeskavica, and vešalica (thin smoked pork loin strips). Serving pork alongside Ottoman-derived minced forms is the hallmark of its post-Ottoman transformation.
Also known as: Leskovački roštilj, mešano meso, leskovacki rostilj, vešalica, Leskovac grill
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 700 g beef chuck, coarsely ground twice, at least 20% fat
- 100 ml chilled water (sparkling works well)
- 2 tsp fine salt
- 1 tsp hot paprika
- 300 g pork loin or neck, in thin 1 cm steaks (vesalica)
- 4 lepinja or somun flatbreads
- Urnebes (feta mashed with hot paprika and oil)
- Ajvar
- 2 onions, chopped
How to make it
- 1
Knead the beef with salt, paprika and the chilled water until it slaps sticky against the bowl, then rest it overnight in the fridge.
- 2
From the single mixture, roll cevapcici fingers and pat one thin pljeskavica per person; Leskovac builds its whole canon from one meat.
- 3
Rub the pork steaks with oil and salt.
- 4
Fire everything over strong charcoal: cevapi 8-10 minutes with constant rolling, pljeskavice 4-5 minutes a side, vesalica 3 minutes a side.
- 5
Warm the lepinja over the fading coals and serve the mesano meso heaped together with onion, urnebes and ajvar.
Pro tip: One mixture, many shapes is the Leskovac doctrine, so the fat is where quality is decided: demand a coarse double grind with a visible 20-25% fat from the butcher, because a lean grind produces grill food that tastes of nothing at all.
