Ajvar

Ajvar
Ajvar with bread, garlic, pepper and salami
Region or state Balkan
Main ingredients Bell peppers, oil, salt

Ajvar ( [ǎj.ʋaːr], Serbian Cyrillic: ajвар ; Albanian: ajvari; Bulgarian: aйвар; Macedonian: aјвар) is a pepper-based condiment made principally from red bell peppers and oil. Ajvar is used in the Balkans in Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Gottscheerich, Macedonian, Serbian, and Slovenian cuisine. In Serbia, it was long known as "Serbian salad"[1] or "Serbian vegetable caviar".[2] It became a popular side dish throughout ex-Yugoslavia after World War II and is nowadays popular in Southeastern Europe.

Homemade ajvar is made of roasted or cooked peppers. Depending on the capsaicin content in bell peppers and the amount of added chili peppers, it can be sweet (traditional), piquant (the most common), or very hot (ljutenica). Ajvar can be consumed as a bread spread or as a side dish. There are few variations of ajvar. If it contains tomato, then it is called pindjur or if it contains eggplant is called malidzano.

Etymology and origin

The name ajvar comes from the Turkish word havyar, which means "salted roe, caviar" shares an etymology with "caviar".[3] Prior to the 20th century, there was a significant local production of caviar on the Danube, with sturgeon swimming from the Black Sea up to Belgrade.[4] Domestic ajvar, meaning "caviar", used to be a very popular dish in Belgrade homes and restaurants.[5] However, the domestic production of caviar was not steady starting in the 1890s because of labor disputes, and eventually a special pepper salad was offered as a substitute in Belgrade restaurants under the name "red ajvar" (crveni ajvar) or "Serbian ajvar" (srpski ajvar).[6]

Preparation

Ajvar and other pickles in a home larder

Homemade ajvar is made of roasted peppers, while some industrial producers use cooked peppers, which leads to a lower quality. The preparation of ajvar is somewhat difficult, as it involves a great amount of manual labour, especially related to peeling the roasted peppers. Traditionally, it is prepared in mid-autumn, when bell peppers are most abundant, and is conserved in glass jars for consumption throughout the year—though in most households stocks do not last until the spring, when fresh salads start to emerge anyway, so it is usually enjoyed as a winter food. Often, the whole family or neighbours gather to bake the bell peppers, peel them, and cook them. The principal cultivar of pepper used is called roga (i.e. "horned"). Roga is large, red, horn-shaped, with thick flesh and relatively easy to peel. It typically ripens in late September.

In order to produce ajvar, bell peppers are roasted whole on a plate on an open fire,[7] a plate of wood in a stove, or in an oven. The baked peppers must briefly rest to allow them to cool and to allow the flesh to separate from the skin. Next, the skin is carefully peeled off and the seeds are removed. The peppers are then ground in a mill or chopped into tiny pieces (this variant is often referred to as pindjur). Finally, the resulting mush is stewed for a couple of hours in large pots. Sunflower oil is added at this stage in order to condense and reduce the water, as well as to enhance later conservation. Salt (and sometimes also vinegar) is added at the end and the hot mush is poured directly into glass jars that were previously placed under the hot stove to sterilize, which are sealed immediately.

Production

Commercially made ajvar

Ajvar is produced in various countries, including Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia. For Serbia, the reported annual Serbian production is 640 tons.[8]

Ajvar is one of the so-called zimnica (winter foods), which include pickled chili peppers, pickled tomatoes, and anything else that can fit in a jar that gets prepared just before winter.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Joseph Slabey, ed. (1949). Slavonic Encyclopaedia. p. 338. ; Lovett Fielding Edwards (1954). Introducing Yugoslavia. p. 79. ; The World and it's peoples. 1965. p. 45. ; Pavla Zakonjsek (1966). Praktična kuharica (Slovenian cookbook) (in Slovenian). p. 123. ; Joseph Wechsberg (1960). The Cooking of Vienna's Empire. p. 164. ; Thelma Barer-Stein (1979). You eat what you are: a study of ethnic food traditions. p. 576. ; John Masson (1977). Lets go to Yugoslavia. p. 70. ; Vera Lévai. Culinary delights. pp. 62, 169. ; Malcolm Burr (1935). Slouch hat. p. 165.
  2. ↑ Joseph Wechsberg (1960). The Cooking of Vienna's Empire. p. 164. ; Thelma Barer-Stein (1979). You eat what you are: a study of ethnic food traditions. p. 576. ; James Hillman; Charles Boer (1985). Freud's Own Cookbook. Harper & Row. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-06-091159-1.
  3. ↑ Etimološki rečnik srpskog jezika I, 2003, s.v. ajvar
  4. ↑ Josip Pančić (1860). Pisces Serbiae. p. 33. ; Mihailo Petrović (1941). Đerdapski ribolov.
  5. ↑ "Belgrade through the ages". 7. 1960: 61, 64. ; Dušan J. Popović (1964). Beograd kroz vekove. pp. 93, 215, 241.
  6. ↑ Malcolm Burr (1935). Slouch hat. p. 165. ; Lovett Fielding Edwards (1954). Introducing Yugoslavia. p. 79.
  7. ↑ "Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 16 July 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  8. ↑ "Vegetable Industry in Serbia" (PDF). Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency.
  • "Fall Brings Red Peppers and Ajvar, 'Serbian Salsa'". NPR. November 8, 2006. (article and recipe)
  • "Ajvar srpski kavijar". Novosti. 2013. (in Serbian)
  • "Leskovčanka po čijem receptu je brendiran srpski ajvar ušla u biznis kad je ostala bez posla". Blic. 2012. (in Serbian)
  • "Ajvar - Top-notch gastronomic delight, vegan soul food, recipes and origin". Ajvar.com. 2017.
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