Speca me mazë

Ingredients

The peppers

• 8long sweet peppers
• or 4 bell peppers
• roasted and peeled
• seeds removed
• or fried whole

The cream

• 400 gmazë
• the cream skimmed from milk
• or 300 ml double cream
• plus 100 g clotted cream
• salt

Sometimes added

• 2eggs, beaten
• to set the cream
• 100 gwhite cheese, crumbled
• 2garlic cloves, crushed

To serve

• hot from the oven
• with cornbread
• or crusty bread
• black pepper

Directions

1. Peel them properly rather than skipping it. Put the hot roasted peppers in a covered bowl. Ten minutes covered makes peeling easy. Bake it at a moderate heat rather than hot. Watch it and take it out when just set. Roast the peppers whole until blistered. Put them on a tray in a hot oven. About two hundred degrees works well.
2. Turn them once or twice as they roast. Give them about twenty-five minutes. Put the hot peppers in a bowl and cover it. Cover it with a plate or with cling film. Leave them for about ten minutes. They also cool enough to handle safely. Peel the skin off every pepper. The skin should slip away with your fingers.
3. Use a knife tip for any stubborn patches. Do not rinse them under water at all. Keep any juices that run out of them. Keep the peppers whole or in large pieces. Cut large bell peppers into wide strips. Beat the mazë until it is smooth. Mazë is thick and slightly lumpy at first.
4. Beat it with a fork until it is even. Season it well with salt at this point. Beat double cream and clotted cream together. It should be spoonable rather than pourable.
5. Beat the eggs into the cream if using them. Beat them in until entirely combined. They set the cream into a soft custard. Stir crushed garlic into the cream. Some households add garlic and some do not. Use it sparingly rather than generously. Lay the peeled peppers in a baking dish. Arrange them in a single layer if you can.
6. Use a shallow dish rather than a deep one. Add any juices from the peeled peppers. Spoon the seasoned cream over the peppers. Cover them completely with the cream. The peppers should be genuinely submerged.
7. Crumble white cheese over the top. Some households do this and some do not. Bake it in a moderate oven until set. About one hundred and eighty degrees works well. Shake the dish gently to check it. It should wobble slightly rather than slosh. Take it out while it still moves a little. Take it out immediately if that happens.
8. Let it rest for five minutes out of the oven. Five minutes is quite enough for that. Serve it straight from the baking dish. It is served hot in its own dish. Spoon peppers and cream onto each plate.
9. Serve small portions rather than large ones. Two peppers per person is usually enough. Grind black pepper over the plates. Serve cornbread or crusty bread alongside. None of the cream should be left behind.

Technique

• Bake at a moderate 180°C rather than hot: high heat splits the cream into fat and liquid, giving a greasy separated dish. Watch for oil appearing at the edges and take it out immediately if it does. It should still wobble slightly when shaken — a firm set means it has overbaked.
• Peel the roasted peppers properly rather than skipping it. Pepper skins do not soften in cream at all and peel away like tough transparent film, which ruins an otherwise smooth dish. Steam them covered for ten minutes first, which loosens the skins, and do not rinse them, which washes away the roasted flavour.
• This dish is almost entirely cream and is genuinely very rich, so serve small portions — two peppers per person is usually enough. It is not suitable for dairy-free diets and there is no meaningful substitute.

Substitutions

• Mazë is the thick layer that rises on settled unhomogenised milk and is skimmed off by hand — a farm product rather than a shop one, which is why the dish belongs to dairy villages. Turkish or Balkan kaymak is a very close relative and works well; double cream beaten with clotted cream comes close, though no substitute is genuinely identical, since mazë has a slightly cooked nutty character. The atlas records that honestly.
• Some households fry the peppers whole in oil until blistered rather than roasting them, giving a richer and slightly different result; both are genuinely made in Kosovo, as are versions with and without beaten egg to set the cream.

Variations

• Long sweet peppers are traditional and are milder and thinner than bell peppers, softening quickly and taking the cream well; bell peppers work but need longer roasting and should be cut into wide strips. Keep them whole or in large pieces, since this is not a chopped or puréed dish.
• Beat the mazë smooth and season it well before it goes on — cream absorbs a surprising amount of salt. It should be spoonable rather than pourable, since thin cream simply runs off the peppers, and the peppers should be genuinely submerged.
• Use a shallow dish in a single layer so it bakes evenly, and keep the juices that run out of the peeled peppers. Serve it hot straight from the dish with plenty of cream in each portion, and bread — cornbread is traditional — to mop up what is left.

History

Peppers baked with mazë, the cream skimmed from milk, a dish of Kosovo’s dairy-farming villages.

Frequently asked questions

What is Speca me mazë?

Speca me mazë is a main from Kosovo: roasted peppers simmered in rich clotted cream. Peppers baked with mazë, the cream skimmed from milk, a dish of Kosovo’s dairy-farming villages.

How long does Speca me mazë take to make?

Speca me mazë takes 20 minutes of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Speca me mazë?

Yes, within limits. Mazë is the thick layer that rises on settled unhomogenised milk and is skimmed off by hand — a farm product rather than a shop one, which is why the dish belongs to dairy villages. Turkish or Balkan kaymak is a very close relative and works well; double cream beaten with clotted cream comes close, though no substitute is genuinely identical, since mazë has a slightly cooked nutty character. The atlas records that honestly. Some households fry the peppers whole in oil until blistered rather than roasting them, giving a richer and slightly different result; both are genuinely made in Kosovo, as are versions with and without beaten egg to set the cream.

What is the most important thing to get right in Speca me mazë?

Peel them properly rather than skipping it. Put the hot roasted peppers in a covered bowl. Ten minutes covered makes peeling easy. Bake it at a moderate heat rather than hot. Watch it and take it out when just set. Roast the peppers whole until blistered. Put them on a tray in a hot oven. About two hundred degrees works well.