Bosnian dried meat: beef or lamb salted, cold-smoked over beech and left to dry in mountain air. Because it uses no pork it became the curing tradition of Muslim households, and it is shaved paper-thin over bread or dropped into bean stews.
Cold smoking holds meat for weeks at temperatures too low to kill anything and too high to be safe without a precisely controlled cure, and the humidity and airflow of a Bosnian mountain smokehouse are the whole method.
What goes into it
- beef or lamb, usually leg or shoulder
- coarse salt
- beech wood for smoke
How it is made
The meat is salted for a week or more, rinsed, and hung in a smokehouse where beech smoke passes over it cold — under about 30°C (86°F), so it never cooks. Smoking runs for days or weeks and is followed by months of drying in cold mountain air until the pieces lose a large share of their weight.
How long it takes: two to six months from salting to slicing
How it is eaten
Shaved thin over somun bread with kajmak, or cut into grah and other bean stews for depth.
History
Bosnian households smoke beef and mutton over beech and dry it in mountain air, a pork-free curing tradition suited to Muslim dietary rules.
Frequently asked questions
What is Suho meso?
Suho meso is a charcuterie & cured from Bosnia and Herzegovina: beef or lamb salted and cold-smoked, shaved thin over bread. Bosnian households smoke beef and mutton over beech and dry it in mountain air, a pork-free curing tradition suited to Muslim dietary rules.
How is Suho meso made?
The meat is salted for a week or more, rinsed, and hung in a smokehouse where beech smoke passes over it cold — under about 30°C (86°F), so it never cooks. Smoking runs for days or weeks and is followed by months of drying in cold mountain air until the pieces lose a large share of their weight. It takes two to six months from salting to slicing.
Can I make Suho meso at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. Cold smoking holds meat for weeks at temperatures too low to kill anything and too high to be safe without a precisely controlled cure, and the humidity and airflow of a Bosnian mountain smokehouse are the whole method.
What goes into Suho meso?
Beef or lamb, usually leg or shoulder, coarse salt, beech wood for smoke.
How is Suho meso eaten?
Shaved thin over somun bread with kajmak, or cut into grah and other bean stews for depth.
