Minced salted bacon fat spread on bread with onion and paprika. It is farmhouse food of eastern Slovenia made at the pig slaughter and packed into the tünka crock to last the year.
It is raw cured pork fat packed under lard and eaten uncooked, where the salt and the cold cellar are the only safeguards — an anaerobic store of a low-acid animal product at ambient temperature.
What goes into it
- pork back fat and belly, with a little meat
- coarse salt
- garlic and paprika
- sometimes smoke
How it is made
Salted and sometimes smoked pork fat is minced or chopped very fine with garlic and paprika, then packed hard into a crock with the air pressed out and covered with a layer of lard. It is kept cold and spread raw; it is never cooked before eating.
How long it takes: made at the slaughter and kept through the year
How it is eaten
Spread thick on rye bread with raw onion and paprika, with a glass of žganje.
History
Farmhouse food of eastern Slovenia made at the pig slaughter, packed into the tünka crock for the year.
Frequently asked questions
What is Zaseka?
Zaseka is a charcuterie & cured from Slovenia: minced salted bacon fat spread on bread with onion and paprika. Farmhouse food of eastern Slovenia made at the pig slaughter, packed into the tünka crock for the year.
How is Zaseka made?
Salted and sometimes smoked pork fat is minced or chopped very fine with garlic and paprika, then packed hard into a crock with the air pressed out and covered with a layer of lard. It is kept cold and spread raw; it is never cooked before eating. It takes made at the slaughter and kept through the year.
Can I make Zaseka at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It is raw cured pork fat packed under lard and eaten uncooked, where the salt and the cold cellar are the only safeguards — an anaerobic store of a low-acid animal product at ambient temperature.
What goes into Zaseka?
Pork back fat and belly, with a little meat, coarse salt, garlic and paprika, sometimes smoke.
How is Zaseka eaten?
Spread thick on rye bread with raw onion and paprika, with a glass of žganje.
