Sheftalia

Wrapped in caul fat, which bastes the meat and then all but disappears — there is no skin and no casing.

Pork, Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains caul fat, which is the membrane round the gut, lamb, pork.

Ingredients

• 250 g caul fat
• 500 g minced pork
• 250 g minced lamb
• 1 large onion, very finely chopped
• a large bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pitta bread, lemon and sliced onion, to serve

Method

1. IT IS WRAPPED IN CAUL FAT, WHICH BASTES THE MEAT AND THEN ALL BUT DISAPPEARS. There is no skin and no casing: caul is the lacy membrane from around a pig's stomach, and it is almost entirely fat held in a thin web. Wrapped round a lump of seasoned mince and put over charcoal, it melts through the meat from the outside in for the whole twelve minutes, so a sheftalia bastes itself continuously -- which is why it stays juicy with no fat added to the mix and no skin to hold anything in. By the time it comes off, almost none of the caul is left; what remains is a thin crisp patch. A sausage casing would seal the meat and steam it instead, and a bare patty would simply dry out.
2. THE CAUL IS SOAKED IN WARM WATER TO UNFOLD IT. It comes as a hard folded lump, and pulled at dry it tears into useless shreds. Twenty minutes in warm water with a splash of vinegar and it opens into a large thin sheet that can be cut into squares.
3. THE MINCE IS NOT MIXED TOO LONG AND THERE IS NO BREADCRUMB. Worked just enough to distribute the onion and parsley, no more -- overworked mince goes bouncy. And no binder of any kind: the caul is doing that job, and a breadcrumb-bound sheftalia is a meatball in a wrapper.
4. THE ONION IS CHOPPED, NOT GRATED, AND SQUEEZED DRY. Grated onion is mostly juice and that juice makes the mix wet enough to fall apart in the wrapping. Chopped very fine and then squeezed in a cloth, it seasons without loosening.
5. THEY GO ON A MODERATE FIRE, NOT A FIERCE ONE, AND ARE TURNED OFTEN. The caul renders fat continuously and fat dripping onto hot coals flares. Over a fierce fire they are black outside and raw inside within four minutes. Moderate coals, twelve to fifteen minutes, turned every couple of minutes, and moved aside when it flares.
6. The caul fat soaked in warm water with a splash of vinegar 20 MINUTES, until it unfolds into a thin sheet. Patted dry and cut into squares about 12 cm.
7. The onion chopped VERY FINELY and SQUEEZED DRY in a cloth.
8. The pork, lamb, onion, parsley, salt, pepper and cinnamon mixed BRIEFLY by hand -- just enough to distribute. No binder.
9. Divided into 18 portions and each rolled into a short fat sausage.
10. Each laid on a square of caul and ROLLED, the ends tucked in, so it is enclosed in one layer. Not two.
11. Chilled 30 MINUTES so the caul sets around the meat.
12. A charcoal fire burned down to MODERATE coals -- a hand bearable above them for 4 or 5 seconds.
13. The sheftalia laid on, seam down, and cooked 12 to 15 MINUTES, TURNED every 2 minutes.
14. Moved aside whenever the dripping fat flares.
15. TESTED: one cut open should be just cooked through with no pink, and visibly juicy. Almost no caul should be left.
16. Served at once in warm pitta with raw sliced onion, parsley and a hard squeeze of lemon.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Cyprus · All recipes