FIZONAG  

Historically in Ossetia shish kebab (“fizonag”) was cooked out of veal or lamb, as other meat couldn’t be served at the traditional festivities. Lately, however, pork, chicken, and fish have been used to cook shish kebab during the picnics and events other than national holidays. Pork shish kebab turns out to be the juiciest shish kebab, while cooking it doesn’t require special skills. 

First, cut meats in medium uniformly-sized cubes (size of a chicken egg) and place it into enameled bowl, then season with salt and ground black pepper. Next, add some largely cut onions and mix it thoroughly with meat. Adding lemon juice or white vine (100g per 2 kg of meat) will make your shish kebab softer and add a special flavor to it. Cover the bowl and leave it to marinate in a cool place for 2-3 hours.  

While cooking outdoors, start building a fire beforehand to have smoking coals by the time the meat is ready to be roasted. Hardwood chips are best to use.  

Next step – affix pieces of meat to skewers separating them from onions, roast over the smoking coals turning skewers from one side to another. Extinguish fire flames slightly watering the fire from the bottle. The flames will burn meat and make it dry and flavorless. To check whether meat is done you can make a small cut. Don’t overcook it! 

Once you are done with roasting, take the meat off the skewers and place in a bowl, add fresh cut onions and some vinegar. Cover the bowl and shake it to mix meat with onions. Leave it for 10 minutes. Shish kebab is good when it is fresh and hot. While cooling down very fast, it hardens and looses its flavor. So, serve it right away. Put it on a dish and decorate with herbs. 

Happy eating! 

Ruslan Kuchity. 

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