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Bosanski Lonac (The Bosnian Pot)

Name: Bosanski Lonac (The Bosnian Pot)
Prep time: 4 h 23 min
Total time: 4 h 43 min
Cuisine: Bosnian
Ingredients: beef shin — 800 g; lamb shoulder roast — 500 g; green cabbage — 300 g; potatoes — 500 g; carrots — 300 g; onions — 400 g; red peppers — 250 g; tomatoes — 300 g; garlic — 60 g; green beans — 200 g; salt — 12 g; black peppercorns — 5 g; flat-leaf parsley — 15 g; water — 500 g

Bosanski Lonac (The Bosnian Pot) reads umami 7.5, richness 6.3 and sweetness 4.2 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Bosnian main, about 4 hr 43 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 8.0 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 4.9 / 10
Sour & Bright — 2.3 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 2.9 / 10
Rich & Fat — 6.4 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.4 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 7.5 · Richness 6.3 · Sweetness 4.2 · Allium 4.0 · Salinity 3.7 · Earthy 2.7 · Sourness 2.1 · Fruity 2.0 · Herbaceous 1.8 · Warm Spice 1.5 · Funk & Ferment 1.2 · Bitterness 1.2 · Heat 0.9 · Citrus 0.8 · Floral 0.7

What's in it (14)

beef shin — 800 g
lamb shoulder roast — 500 g
green cabbage — 300 g
potatoes — 500 g
carrots — 300 g
onions — 400 g
red peppers — 250 g
tomatoes — 300 g
garlic — 60 g
green beans — 200 g
salt — 12 g
black peppercorns — 5 g
flat-leaf parsley — 15 g
water — 500 g

Time & effort: about 4 hr 43 min (4 hr 23 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 55.6 kcal, 3.6 g protein, 2.4 g fat, 4.9 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

Nothing is browned and nothing is fried. Cut all the vegetables into large pieces so they survive four hours of heat, and keep them separate on the board.
Pack a tall earthenware lonac, or a deep heavy casserole, in alternating layers: meat, then vegetables, then meat again, standing the pieces upright where you can so the pot fills tightly. Slip the garlic cloves, the peppercorns and the parsley stalks between the layers and season each layer lightly with the salt.
Pour in the water. It should come no more than a third of the way up. This is the doctrine of the dish: the pot is sealed and the vegetables give up their own liquid, and that liquid is the sauce. There is no stock, no roux, no paprika base and no tomato paste. Bosnian cooking uses spices in moderate quantities and lets enclosed moist heat do the work.
Seal the pot. Traditionally a lid is luted on with a rope of flour and water paste, or a metal sač dome is set over the pot and embers are heaped on top of it. A tight lid and a sheet of foil under it will do at home.
Cook at 160C, or over the very lowest heat, for 3 hours 40 minutes. Do not open it and do not stir. Every time you lift the lid you lose the steam that is doing the cooking.
Let it stand 20 minutes off the heat before opening.
Scatter over the parsley leaves and serve straight from the pot, ladling down through the layers so each plate gets some of everything, with bread to catch the juices. Sarajevo households argue about whether tomatoes belong at all, and there are as many versions as there are pots.
Substitutions: shoulder can stand in for the beef shin.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Testi Kebabı (Lamb Sealed and Cooked in a Clay Jug) — Turkish
Beef Katsu Curry — Japanese
Shepherd's Pie with Cheddar Mashed Potato Top — American
Polish Bouja Soup — Other
Classic Beef Chili with Skillet Cornbread — American

Keep reading: what umami, richness, sweetness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.