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Пастрмајлија (Pastrmajlija)

Пастрмајлија (Pastrmajlija) reads richness 7.2, umami 4.3 and funk & ferment 3.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Macedonian main, about 2 hr 14 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 5.0 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 1.7 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 1.9 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 0.8 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 7.6 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 1.7 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 7.2 · Umami 4.3 · Funk & Ferment 3.6 · Salinity 3.5 · Sourness 1.9 · Nutty 1.6 · Warm Spice 1.6 · Sweetness 1.6 · Bitterness 0.7 · Heat 0.7 · Earthy 0.7

What's in it (12)

• bread flour — 400 g
• yeast — 7 g
• water — 250 g
• salt — 8 g
• sunflower oil — 28 g
• dry-cured pork neck — 400 g
• pork fat — 60 g
• eggs — 200 g
• pepperoncini — 400 g
• sweet paprika — 5 g
• freshly ground black pepper — 3 g
• water — 60 g

Time & effort: about 2 hr 14 min (44 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 122.8 kcal, 4.5 g protein, 3.7 g fat, 17.2 g carbs

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

How it's cooked (10 steps)

1. Mix the flour, yeast, warm water, salt and oil and knead 10 minutes to a smooth, medium-soft dough.
2. Cover and leave to rise 90 minutes, until doubled.
3. Knock back and shape into a long oval about 35 cm by 20 cm on a floured peel or tray, leaving a low rim around the edge. The name comes from pastrma, salted dried meat, and the shape is meant to hold its fat.
4. Brush the rim with the 60 ml of water so it colours evenly.
5. Toss the cubed cured pork and the diced back fat with the paprika and black pepper and lay them over the whole surface, right to the rim. In Štip the rule is that the meat covers the base evenly rather than sitting in the middle, so that every bite has some.
6. Bake at 250C, on a preheated stone if you have one, for 12 minutes, until the base is set and the fat has begun to run.
7. Crack the eggs onto the surface, spacing them out.
8. Return it to the oven for 5 minutes, until the whites are just set and the yolks still run. Overcooked eggs are the usual fault.
9. Cut across into strips and eat with pickled feferoni and cold beer. In Štip there is an autumn festival built entirely around this one dish.
10. Substitutions: salted air-dried pork shoulder can stand in for the dry-cured pork neck.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Macaroni and Cheese (Baked) — Southern
• Soufflé au Fromage — French
• Tiropita — Greek
• Welsh Rarebit — British
• Khachapuri Megruli (Megrelian Cheese Bread) — Georgian

Keep reading: what richness, umami, funk & ferment 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.