Kokoretsi is a traditional Greek dish made from lamb or goat offal and internal organs, including the intestines, sweetbreads, heart, kidneys, and lungs. The dish is seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil, and lemon juice, wrapped in caul fat, and roasted over charcoal. It is popular in the Balkans and Anatolia and is traditionally eaten on Easter Sunday.
Kokoretsi is a traditional meal from southeastern Greece, which mainly consists of offal or innards and internal organs of lambs or goats. The intestine is the most common element used. Cooking the dish also involves sweetbreads, a culinary term used for the thymus gland and pancreas of animals, as well as the heart, kidneys and lungs. The kokoretsi recipe was born when people started thinking about not wasting any part of the animal cooked during the Easter season. Kokoretsi is classified as a staple dish.
To prepare the dish, the organs that make up the main ingredient of kokoretsi are thoroughly washed, especially the intestines. Then they are cut into small pieces and seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil and lemon juice. After the pieces are placed on a horizontal skewer, they are covered in a thin membrane from the intestine, called caul fat. This type of wrapping is meant to keep all the pieces in place.
Kokoretsi is traditionally prepared over a charcoal pit, although in modern times gas and electric burners are equally common. Some people like to add chopped green peppers and tomatoes between skewered meats. After the roasting process is complete, the kokoretsi is kept in a warm place, usually a griddle, for serving.
Greece is not the only place where kokoretsi enjoys great popularity. The dish is also eaten by people living in the Balkans, a region that covers southeastern Europe and includes other countries such as Albania, Bulgaria, and Serbia. Kokoretsi is also identified with Anatolia, the westernmost protrusion of Asia Minor which mainly consists of Turkey.
The name of the meal, which is Greek, comes from the Albanian term kukurec. Aromanians, who live mainly in the Balkan regional countries of Greece, Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria, call it kukuretsu. The Turkish people call it kokorec, which comes from the Greek term.
In Greece, kokoretsi is available all year round, usually in small restaurants called taverns. It is traditionally eaten on Easter Sunday. Some people prefer to serve it on a flatbread, garnished with tomatoes and spices. It is a popular custom in Turkey to make kokoretsi into a sandwich using thin loaves of French bread called a baguette, and on some occasions, cucumbers or pickled peppers may be served with the dish.
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