Janjetina ispod peke

The story

Lamb was the older Croatian Easter meat, and in Dalmatia one way to cook it is ispod peke, under the bell. A peka is a domed lid set over a shallow pan of meat and potatoes on an open hearth. The cook lights a fire about an hour ahead to heat the hearth and the lid, then sets the lid over the pan and piles glowing embers on top, which seal it. The same method is called ispod čripnje in Istria; the old lids were terracotta, shaped by potters on hand-turned wheels, and iron versions came later. Many village houses kept a separate outdoor kitchen for this kind of cooking, the crna kuhinja, or black kitchen, and today peka is a fixture of restaurants that serve traditional dishes. Easter Sunday falls on March 28 in 2027. Novi list notes that lamb, a custom linked to Passover, was the Easter meat before ham took its place in many homes. Chasing the Donkey names lamb as the Easter lunch around Karlovac, and Dnevnik.hr recommends young potatoes with it. A cast-iron Dutch oven heated through in a hot oven does the same job at home; ask the butcher to cut shoulder and leg into pieces on the bone, and serve a green salad dressed with olive oil alongside.