Shepherd's Steak (Bačovský Rezeň)
Ingredients: half inch thick slices of pork (leg, shoulder or neck), bacon, smoked cheese, flour, milk, egg, oil, mashed potatoes
Prep Time: about 30 minutes
In Slovakia, people don’t generally eat meat the way steaks are eaten in America – seasoned and grilled on an open flame. Instead, a steak or schnitzel (rezeň) is typically a thin slice of meat, which has been tenderized, covered in some breading, and finally fried in oil. In this recipe, my grandma will show you how she prepares one kind of steak, bačovský rezeň. The name means bača’s steak. Slovakia is a mountainous country. As such, traditionally many Slovaks were shepherds. The head shepherd, who was responsible for tasks like making bryndza, oštiepok (smoked cheese) and parenica (steamed cheese), is called bača. This is his steak, the king of steaks.
Start by tenderizing the meat slices (kúsky mäsa). Few pounds on a single side are sufficient. Also take slices of bacon (slanina) and fry them until the fat starts getting translucent.
Lightly salt the steaks and brown from each side. Place the bacon on top of one steak so it doesn’t burn.
We will pre-cook the steaks before frying. This is the secret to a great rezeň. Otherwise, you risk the breading burning before the meat is done. Cover the steaks in water, and let cook covered for 5 minutes. In the mean time, prepare the dough (cestíčko) by combining flour (múka), milk (mlieko) and an egg (vajce). I forgot to record the proportions, but basically you want the dough to be roughly the consistency of pancake batter. It should be liquid, but fairly viscous.
Top each steak with one or two slices of bacon and one slice of smoked cheese (údený syr). Dip all three pieces together in the batter. Use the fork to spread the batter on top.
Fry in hot oil. Carefully flip over using two forks. Poking the pieces together helps with turning. Serve topped with tartar sauce (or sour cream) with a side of mashed potatoes (zemiaková kaša), pickles, apricots or mandarin oranges. One trick I learned from my grandma: dip the spoon in oil before scooping the mashed potatoes. They won’t stick!
Have you had this dish during your travels through Slovakia? Or, have you prepared it at home? How did you like it?
Lubos, I made his dish before, as I like the darn pork “stuff” … I love it!
I appreciate your mom’s secret (boiling meat for a few minutes before frying it) Indeed, I frequently burn “cestíčko” as I want steaks to be tender and it’s tricky as you may “over fry it” and the result is not good. Boiling it before frying make a perfect sense, as then you just fry “adds on” and you don’t have to worry so much about the meat.
So much to learn from our parents and grandparents secrets 🙂
One more thing, I tend to add some shredded parmesan cheese to “cestíčko”, mostly because I do it for Vienna schnitzel, something what was a “Sunday’s pref meal”. Of course in old days “parmesan cheese” was not what bača had at hand.
We all try to adjust some recipes sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, and when it does not work we go back to the original but a shreaded parmesan in cestíčko works for me, again, some folks may not like it so don’t do it if you tried and it was not to your liking.
Thanks Miro! That’s my grandma in the photos. She used to help in my dad’s restaurant a while ago. There used to be another chef there. The guests supposedly often complained that the other cook’s rezne were either burned or undercooked. And they always loved my grandma’s schnitzels. She never told the other cook the secret – that you have to precook them. I agree, it’s one of those things you don’t think of, but in the hindsight it makes perfect sense.
Lubos, I made this dish a few days ago and it was absolutely AMAZING!! I used smoked oshtiepok and to my own surprise, it melted quite nicely. The Bacovsky Rezen paired with parsley potatoes was heavenly! Thanks for another great recipe!!
Amanda
Thanks Amanda! I bet it was delicious. Where did you manage to find ostiepok (assuming you don’t live in Slovakia)?
Hi Lubos, I get all my slovak and czech products from SlovCzechvar.com out in Long Island City, NY.
Don’t make me (us) hungry!
It looks great! I never tried rizek with cheese in it in Praha.
I will try to cook this one. My Slovak colleagues will surely appreciate my effort :D.
Vynikajúca kombinácia kyslých uhoriek s mandarínkami. Presne ako na liptovskom salaši. Odkedy sa zmenili klimatické podmienky vďaka komunistickej hlúposti nazvanej Liptovská Mara, mandarínky rastú na severnom Slovensku lepšie než zemiaky! Čo sa vďaka Internetu dozvieme.
Výborný “recept”, blahoželám autorom…!
This is one that I intend to try with a few other traditional Slovak side dishes and trimmings for a complete meal – it looks like it will be great!
I am currently curing my own bacon done in an Old-World style, that I will be able to use on this project – or, perhaps I will order some true Slovak bacon along with some oštiepok and make this even more authentic.
Thanks for sharing this delicious-looking recipe – I will provide updates as I can!