Today I made sashlyk - the accepted Russian word for any meat skewered and grilled across the former Soviet Union. In Christian republics, you get pork. Muslim, likely lamb. Everywhere, chicken and if you’re near a river or ocean maybe fish (sturgeon is popular). Sometimes beef, but beef across the former Union is low quality.
This is Georgia-inspired and pork. I bought Prestice (Přestik) pork collar. Take a look at the intramuscular fat and deep red color. This is a premium product here but not near as expensive as heritage pork stateside. This is what we miss with our factory pork farming.
Cubed and into the marinade. Red wine, red wine vinegar, a neutral oil (I used sunflower but canola is fine), tomato paste, chopped onion, chopped garlic, thyme, paprika, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, salt, pepper. I eyeball the ratios. It shouldn’t be too liquid, you want a thick paste. And the red wine is needed but too much makes the meat winey. This is good with pork, lamb, or beef.
This chilled out overnight. That’s about right. Too long and the vinegar will break down the meat and make it mushy. Open fire, mostly ashed over. This is super rich meat and you’re gonna get flares.
Plated with some quick pickled onions. The pickle cuts the extremely rich meat. Not pictured are a tzatziki- like yogurt sauce and some simple grilled peppers and zucchini.