Starter
Fried breaded kashkaval
Slices of firm yellow cheese fried in breadcrumbs, ordered as meze in every Macedonian kafeana.
Recipe from Туѓино Јабано
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 55 min
- Fasting
- Not suitable
Ingredients 9 ingredients
Method
- Cut the kashkaval into slabs a full centimetre thick — any thinner and the cheese runs out before the crust sets. Chill the slices for fifteen minutes.
- Set out three shallow bowls: flour, the eggs beaten with the pepper, and the breadcrumbs.
- Coat each slice in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, pressing the crumbs on firmly. Dip it back into the egg and the crumbs a second time and check that the edges are sealed all round.
- Return the breaded slices to the fridge for another twenty minutes. Cold cheese in hot oil is the whole trick; it gives the crust time to harden before the middle melts.
- Heat about 3 cm of oil in a heavy pan to 180°C. A crumb dropped in should fizz at once and colour in half a minute.
- Fry two or three slices at a time for a minute to a minute and a half each side, until deep gold. Do not crowd the pan.
- Lift them onto kitchen paper, salt lightly if the cheese is mild, and serve straight away with Bukovo pepper, lemon and tartare sauce.
If you cannot find it
Substitutions that work outside Macedonia.
- Kashkaval
- Kasseri, provolone or a young pecorino — anything firm enough not to slump. Halloumi works, though it tastes of itself.
- Bukovo pepper flakes
- Sweet Hungarian paprika with a pinch of Aleppo pepper, or mild Turkish pul biber.
