Do you know what cats are? The probability that you answer this question is high if you come from Dolenjska or surroundings. However, if you come from other parts of Slovenia, you will probably smile wondering what it is. Let’s say that pičiči is a very common dish in the pizzerias of Dolenjska. They’re from Eldorado Pizzeria, which was closed last year, and this week we spoke with Radom Finkwho cooked the first pizzas a few years after the opening of the pizzeria in the village of Irča.
News: This is a pizzeria that is among the 50 best in Europe and the best in Slovenia (VIDEO)
He doesn’t remember the exact date he first cooked, but he remembers exactly which of the diners who first tasted the round, flattened dish sprinkled with cheese and oregano exclaimed enthusiastically : “It’s not pizza, it’s pizza!” And a new dish was born! As they say, he first lived in the Eldorado pizzeria, and then spread throughout Dolenjska.
It was like that, explains Rado Fink: “We opened the pizzeria in 1994, and a few years later we tested new bakers. I spread the dough on it, sprinkled it with cheese and oregano. So as not to waste, I cut the dish into squares and offered it to the guests seated at the bar.”
Preparation and serving details
He continues: “Everyone then copied the dish, but nowhere was it like ours. The dough should be a bit thicker and softer, and real cheese should be used. “The dish was first cut into squares, then diamond-shaped pieces were formed, because it is easier to hold them in the hand and dip them in one of the sauces. These sauces are an indispensable part of the pizzas. “We served a sauce on the side, which we put on burgers, and it was based on mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard. But, again – here too, we have to use the right products to obtain the taste we’re looking for,” smiles Fink.
The original form of the dish with the interesting name passed through Dolenjska and had many variations, bacon, leeks, ham, oregano, salami, minced meat, grilled chicken, zucchini, pepperoni, hot dogs, corn and more were added to the cheese . “But it’s not pizza anymore — it’s pizza without tomato sauce,” Fink says.
By the way: similar, but much older dishes are known in Gorenjska. In Tržič, flika is coated in sour cream and sprinkled with salt and cumin, while around Lake Bled, posmodulja (or posmojevka) is known. But neither is anywhere near as widespread as modern Dolenjska cats!
Cunts in my opinion
We used a proven pizza recipe for the dish, we added an egg. If you don’t opt for it, you can use a few tablespoons of oil or add a little more water. The pussies being quite dry, the use of sauces is necessary, let your imagination run wild when preparing them! You can use mayonnaise mixed with a little ketchup and add a little mustard, like Rado Fink did when he started serving this dish almost three decades ago. As we noticed at first glance and also verified in practice, pussies go well with a cold glass of beer, and if we serve a salad, lunch is already ahead of us!
For 2 to 4 people.
- 500g flour
- 3 dl lukewarm water
- 0.5 cubes of fresh yeast (20 g)
- 1 egg
- 1 level teaspoon of salt
Padding
- a few tablespoons of olive oil
- 3 to 4 fists on coarsely grated cheese
It must not be forgotten
- sauces of your choice (sour cream, tartare, tomato, nacho cheese ()
Preparation
1. Mash the yeast in warm water, add 3-4 tablespoons of flour and wait 10 minutes.
2. Pour the remaining flour into the bowl. Add salt, egg and yeast to the edge. Knead well and add a little flour if necessary. Form a ball with the dough and return it to the bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for a good half hour so that the dough rises twice its volume.
3. Then divide the dough into two parts, form a ball from each.
4. Preheat the oven with the hotplate on the highest temperature.
5. Meanwhile, the loaves rise well and can be stretched into a circle (as with pizza) and placed on parchment paper. Grease the top with a little olive oil and sprinkle with grated cheese.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, cool slightly and cut into squares. Serve with sauces such as tomato sauce and sour cream.
We also recommend: The ice cream from Slovenske Konjice, for which people from all over Slovenia come back
Photo: Špela Ankele
Deloindom.si: The ice cream men and the tomato hour
