Kebapche ( bg, кебапче, plural: кебапчета, ''kebapcheta''; mk, ќебапче, plural: ќебапчиња, ''kebapchinja'') is a
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
n and Macedonian dish of grilled minced meat with spices. The meat is shaped into an elongated cylindrical form, similar to a
hot dog
A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced Hot dog bun, bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener (Vienna sausag ...
. Typically, a mix of
pork
Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE.
Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...
and
beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus'').
In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...
is used, although some recipes involve only pork. The preferred spices are
black pepper
Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diame ...
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
. Kebapche is a grilled food. It is never fried or baked.
A typical addition to a kebapche meal are chips (
French fries
French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips ( Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...
), often covered with grated
sirene
Sirene ( sq, djathë i bardhë; bg, сирене ; mk, сирење; sr, сир, italics=no/) also known as "white brine sirene" ( bg, бяло саламурено сирене, links=no) is a type of brined cheese made in the Balkans (So ...
(fresh white cheese similar to feta);
lyutenitsa
''Ljutenica'', ''lyutenitsa'' or ''lutenica'' (, , ; ''lyuto'' or ''luto'' meaning "hot") is a (sometimes spicy) vegetable relish or chutney in Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbian cuisines.
The ingredients include peppers, aubergines, carrots, gar ...
is sometimes used as a dip. The expression ''a three kebapcheta with sides'' (тройка кебапчета с гарнитура, ''
troika
Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three') may refer to:
Cultural tradition
* Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia
* Troika (dance), a Russian folk dance
Pol ...
kebapcheta s garnitura'') is particularly well-known. The preferred drink to go with a kebapche is
beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
.
The word ''kebapche'' is derived from ''
kebab
Kebab (, ; ar, كباب, link=no, Latn, ar, kabāb, ; tr, kebap, link=no, ) or kabob (North American) is a type of cooked meat dish that originates from cuisines of the Middle East. Many variants of the category are popular around the wor ...
'', ''–che'' is a diminutive Bulgarian neutral suffix, i.e. a "little kebab". A dish similar to kebapche and often combined with it is kyufte, which is often the same in terms of meat and spices but round-shaped. It often includes
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...
s and
parsley
Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, Por ...
, which kebapche does not.
It is essentially the same dish as