Our Slava celebration
Slava? What's a slava, you ask?
Well, I'm so glad you are interested in one of the great Serbian traditions! Every family in Serbia has a patron saint which they honor on that saint's feast day. Their day of celebration is known as their "slava." Serb families celebrate their slava with a large family gathering similar to Thanksgiving (although everyone's saint celebration is on a different day of the year. Interestingly, each person gets their slava as a holiday from work). After days of preparation, the family assembles and eats and drinks too much. Each family carries the tradition of celebrating the feast day of the father’s family’s patron saint. As long as the father is alive, his sons and daughters will bring their families to his house to celebrate this day. If the mother is the last in her line, they will also honor her family by celebrating their Slava day – in a muted fashion (yes, Serbia is a very paternalistic country).
In the spirit of assimilation, Mike and I celebrated our own Slava in honor of Mike's patron saint. We hosted a feast and invited all our local friends - and one friend from the States. Which saint did we celebrate, you ask? If you know Mike, you should know the answer: Saint Patrick of course.
Last friday we hosted our traditional St. Patrick's Day party (slava). Mike cooked up 20 pounds of potatoes (and my friend Brad helped by mashing all 20 pounds!) and 26 pounds of beef (which Mike corned himself!). We had plenty of decorations, courtesy of Mike's Mom and, in good Irish tradition, everyone guzzled more beers than I can count.
While our Serb friends don't traditionally celebrate St. Patrick's Day, everyone seemed to get in the spirit of things - and everyone wore green! (Although, that might have been because we threatened them with pinches on the invite.) The night ended with Mike and I singing Irish drinking songs to entertain our guests. It was a grand time and I think we did the tradition of slavas well!
Well, I'm so glad you are interested in one of the great Serbian traditions! Every family in Serbia has a patron saint which they honor on that saint's feast day. Their day of celebration is known as their "slava." Serb families celebrate their slava with a large family gathering similar to Thanksgiving (although everyone's saint celebration is on a different day of the year. Interestingly, each person gets their slava as a holiday from work). After days of preparation, the family assembles and eats and drinks too much. Each family carries the tradition of celebrating the feast day of the father’s family’s patron saint. As long as the father is alive, his sons and daughters will bring their families to his house to celebrate this day. If the mother is the last in her line, they will also honor her family by celebrating their Slava day – in a muted fashion (yes, Serbia is a very paternalistic country).
In the spirit of assimilation, Mike and I celebrated our own Slava in honor of Mike's patron saint. We hosted a feast and invited all our local friends - and one friend from the States. Which saint did we celebrate, you ask? If you know Mike, you should know the answer: Saint Patrick of course.
Last friday we hosted our traditional St. Patrick's Day party (slava). Mike cooked up 20 pounds of potatoes (and my friend Brad helped by mashing all 20 pounds!) and 26 pounds of beef (which Mike corned himself!). We had plenty of decorations, courtesy of Mike's Mom and, in good Irish tradition, everyone guzzled more beers than I can count.
While our Serb friends don't traditionally celebrate St. Patrick's Day, everyone seemed to get in the spirit of things - and everyone wore green! (Although, that might have been because we threatened them with pinches on the invite.) The night ended with Mike and I singing Irish drinking songs to entertain our guests. It was a grand time and I think we did the tradition of slavas well!
Brad topping the Shepard's pie with his mashed potatoes (notice also the home-made soda bread to the right)
posted by Brooke @ 2:08 PM
6 Comments:
How does one "corn" 26 pounds of beef?
I love your writting. Even with my poor english. Keep on ...
So, did you get the day off from work, also????
I did not get the day off of work because I didn't have to do any cooking - in our house that's man's work (at least the St. Pats feast). And since Mike did the cooking, I'll let him tell you how to corn 26 pounds of beef.
Actually, corning beef is quite easy. You take the largest stainless steel pot you can find, fill it 2/3 with water and then add salt. I mean a lot of salt - enough to float a potato. Then add in some bay leaves, cloves and peppercorns. Then, you add a good piece (or pieces) of brisket, cover and let soak for AT LEAST 48 hours, stirring and turnign the meat over a couple of times per day.
The purpose of this process is to suck all the blood out of the meat, giving it a grayish tint and readying it to be slow-cooked.
The beef tastes best when cooked for 6-8 hours. At that point, it's so tender, it is flaking off the bone. You shouldn't need a knife to cut it. Serve with boiled cabbage, carrots, potatoes and turnips - and, of course, some spicy mustard and you're done...
Finally, in case you were wondering, the term 'corned' comes from the old English word 'corn' which referred to any grain or kernal - as in grains of salt.
The origin of Corned Beef is a little fuzzy. Some people claim it was an old Irish practice of curing meat that allowed it to be stored over the winter and on long sailing trips. Others say it was originally a Jewish dish which the New York Irish appropriated as a cheap, long-lasting substitute to Irish Bacon which was hard to find in America.
I favor the latter...
I love hearing the descriptions of your experiences in Belgrade!
My family came from the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro to the US almost a hundred years ago. I was in Yugo (when it was Yugo), but never made it to Belgrade.
Re Slava. The family patron saint was chosen based on when the family converted to Christianity. For example, if the conversion was in late April or early May, the St. George was chosen because St. George's Day is May 5th. So if you are Irish, St. Patrick was the perfect Slava for you because he was the Saint that was intrumental in converting the Irish -- and consequently you! Great pick!
Have fun!
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