This is rather an unusual post for someone who used to be a vegetarian for about 12 years. Well, those days are gone. I cannot say I’m in love with meat (chocolate is still my first love) but occasionally I like to bite into a good steak.
I started eating meat on one of my holidays. As I got back home, to a huge surprise of my parents, I asked them if we could go out to have some chevapi for dinner. “Since when do you eat chevapi?” “Well, since today!”
I don’t know why I like them so much, but I do. Now, this could be a problem living in New Zealand, as most of the people have never even heard of them. So, I tried to make them myself and… yeah… well, nah… they were all right, but not exactly what I was looking for. Then, someone told me that I could get them in a Croatian restaurant Dalmatia in Mission Bay. However, the same person also told me not to bother trying them as they taste like s*** (or at least not what I would expect from chevapi). So, I continued with my research, determined that I will find someone who can make them well. And so I heard about a butcher who has a shop in Victoria Park Market. Bingo!!
As I was in the shop for the first time (Salash Delicatessen), I was told that I need to pre-order them. A guy who was working there was Brazilian but he still knew exactly what I was talking about – I thought this was already a good sign, I must be on the right way. Since that was right before Christmas holidays and I was going away, I decided to do it first thing in the new year. I called the butcher on 5 January 2015, all excited about cevapi, but unfortunately he was still on holidays. Ah well, who could blame him. So, I had to wait for another week. But I finally got them! And? Well, all I could say is that it was worth the hassle :).
Auckland : Inside Out 