Čevabčiči

Yesterday I was at the Folk & Roots Festival in Lincoln Square. I stopped at a modest food booth whose sign said simply "Čevabčiči." It had a charming little cartoon that depicted a cow + 1/2 pig + another animal (lamb?) = Čevabčiči. Three young people were tending the booth that had one large grill and a table with a giant pump-bottle pepper & egglplant sauce (ajvar) and a container of onions. I tried only the cevabčiči, which were served on fresh, fluffy rolls with a chewy crust and garnished with the sauce and onions. They were something like köfte kebabs (but with pork), and seemed to be moderately spiced with garlic and herbs (couldn't identify which ones); they were delicious.

I went back to the stand to ask if they had come from a restaurant, but the charming proprietor explained that he was starting out with fairs and festivals, hoping to educate people's palates. He and his sister were Croatian, he explained, and they felt that most people were intimidated by the idea of going to a Bosnian restaurant. But they hope to eventually open a restaurant in Wicker Park and introduce the food to a larger audience.

So, if you see the stand at your next neighborhood festival, I urge you to give it a try. I am eagerly awaiting the opening of their restaurant, in whatever form or location!

The next question: where's the nearest restaurant that serves ˆcevabčiči?

MT,

Here are some links (with further links) to posts surrounding a lot of cevapci consumption over the past year or so.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5564

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=48131#48131

Antonius

Last year, G Wiv did an extraordinary tour of "cevapcici" around town and documented it well on LTHForum.

Here are a few threads to get you started, searching for "cevapcici" will show more:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5564
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3777
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5565
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5483
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5489

Best,
Michael

I have only seen cevapcici written and have not heard the word spoken. Can anyone help with pronunciation (for future ordering)? Here's the variety of pronunciations I got from a quick web search, so it appears that there is some confusion/dispute (or maybe it's just regional variances):

a. che-VAP-chee-chee;
b. chee-wop-chee-chee;
c. chev ap chee tse; or
d. ke-VWOP-chi-chi.

For what it's worth, option (a) appears to be the most common.

Matt wrote:I have only seen cevapcici written and have not heard the word spoken. Can anyone help with pronunciation (for future ordering)? Here's the variety of pronunciations I got from a quick web search, so it appears that there is some confusion/dispute (or maybe it's just regional variances):

a. che-VAP-chee-chee;
b. chee-wop-chee-chee;
c. chev ap chee tse; or
d. ke-VWOP-chi-chi.

For what it's worth, option (a) appears to be the most common.

FWIW, I always go for option A. Keep in mind that I am not a native speaker.

"He and his sister were Croatian, he explained, and they felt that most people were intimidated by the idea of going to a Bosnian restaurant."

?

Sounds like a little bit of a rap, with a political jab mixed in, there. That booth has made the fest rounds for several years now. Despite the BS, and the large and growing number of places to get said sausages around Chicago, I do very much like the grilled-to-order-over-charcoal cevap from the particular booth described. The giant dispenser of ajvar is cool, too.

Thanks for the links. I searched for earlier threads, but the spelling wasn't the same, so I didn't find anything. By the way, the savvy owners of the booth I saw had also explained on their sign how to pronounce the word. I believe their version was something like chay-vop-chee-chee.

Hi,

I used to spend considerable time in Eastern Europe. I always heard it pronounced as se-VAP-chee-chee.

Regards,

Matt wrote:I have only seen cevapcici written and have not heard the word spoken. Can anyone help with pronunciation (for future ordering)? Here's the variety of pronunciations I got from a quick web search, so it appears that there is some confusion/dispute (or maybe it's just regional variances):

a. che-VAP-chee-chee;
b. chee-wop-chee-chee;
c. chev ap chee tse; or
d. ke-VWOP-chi-chi.

For what it's worth, option (a) appears to be the most common.

Absolutely "A" is correct, (edit: provided the second syllable is pronounced "VAHP" or "VOP") although it is possible that regional variations exist. I have never heard a native (or anyone else for that matter) use pronunciations b, c, or d. "C" is close, as well, but the final syllable is closer to a "chee" than a "tsee," although I can see sorta where the author is getting that pronuncation from. The correct spelling in Croatian is:
Ćevapčići. As in Polish, Croatian has a hard and soft "ch" sound (voiceless postalveolar affricative, and voiceless alveolo-palatal affricative, resepctively, for the linguists keeping score.) The hard "ch" is like the "ch" in "church," while the soft "ch" is like the "ch" in the British pronuncation of "tube") (In Polish, it's "cz" vs. "ć"). (One point to be made. Even though the penultimate syllable is spelled with a hard "ch," I swear it sounds like a soft "ch" the way I've heard it.)

I lived in both Slovenia and Croatia for awhile, have been to all the former Yugoslav republics, and speak conversational Serbo-Croatian. Interestingly enough, nearby countries spell the word to reflect this pronunciation in their native orthography (Hungary, for instance, spells it "csevapcsicsi," Poland spells it "czevapcici," or "cievapcici," both which would be pronounced with three "ch" sounds.) You'll even find the English spelling "chevapchichi" is popular enough.

Also, the word ultimately derives from "kebab," something that never dawned on me until I was in Kosovo a few years back buying some chevapi from a stand, and the menu was in both in Serbian and Albanian. Seeing the two words next to each other, it was pretty obvious that chevap is derived from kebab/kebap. (Ćevapčići is a diminuative of Ćevapi, which is the plural of Ćevap.)

I thought this thread could use some illustration.



From a stand at the Andersonville fest.
Of course, I'm not offering this sign as an official source for the spelling or pronounciation.

I had one from this stand, and wasn't particularly impressed.

kiplog wrote:I thought this thread could use some illustration.

The sausage may have earned a C, but the signage gets an A+. I always enjoy pictures of happy and goofy cartoon farm animals inviting you to eat them. The whole equation concept is also pretty cool.

That's the stand I think we all have been discussing as regards street fests. Those I sampled have been quite good year to year. I hope they have not dumbed down the garlic levels this year. My problem with most cevap is its blandness. Like, why would I ever go to a Balkan place for cevap when there exist so many good kefta options around, selling essentially the same think that tastes like something. (To answer my own question, the Balkan bread and ajvar.) The booth guy's cevap did not have this issue previously.

Interesting that they go to the trouble of explaining cevapcici in such a graphic and entertaining way, but do not even mention what the "zesty" pepper/eggplant sauce is.

Anyway, nice guys. At Retro on Roscoe last year, they let me use their grill to finish up my lahmacun from Turquoise, which was good but a little cool and limp. A few minutes on the charcoal did wonders.

I've mentioned before that I think Retro on Roscoe offers one of the best fest food experiences, because of the presence of the local booths (particularly Turquoise) along with the cevap stand and the Polish church ladies grill. Sausage, kraut, and pierogies griddled in butter and onions, Jim's style, makes for some mighty good street dining.

Is there anywhere to purchase cevapcici in the western burbs?

If not, I guess I could use the rough recipe from the vendors sign.

Flip

Flip wrote:Is there anywhere to purchase cevapcici in the western burbs?

If not, I guess I could use the rough recipe from the vendors sign.

Flip

you might have some luck in the following stores:

Brookhaven Marketplace
7561 S Cass Ave
Darien

Nature's Best
257 N Cass Ave
Westmont

i've seen them there (uncooked) on occasion - not sure about the frequency since i don't buy meat. i think you have a decent chance in any mom & pop grocery store that carries a good selection of european groceries...

I passed on the cevapcici in favor of the razjnici at the Roots Fest. I got two generous and delicious skewers of marinated and charcoal grilled pork in a very nice flat bread sort of thing that was cust 2/3 of the way down the middle. Think a 3/4" thick french loaf split like a pita.

I got the bread first and put some ajvar on before the kabobs, then slid the skewers out, leaving me free to enjoy. I can honestly say it's the best thing I've eaten at a non Maxwell St. street fair in years.

The bread came from "M Bakery" which is supposedly near Montrose and Western. I have not done a search for it yet but I will be going there to supply my next sandwich/picnic bread.

Possibly BM Bakery, documented by Gary?

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=32540#32540[url]

Or M&A on Lawrence east of Ashland in a strip mall?

There is an M Bakery in a strip mall on the southern side of Lawrence just east of Ashland. I have not been there personally, but have friends in the area who can attest to the tastiness of their fresh donuts and other bready offerings.

Same place. The "A" seems to have fallen off the sign. The phone book lists as M&A. I've heard it's good too, but not sure it's a Balkan place.

I'll bet that's it. Good bread, to be sure.

In chicago, I have found Sandy's Deli on Lawrence to make great cevapi. They have 2 small tables and will grill them to order for you to eat in. They also sell them by the pound (raw.)

In the burbs, Brookhaven in Darien has a decent mix. Buy the ones in from the meat department (fresh) not from the freezer.

BM Bakery, alas, is no more.

It's a silent 'P', so it's Chi-va-chi-chi

Not as I've ever heard it by native speakers. This is not to say there may be some dialect I've never heard that keeps it silent, but the ones I know pronounce it.

Here's audio of a native Croatian's pronunciation.

I've heard the p from Serbs, Croats and Bosnians. I'm pretty sensitive to accents and would surely have picked up on losing the vowel stop in the middle of the word. The P is the stressed accent of the word, without it, where is the emphasis?

They have these at Etno Grill, at the three-way of Sheffield, Lincoln and Wrightwood. They abbreviate them to cevaps on the menu.

Brief linguistic aside: And, depending on how you look at it, "cevap" isn't necessarily even an abbreviation. The dish is also known as cevap (singular) or cevapi (plural) out in former Yugoslavia. The -cici ending is something like "ette" or "ies" in English--a cutesy diminutive ending. An analogy in English would be "wieners" vs "wienies" (except that in English, the words are the same length.) Slavic languages, in particular, love their diminutives.

Located in the heart of Lincoln Park, Etno Village Grill brings a fresh approach to upscale fast food fare with its gourmet burgers, chicken, and signature Cevap sandwiches. Inspired by street food from the Balkan region of Eastern Europe, sandwiches are hand-formed, prepared fresh to order, and completely customizable with over 20 condiment options, like fresh spring radish salad, spinach and feta spread, and homemade pickles. Etno prides itself on serving only hormone & antibiotic-free meat, seasonal produce, and utilizing eco-friendly materials and practices within the restaurant. We are BYOB and our patio is open!
Address
2580 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614
Phone
773-698-8069
Website
http://www.etnogrill.com

markjoyblue wrote:We are BYOB and our patio is open!

What do you mean by we? Are you affiliated with this place?

stevez wrote:

markjoyblue wrote:We are BYOB and our patio is open!

What do you mean by we? Are you affiliated with this place?

I'm guessing he's the markk@etnogrill mentioned on Etno Village Grill's Facebook, where markjoyblue's text came from.

Just to add another data point - Balkan Cafe at 2321 W. Lawrence calls it Chevapi, pronounced "Cha-va-pee". If there is Cevap that deserves the "-cici" diminutive it is theirs:



(sorry for crappy cellphone pic)

They serve them with a delicious oily homemade pita bread, some sort of kajmak variant, and onions. Really delicious!