HI,

I never associate that cevapcici with kajmak.

I recall the street vendors slathering ajvar on the side of cevapcici. They would put your sausages on a plate, some ajvar and hand over a hunk of bread. It may be this assembling into a sandwich is to meet American expectations.

The audio pronounciation is how I state it.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

I never associate that cevapcici with kajmak.

I recall the street vendors slathering ajvar on the side of cevapcici. They would put your sausages on a plate, some ajvar and hand over a hunk of bread. It may be this assembling into a sandwich is to meet American expectations.

Yeah, I was surprised when it came with that as well, but it works. I'm not sure if it is real kajmak, it is like a thick (almost lumpy) sour cream type condiment. At home I frequently make a thick roasted red pepper sauce to go with Cevap.

As I understand it, cevapcici is taken from the turkic word kebap.

In Turkey, kebaps are frequently served with yogurt.

My wife's uncle serves them with fresh bread, butter and cream cheese spread, and diced onions. drool.

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

I never associate that cevapcici with kajmak.

I recall the street vendors slathering ajvar on the side of cevapcici. They would put your sausages on a plate, some ajvar and hand over a hunk of bread. It may be this assembling into a sandwich is to meet American expectations.

The audio pronounciation is how I state it.

Regards,

I've had them made all sorts of ways in the former Yugoslavia. Sometimes on their own and a hunk of bread on the side, sometimes in a pita, sometimes on something that is more bun-like than pita-like. Usually with ajvar, but occasionally with kajmak, and sometimes with both. (And always with chopped raw onions.) There's all sorts of variations.

Here's a little song for y'all I randomly found on Youtube. (Translation: "Chevapi with kajmak, I don't like ajvar.")

Binko wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

I never associate that cevapcici with kajmak.

I recall the street vendors slathering ajvar on the side of cevapcici. They would put your sausages on a plate, some ajvar and hand over a hunk of bread. It may be this assembling into a sandwich is to meet American expectations.

The audio pronounciation is how I state it.

Regards,

I've had them made all sorts of ways in the former Yugoslavia. Sometimes on their own and a hunk of bread on the side, sometimes in a pita, sometimes on something that is more bun-like than pita-like. Usually with ajvar, but occasionally with kajmak, and sometimes with both. (And always with chopped raw onions.) There's all sorts of variations.

Here's a little song for y'all I randomly found on Youtube. (Translation: "Chevapi with kajmak, I don't like ajvar.")

Is that the slavic version of "Mild Sauce; Fried Hard"?

Binko,

Thanks for the additional information. What I observed of cevapcici consumption was mostly on the streets of Belgrade and Zagreb. I rarely ate any there, because I was concentrating on Adriatic fish and spit lamb.

Serb Fest is next weekend! Yippee!

Regards,

The wood-fired pizzas at Pizza Art Cafe on Rockwell are what most everyone else gets, but I nearly always order the cevapcici. Served on housemade bread, topped with raw white diced onions and a dollop of kajmak. Always satisfying.

Pizza Art Cafe
4658 North Rockwell Street
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 539-0645
http://www.pizzaartcafe.info/

Cathy2 wrote:Serb Fest is next weekend! Yippee!

Don't leave me hanging. Where? The one I knew about and saw billboards for on 294 I missed (Aug 5-7), but I suppose there's many in the area. Yippee indeed! When/where?

Binko wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Serb Fest is next weekend! Yippee!

Don't leave me hanging. Where? The one I knew about and saw billboards for on 294 I missed (Aug 5-7), but I suppose there's many in the area. Yippee indeed! When/where?

St. Basil's Church in Mettawa
Sat. and Sun. 9/3-4

http://stbasilchurch.org/tos/

Also see this thread for more info and pix:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=9835

Found a place to get 'em, right around the corner from me, practically. In the strip mall at Wolf and Camp Macdonald in Prospect Heights, where a series of restaurants has failed (including, most recently Balkan Cafe), is "Yugo Grill." The place looks more like a bar or a coffee shop: Two tall tables, several couches, and a bar with a bunch of swivel chairs.

Only about eight things on the menu, the top one being Cevapi, $8.
This is a great lunch (or two, I really really shouldn't have eaten that all). Eight or nine large finger-sized cevapi on a bread that looks like it's the great grandpa for a Burger King croissandwich (chewier, not flaky), with a nice dollop of thick yogurt (is that kajmak?), ajvar (which I found out is pronounced Eye-var, not Odge-var), and chopped raw onion.

The cevapi are pretty typical: salt and pepper, lots of meat flavor, springy texture. The combination of onion, ajvar, yogurt, bread and meat is ideal, though.

The owner/cook is rather English challenged, but was pleased that I liked it. He offered me a bowl of goulash to try. Very tasty, deep meaty gravy-like soup with chunks of meat in it.

Cevapi, Yugo Grill

Yugo Grill
5 S Wolf Rd
Prospect Heights, IL 60070
(847) 635-7355

There's several Balkan places I've seen driving to Ramen Misoya, including one that looks very good in the same strip mall as Istanbul Bazaar on Oakton and 83. I've said this before, but this area just seems teeming with places to explore.

For those who enjoy getting the Cevapcici at street fests and other events, the best way to find out where they are is https://twitter.com/cevaps.

The place formerly known as Etno Grill, at Lincoln/Sheffield/Wrightwood, which has been closed for expansion-construction forever (although I guess it just seems that way), looks to have had a sudden burst of construction activity. I think the name may be changing, but I assume it will be the same kind of place with cevaps on the menu.

riddlemay wrote:The place formerly known as Etno Grill, at Lincoln/Sheffield/Wrightwood, which has been closed for expansion-construction forever (although I guess it just seems that way), looks to have had a sudden burst of construction activity. I think the name may be changing, but I assume it will be the same kind of place with cevaps on the menu.

It's now named King's County Tap and their website is still under construction but based on this image they shared on twitter, I don't see any cevaps.
http://t.co/GExnAgURQv

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=42219

Thanks for the correction, lodasi. I think I was thrown by the signs that were up on the building for so long during the lengthy reconstruction. They all said Etno Grill, or at least didn't say that the new place wasn't going to be Etno Grill. So I assumed it would be a bigger Etno Grill. (Even if under a revised name.)

We have picked up some tasty raw cevapcici at City Fresh Market on Devon. They have plenty of different types of Ajvar and Kajmak to choose from as well as the right kind of buns.

Five minutes under the broiler, turn over and a few minutes more on the other side makes for a very quick weeknight dinner.

bw77 wrote:We have picked up some tasty raw cevapcici at City Fresh Market on Devon. They have plenty of different types of Ajvar and Kajmak to choose from as well as the right kind of buns.

Five minutes under the broiler, turn over and a few minutes more on the other side makes for a very quick weeknight dinner.

I was getting ready to mention them. You can also have the folks in back make you a sandwich right there. You choose which style you want (beef/lamb or beef/pork) and they grill the cevap and then dress the sandwich. Everything is diced onion and both Kajmak and Ajvar on Lepinja bread. I believe it's all made in house. They do a Balkan Burger too. Good cheap eats.


Grilled to Order Cevapi Sandwich

City Fresh Market
3201 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 681-8600

Sin of omission:

I have never eaten a cevap.

Where would one procure the ideal form in Chicagoland?

....and for those who must make their own-cevapcici -
Pete's Fresh Market- on Western @ Madison- sells a package of Bosnian
seasoning mix to add to your own ground meat mixture, in their Multi-Cultural
Ethnic Foods Aisle- same area as the Agvars and other E. European Foods are located.

Also- Fresh Farms in Niles- has em already to grill- in the meat section-
sold in packages of about a dozen or more.....

Beograd Cafe on Irving Park is a good place to try them. You can get them in their restaurant. Or if you'd like to cook them at home, you can purchase them uncooked in their deli.

Beograd Cafe
2933-39 West Irving Park Road, Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 478-7575

http://www.beogradchicago.com/

bw77 wrote:We have picked up some tasty raw cevapcici at City Fresh Market on Devon. They have plenty of different types of Ajvar and Kajmak to choose from as well as the right kind of buns.

Five minutes under the broiler, turn over and a few minutes more on the other side makes for a very quick weeknight dinner.

Quality burek too, but especially get the cake. I'm of the school that all Serbian cake is great cake, but City Fresh's are about the best, probably even better than Fresh Farms (and that says a lot).

Vrbas Grocery Store, at Wolf & Algonquin in Des Plaines, usually has two kinds of terrific cevapi (Bagna Luca and Sarajevo) and some “sheesh” (longer sausages, that cannot be spelled properly with any of the fonts that I have). Great for grilling and freezing for later use.

They also carry lepinja bread and jars of ajvar and kaymak. You might want to call and check availability on the day that you go.

Vrbas Grocery Store
562 E Algonquin Rd
Des Plaines, IL 60016

(847) 298-9665
(no website, but a page on Yelp:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/vrbas-grocery-store-des-plaines)

There is a new Serbian place tucked away in an industrial area in Hodgkins...

http://www.stefangrillcafebar.com/index.html

Stefan Grill
7101 Santa Fe Dr, Hodgkins
(708) 579-0621

They are doing a solid job on their grilled meats. The place has been about half full at lunch time with about half being nationals.

Worth a trip!

Da Beef wrote:

bw77 wrote:We have picked up some tasty raw cevapcici at City Fresh Market on Devon. They have plenty of different types of Ajvar and Kajmak to choose from as well as the right kind of buns.

Five minutes under the broiler, turn over and a few minutes more on the other side makes for a very quick weeknight dinner.

I was getting ready to mention them. You can also have the folks in back make you a sandwich right there. You choose which style you want (beef/lamb or beef/pork) and they grill the cevap and then dress the sandwich. Everything is diced onion and both Kajmak and Ajvar on Lepinja bread. I believe it's all made in house. They do a Balkan Burger too. Good cheap eats.


Grilled to Order Cevapi Sandwich

City Fresh Market
3201 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 681-8600

They are also the grocer at the French Market at Olgivie - though I don't recall offhand if they carry the cevaps there.