View source for Podvarak

{{short description|Serbian dish}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name             = Podvarak
| image            = Domaći podvarak 02.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| caption          = Typical serving of podvarak
| country          = [[Serbia]]
| region           = [[Balkans]]
| creator          =
| course           = Main, side dish
| served           = Hot
| main_ingredient  = fresh cabbage or [[sauerkraut]] and meat
| variations       = Multiple
| calories         =
| other            =
}}
'''Podvarak''' ([[Serbian Cyrillic]]: подварак) is a dish, popular across the countries of the former [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Multicultural Cookbook of Life-cycle Celebrations | author = Lois Sinaiko Webb | year = 2000 | publisher = ABC-CLIO | isbn = 9781573562904 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CdLuaG_3LowC&q=podvarak&pg=PA161 }}</ref> The primary ingredients are [[Whole sour cabbage|sour cabbage]] or [[sauerkraut]] (подварак од киселог купуса) or fresh [[cabbage]] (подварак од слатког купуса), finely chopped [[onions]] and meat, usually [[pork]] [[Roasting|roast]] or lightly cooked [[Chicken meat#chicken as food|chicken]], which are then combined and [[Baking|baked]] in an [[oven]] in order for all flavors to combine. It is considered poor man's food in parts of [[Serbia]], [[Montenegro]] and [[North Macedonia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rabotic.tripod.com/dictionary.htm|title=A capsule Serbian vocabulary}}</ref> The dish is commonly seasoned with very finely chopped [[bacon]] (typically fried together with chopped onions), [[garlic]], ground [[paprika]] and sometimes, but not, [[Tomato purée|tomato sauce]] or chopped [[sausage]]. Bacon is often used as flavoring even when the meat ingredient is chicken or [[Turkey (bird)|turkey]] meat.

The meal is often made in larger quantities for family gatherings in the winter time (it is a common addition to the table at [[Christmas]] or family gatherings in the days after Christmas in both [[Serb]] and [[Croat]] communities in the area), and is used as both the main dish or as a meatless (made with onions and vegetables only) side dish.

In [[Bosniaks|Bosniak]] [[Muslim]] communities in the Balkans, the dish is made without bacon or pork, with [[poultry]], [[beef]], or [[Lamb and mutton|lamb]]; sometimes lamb [[pastrami]] or beef [[sujuk]] are used as cured, smoked flavoring for the dish.

== Similar dishes ==
* Polish [[bigos]] is a similar dish, the main difference being that podvarak is always baked in the oven to [[Caramelization|caramelize]] meat and cabbage for deeper flavor, and sometimes baked in a [[sač]], outdoors, for additional smokiness.
* [[Wedding cabbage]] is a traditional Serbian dish. The main ingredients are cabbage and meat, which could be pork, bacon, lamb or mutton.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Balkan cuisine]]
[[Category:Cabbage dishes]]

{{Serbian cuisine}}

{{Serbia-cuisine-stub}}
{{Montenegro-cuisine-stub}}
{{NorthMacedonia-cuisine-stub}}
{{Bosnia-cuisine-stub}}