Pork Recipes, Recipes

Ražnjići

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Four cooked ražnjići pork and plum skewers served on a plate with marinade, herbs and sliced onions.

In Serbian and Croatian, ražanj means a barbecue spit or skewer, so ražnjići are meat skewers or kebabs, and are our equivalent to the better-known Greek souvlaki or Turkish şaşlik. There are many variants and different meats can be used to make them, but typically they are made from veal or pork or a mix of both, and are nothing more complicated than very good quality meat, grilled over live fire, salted and served with sliced onions.

My version takes inspiration from the Balkan autumn, always abundant with fruits: quinces, pears, medlars, apples and, the most highly prized of all, prune plums. Plums are used plentifully in the Balkan kitchen, both fresh and dried (or otherwise preserved), especially with meat dishes. I like to imagine a warm autumn sun setting, rows of ražnjići on a rostilj set up in the middle of the orchard, plumes of smoke caressing the now-naked apple or plum trees stripped of their fruit, the scent of the meat taunting everyone while they sit and rest a little from the harvest, eagerly awaiting some much-needed sustenance, and relaxing with a fortifying glass of šljivovica (plum brandy).

This recipe is by Irina Janakievska and is kindly reproduced with her permission from The Balkan Kitchen.

Serves: 4-6

Prep time: 25 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

*If using our diced pork or diced leg of lamb, we recommend marinating overnight. For lamb, add an extra tablespoon of olive oil to the marinade and grill over a medium-high heat (not searing hot) for about 4–5 minutes per side, until nicely browned on the outside but still slightly pink and juicy inside.

Marinade

Method

  1. First, make the marinade. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to a fine paste.
  2. Put the pork into a large container (for which you have a lid), add the marinade and toss to coat, then cover and either marinate in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
  3. Thread the marinated pork onto metal skewers (or wooden skewers that have been soaked in water for 30 minutes), interspersing them with the pieces of apple and plum.
  4. Toss the onions with the herbs and the oil and cider vinegar and set aside.
  5. Grill the ražnjići on a hot barbecue (or under the grill/broiler in your oven on the highest setting) for 3–4 minutes on each side, until the pork is cooked through. Rest for 5 minutes before serving with the onions.

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Irina Janakievska is a Macedonian-British food writer and recipe developer whose work explores the history and traditions of Balkan cuisine. After beginning her career in law, she turned to food, drawing on a childhood spent between North Macedonia and Kuwait and life in London to shape a unique culinary perspective.

Her debut cookbook, The Balkan Kitchen (Quadrille, 2024), was shortlisted for the Jane Grigson Trust Award in 2023 and the Fortnum & Mason Debut Cookery Book Award in 2025. It went on to win multiple accolades, including the James Beard Foundation Award (International, 2025), the British Library Food Season Narrative Cookery Book Award (2025), and a Special Jury Award from the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards (2024).

Irina’s writing has appeared in The Guardian, Food Network US, Whetstone Magazine, and Pit Magazine. She has also featured on BBC Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio London, Times Radio, and ABC Radio. She lives in south London with her husband and young son.

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Ask yourself this. When did you last have a really good pork chop? This is why we keep coming back to it. Native, rare breed pork. Dry aged on the bone. Proper depth of flavour. Nothing like the pale, wet stuff you see elsewhere. These are our Pork Chops with Rosemary and Anchovy Butter. Two thick, rindless chops. Two discs of handmade compound butter. Anchovy, rosemary, lemon zest, a little shallot. Old friends. It works.
Ask yourself this. When did you last have a really good pork chop? This is why we keep coming back to it. Native, rare breed pork. Dry aged on the bone. Proper depth of flavour. Nothing like the pale, wet stuff you see elsewhere. These are our Pork Chops with Rosemary and Anchovy Butter. Two thick, rindless chops. Two discs of handmade compound butter. Anchovy, rosemary, lemon zest, a little shallot. Old friends. It works.
@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
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Follow
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@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
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Follow
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@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
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@swaledalebutchers
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