Community News

BREAKY WAS SO NICE, IT WAS A WINNER TWICE

ANDREW COPPOLINO

Front-of-house discombobulations sent the wrong dishes to tables, but it also offered the opportunity to eat more scrumptious chevaps at Jasna's European Meat and Deli.

My breakfast went to a neighbouring table, while I got that table's beautifully grilled half-dozen or so sausages — chevaps made from beef, lamb and veal — swaddled in a pillowy soft bun that, spongelike and eager, sopped up the seasoned juices.

Mea culpa: when the plate arrived, I couldn't help myself. Given the aroma and drippy-juiciness of the chevaps, I grabbed the kaimak, slathered it on and munched away only to realize, too late, what I had done.

The other table, quite diplomatically, said they were quite happy with my breakfast — and then promptly ordered again the dish I had unintentionally nicked.

My hastiness was the catalyst that prompted a second visit to Jasna's: at that time, two eggs and four chevaps arrived — breakfast is served and all's right with the world — along with crispy hot fries and Jasna's well-loved lepinja.

A bread of the Balkans, lepinja is soft and beautifully fluffy and often appears as lepinje za cevapi: "lepinja for cevaps," the luscious minced-meat kebabs and bread.

It's a pairing akin to the nonpareil bond between Real Madrid's Luka Modric, a Croatian, and a football.

The Jasna's building — I recall to this day its former block-lettered sign "Arcuense Store" — is a tightlypacked grocery store, in front, and kitchen and dining room in back.

Step inside and you are face-to-face with jars of jam and ajvar, the roasted red pepper condiment.

The narrow aisles barely permit you to swing your arms, and the selection of chocolate treats, long-handled cezve for making Turkish coffee, innumerable assorted and sundry foodstuffs, flags of the world and mini-boxing gloves for hanging on your rear-view mirror is dizzying.

A deli counter with meats and cheeses is straight head; the point-ofsale in the restaurant also serves as the pastry case.

The building seems out of place, a retail space among homes on Courtland at Benton; however, it has always fit in perfectly, including in its previous Arcuense life in what was once a Portuguese neighbourhood.

Jasna and Miodrag Maslenjak bought the business in 2012; son Miki, sporting a Premier League Arsenal cap, also works there sometimes.

The rustic dining room of about 20 seats has a museumlike quality which includes, sitting in one corner, a talandara grill (I believe for sale: $520.00).

Tchotchke of eastern Europe including embroidered linen, decorative woollen booties and traditional garments, knickknack and photographs adorn the walls, along with carvings and paintings of mountain scenery, lanterns and a replica soccer jersey or two.

Jasna's serves rich, meaty and seasoned dishes — hearty eastern European fare, that covers dishes from the cuisine of the former Yugoslavia.

The all-day Serbian

breakfast is filling and satisfying. Two dozen lunches and dinners range from simple cheeseburgers and hungryman burgers to pljeskavica burgers and pileca snicla fried chicken breast with fries and grilled veg.

There's razijici grilled chicken or pork skewers, rolled-stuffed pork, pasulj bean soup, goulash, schnitzel and cabbage rolls. Classic shopska salad is, of course, on the menu.

Poutine, its french fries

a welcoming tabula rasa for added cheese and gravy of any denomination, also make an appearance.

Homey and comforting, a number of pastries are made in-house, as is the lepinja and a selection of other breads.

Order Turkish-style coffee and a small tray arrives, rich and thick and very happy to accept a sprinkling of sugar.

Pleasantly full of chevaps, it's a chance to sit and sip the heady brew while taking in the charm and warm homeyness of eastern Europe.

Visit Jasna's at 46 Courtland Ave. E., Kitchener, online at www.jasnasemd.com or call 519-576-2736.

(Note: Before visiting, check with the venue regarding dish availability and hours of opening.)

Andrew Coppolino of Kitchener is the author of "Farm to Table" and coauthor of "Cooking with Shakespeare." He is the 2022 Joseph Hoare gastronomic writer-in-residence at the Stratford Chefs School. Follow him on Twitter at @andrewcoppolino.

OPINION

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2023-03-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://communitynews.pressreader.com/article/281569474974338

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