World record giant peka cooked in Croatia

by croatiaweek
August 15, 2024
in Food & Wine

The giant peka (Photo credit: Restoran Glorya)

If you have visited Croatia then surely you have come across a ‘peka’.

The famous traditional Croatian dish is meat and vegetables placed inside a dish with a metal lid which is then cooked in an open fireplace by the hot coals and embers which are placed over the lid.

The dish is left to cook slowly in its own juices until the meat is tender.

What is considered to be the largest ever peka was cooked to celebrate Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian Defenders last week.

The Glorya restaurant in Brnaze near Sinj was the place to be as they prepared a peka worthy of consideration for the Guinness World Records.

A crane had to be used to hoist the massive lid to cover the large baking tray and Branimir Grgić, Stipe Perić, and Stipe Budimir revealed some of the impressive details to Ferata.hr.

A crane had to be used (Photo credit: Restoran Glorya)

“The idea came about quite spontaneously. Last year, someone suggested, ‘Let’s make a dish that no one has ever made before,” Branimir revealed.

“The cooking lid has a diameter of 251 cm, while the tray has a diameter of 236 cm. The total weight is about 600 kilograms. That’s why we need this crane. We’re using around 60 kilograms of veal, about 100 kilograms of potatoes, and around ten kilograms of other ingredients. We’ve prepared about 5 metres of wood for the fire,” Stipe Perić added.

60 kg of veal went inside (Photo credit: Restoran Glorya)

Stipe Budimir says that it was difficult finding someone capable of making such a large cooking lid.

“After quite a search, we found people from Oroslavje, in Zagorje, who made it, and it really is magnificent.”

Apart from this record-breaking peka, special t-shirts and other items were made for the occasion.

The lid goes on (Photo credit: Restoran Glorya)

“We simply want to preserve tradition. Whether in this way or another, we celebrate the brightest moment in our history in honour of our veterans, many of whom were members of the 4th Brigade, the 126th Brigade of the Ministry of the Interior, and other units,” concluded Perić to Ferata.hr.