pirun i ožica

My first encounter with  sweet-salty combination was in Hong Kong. I was 16 years old. Until then, I was out of the country only once, and I was accustomed mostly to my mother’s way of cooking.

I very well remember the day I left. Proudly wearing a shirt that had Montenegro written on it, I could hardly wait for my adventure to begin. My family went with me to the airport, still not believing that I have so much courage to go alone into something completely out of my comfort zone. Later, when I rethought some of my life decisions, I wondered what was I thinking. The only conclusion that I could draw is that the insanity of my decisions came from being young. Each adventure occurred without much thinking. Now I wouldn’t even think of going impulsively to Thailand with just a backpack, not knowing where I am going to sleep that night, and probably would not so easily go hiking through Yunnan province when I can’t speak any Chinese.

However, the two years in Hong Kong were interesting from culinary aspect as well. I went there thinking I was so open-minded that I would try anything! But then … Let’s say that my experience is divided: the first year I kept to international cuisine and refused to try something that even “sounded” strange, while the second year I ate nothing but Chinese food and a variety of unusual dishes (I even tried the so-called stinking fruit, i.e. durian ). I lived on campus in a very international school, for which I received a scholarship (UWC), and whose canteen had this division between the Western and Eastern cuisine. Now I regret that I didn’t dare to eat Eastern dishes until the second year. And now I miss Chinese food. There are a couple of Chinese restaurants here, but those are not even vaguely reminiscent of the real Chinese food. W. For years I haven’t eaten Chinese steamed fish, mooncakes, hand-pulled noodles, Bing Tang Hulu in Beijing, or fresh dumplings from bamboo steamers…

Coming back to this sweet-salty combination. It has nothing to do with Chinese cuisine, but this salad with pineapple reminded of those days. I remember one time my mom called and I said: “These are crazy, they combine everything together. I love prawns, and I love pineapple, but not mixed together!”  I had no idea what good food is :)

Ingredients:

400 g turkey breast

2 red peppers

1 yellow pepper

lettuce

cherry tomatoes

200 g mushrooms

100 g bacon

100 g feta cheese

100 g canned pineapple

vinegar (I use white balsamic)

1 teaspoon oregano

salt, pepper

Prepare:

Season turkey fillets and put them on the grill. Meanwhile, cut peppers, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, and feta cheese. Cut bacon into cubes and fry them in a pan. In that same pan, after the bacon, fry sliced mushrooms. When the turkey is ready cut it to smaller pieces. Mix everything together, add canned pineapple, salt, and oregano. Add vinegar if desired and serve. I did not add any oil in a salad. Shredded feta cheese, bacon and other ingredients give enough juiciness, so to my taste oil was not necessary.