It is difficult to find an alternative to barbecue, especially if your family has ardent barbecuers, for whom it is a matter of honor to cook for a picnic. Difficult, but possible! After all, raw sausages (kupaty) are a tasty and always successful addition to a picnic, on which you spend half the time and effort than for a barbecue. They do not need a marinade or any special preparation method. Only a baking rack and 30 minutes of your time. But only if you buy ready-made kupatas. After all, making kupaty yourself at home is long and difficult enough. So what is their feature and why should you buy them ready-made for a picnic?
What is kupaty?
This is a special kind of Georgian raw sausage that needs to be baked or grilled. They always have a natural shell from the intestines of an animal, which retains the juice well inside the sausage, and crunches pleasantly after cooking.
The filling of such sausages can be different: with pork, with beef, or even with chicken (although the latter type of meat is used much less often).
Before filling the sausages with meat, the intestines are well washed and soaked. Then each sausage is filled in a special way to preserve the integrity of the casing. If the integrity is violated, the meat juice will begin to flow, and therefore the sausage will be dry and tasteless.
Stuff the kupaty with minced meat with the appropriate amount of lard to keep them juicy. The traditional recipe adds spices to minced meat, including barberry, garlic, cumin, and coriander. However, such a set of spices is optional and now you can find kupaty of different recipes.
Cooking such sausages at home is long and difficult, but possible. If you have 2 hours and are enthusiastic about trying something new, go ahead. But we can assure you that the selection of such sausages on the Ukrainian market is quite rich and you can find kupaty as good as you would cook at home.
How to search kupata?
You can find kupaty anywhere. Now they are in almost every supermarket. After all, this is not only a good addition to a picnic, it is also a delicious dish for dinner that you can cook in the oven at home. However, it is another matter to find tasty and high-quality kupaty, in which there will be the correct proportion of meat and lard, as well as an adequate amount of spices.
Therefore, always look at the composition indicated on the packaging of the delicacy. Raw meat should be at least 80%. Also, pay attention to the type of sausages. If you see a lot of black pepper in the meat, then it will overpower the taste of the meat too much.
Kupaty’s packaging also matters. Especially if you are going to take them with you on a picnic. Choose those in a vacuum container or bag. So you will be 100% sure that after transportation and the period of preparation of the grill/barbecue before baking, they will remain fresh. If kupaty are packed in cling film, then under the scorching sun and after several hours without a refrigerator, they can not only lose their taste but also harm your health.
We pack our kupaty exclusively in a vacuum container so that they can be kept fresh as long as possible and it is convenient for you to take them with you to a picnic.
Why kupaty is a good alternative to barbecue?
As we already know, meat for a barbecue cannot but have fat and veins, because this is what makes it tender and juicy. However, we also know that not everyone loves meat with veins. Therefore, to please every guest, you have to cook barbecue not only from classic meat, but look for an alternative. Kupaty can be such an alternative. After all, these are minced sausages, and accordingly, there will be no veins or fat. These are solid pieces of juicy and spicy sausage that can be grilled quickly and easily.
They cannot be spoiled unless you leave them on flame and forget about them. They do not need additional attention — they just put them on the wire rack and leave for 30 minutes, turning the wire mesh once to fry the opposite side of the kupat.
Why can’t it be an alternative to barbecue that even the most demanding picnic guest will appreciate? Maybe, of course.
We have made such an alternative for gourmets UPP from beef and pork. This is a special delicacy that we produce in small quantities, but kupaty can be found in all our branded stores. If you still managed to snatch a few packs of this delicacy, then you will no longer be able to imagine your picnic without such an addition, we can assure you.
