Slavinken

Slavink, loosely translated as beat finch or lettuce finch, is one of the several ready-to-prepare foods that are available at the butcher store or in the meat department of a grocery store in the Netherlands. It is also one of the more traditional meat options for lunch (if you have your hot meal at lunch time) or dinner.

Slavink is a variation on the blinde vink, or blind finch, another meat product. Why these birds were chosen to name these products is not entirely sure, although it is thought that the size and roundness of the product reminds one of a small bird. Okay. It is true that in medieval times, out of sheer hunger, people would eat any bird they would catch, and I am sure finches were among the bounty, but more money could be made with selling the songbird to more affluent citizens.

To this day, vinkenzettingen, or finch singing competitions, are held in parts of Flanders, Holland and parts of Germany and France. The amount of songs the birds sing in an hour are counted and whomever had more songs wins. In the early days of these competitions, the birds would have their sight taken away to keep them from getting distracted and stop singing. This would be done rather cruelly. Later on, the cages would be "blinded" instead.

Another, more plausible explanation is the fact that the slavink was created by butcher Ton Spoelder, third generation butcher who opened a butcher store in Laren in 1951. Ton Spoelder decided, with Dutch practicality, that the cost of meat would reduce greatly if customers would come to the store to purchase their meat instead of having a fleet of young delivery boys running all over town. His innovative ideas were not only applied to store management, but also to developing new products, one of which was the slavink. It is thought that the name is an abbreviation of "slager's vink", butcher's finch.

Either way, you'll much prefer this meatroll to a itty-bitty feathery finch on your plate. The slavink, nor blinde vink, at the butcher's is not a bird: it is a small meatroll, wrapped in either bacon (slavink) or veal (blinde vink).

You can use bacon or pancetta for the slavink: the bacon used in Holland is not smoked so unless you can find fresh pork somewhere, select a bacon that is not overly smokey for best practices. I like to use a thicker sliced bacon and pound it flat between cling film to make the wrapping easier.

Makes six slavinken.  

Slavinken
8 oz (250 grams) ground beef
8 oz (250 grams) ground pork

1/4 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
Nutmeg (optional)
1/4 cup (28 grams)  tablespoons bread crumbs
2 tablespoons milk

1 large egg
18 slices bacon

4 tablespoons (50 grams) butter

Mix the ground beef with the ground pork, and season to taste with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Don't hesitate to add garlic, caramelized onions, paprika, curry, or your favorite meatloaf spices. Knead in the breadcrumbs, milk and the egg, and divide into six equal portions, about 3 oz/80 grams each. Roll into small logs.

Place three slices of bacon on a cutting board: two overlapping slices vertically, and one slice about one third down horizontally, with one vertical piece under and the other one over the horizontal piece. Place the raw meat log horizontally on the middle piece, and fold over the loose ends on the right and left side. Bring over the top pieces, and then roll the slavink down, until you've reached the bottom of the bacon strips. If you want to, you could use a wooden toothpick to secure the bottom pieces. Roll the meat a couple of times with the palm of your hand to tighten it up. After you've done all six rolls, cover and refrigerate for about thirty minutes.

Retrieve the slavinken from the fridge about ten minutes before you are getting ready to cook them. Melt the butter in a frying pan. Place the slavinken carefully in the pan. Cook them on low-medium heat to avoid scorching the bacon. Turn them around, carefully, and cook the other sides, until all sides are golden brown. Use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature: 160°F (71°C). 

Remove the meat rolls from the pan, return it to the stove and stir in half a cup of water, a tablespoon or two of tomato ketchup, or a generous spoonful of mustard, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen up all the crunchy bits, and get a pan jus.

Slavinken serve well with stamppot (here with red cabbage stamppot), as the V in AGV (aardappels, groente,vlees, potatoes, vegetable, meat), or cold and sliced the next day on a white bun.