Pečené kozľa

The story

Roast kid is a traditional Easter meat of western Slovakia. Describing the regional Easter menus to the TASR news agency, ethnologist Katarína Popelková of the Slovak Academy of Sciences listed roast kid for the west, together with stuffed veal, smoked-meat soup, smoked ham with potato salad dressed in vinegar, and beets with horseradish. Central Slovakia, she said, leans toward aspic, sour cabbage soup and stuffed lamb or hare, and the east toward paska. Another TASR report on Easter eating notes that pečené jahňa alebo kozľa, roast lamb or kid, is still served next to the ham, and a Noviny.sk feature on the Slovak Easter menu says roast lamb or kid was long an essential Easter course. TASR also calls the veľkonočný baránok, the Easter lamb, a symbol of the sacrifice of Christ. Head chef Daniel Hrivňák told TASR that he is replacing chicken and beef with lamb and that kid meat is gaining favor. In the United States, kid is easiest to find at halal, Caribbean or Mexican butchers; order a leg a week or two before Easter Sunday, March 28, 2027, and serve it with parsley potatoes, a green salad and horseradish.