Chef Dimitra
Attiki Kotopoulo me Patates sto Fourno (Κοτόπουλο με Πατάτες στο Φούρνο)
Attiki's lemon-oregano tray roast: chicken browned above, potatoes cut large below, drinking olive oil, garlic, lemon, and all the Sunday pan juices.
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Macedonian Choirino me Damaskina (Χοιρινό με Δαμάσκηνα)
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Macedonian Christmas pork is shoulder braised with leeks, wine, warm spice, and prunes that stay plump in a dark sauce, rich enough for the feast but still a home pot.
Main Dishes
Greek
Christmas
Special Occasion
Comfort Food
30 min
Active Time
2 hr cook•2 hr 30 min total
Yield6 servings
Choirino me damaskina is Macedonia's winter pork, a Christmas pot of shoulder, sweet leeks, red wine, and dried prunes cooked until the sauce turns dark and glossy. It isn't a sugary dish. The prunes soften the pork's richness and give the sauce its old northern depth.
The one thing to get right is the prunes. Soak them first, then add them late. If they go in dry and early, they steal liquid from the pot and collapse before the pork is tender. Plump them in wine, let the shoulder braise nearly to softness, then tuck them in for the last half hour. They should hold their shape under the spoon.
This is food for a full table, the kind that sits beside potatoes or pilafi and asks only for bread to chase the sauce. I write it with leeks because that's the Macedonian hand in the pot: winter-sweet, practical, and generous. Good olive oil, and patience. The region is the dish's surname.
In Macedonia, Christmas pork belongs to the old winter slaughter season, the choirosfagia, when families rendered fat, made sausages, and cooked fresh cuts before curing the rest. Dried plums in savory meat pots reflect the fruit-growing north and the sweet-sour register carried through Byzantine and Ottoman kitchens. The Macedonian version keeps the dish grounded with leeks, so the prunes enrich the sauce rather than turning the pot into a sweet stew.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
pork shoulder
Quantity
1.2kg
cut into 5cm pieces
pitted dried prunes (damaskina)
Quantity
250g
dry red wine
Quantity
250ml
extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil
Quantity
80ml
leeks
Quantity
600g
white and pale green parts, sliced thickly
yellow onion
Quantity
1 large
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
lightly crushed
tomato paste
Quantity
1 tablespoon
bay leaves
Quantity
2
cinnamon stick
Quantity
1 small
allspice berries
Quantity
3
orange peel
Quantity
1 strip
no bitter white pith
hot water or light chicken stock
Quantity
500ml
fine sea salt
Quantity
12g
plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1 teaspoon
red wine vinegar (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
for balance
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| pork shouldercut into 5cm pieces | 1.2kg |
| pitted dried prunes (damaskina) | 250g |
| dry red wine | 250ml |
| extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil | 80ml |
| leekswhite and pale green parts, sliced thickly | 600g |
| yellow onionfinely chopped | 1 large |
| garlic cloveslightly crushed | 2 |
| tomato paste | 1 tablespoon |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| cinnamon stick | 1 small |
| allspice berries | 3 |
| orange peelno bitter white pith | 1 strip |
| hot water or light chicken stock | 500ml |
| fine sea saltplus more to taste | 12g |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1 teaspoon |
| red wine vinegar (optional)for balance | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •wide heavy braising pot with lid, 28cm
- •warm serving platter with a shallow rim
Instructions
- 1
Soak the prunes
Put the prunes in a small bowl and cover them with the red wine. Leave them for 30 minutes while you start the pork. This is the step that decides the sauce: the prunes must plump before they meet the pot, so they stay whole and give their sweetness slowly instead of dissolving into jam.
- 2
Brown the pork
Pat the pork dry and season it with the salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a wide heavy pot over medium-high heat, then brown the pork in two batches until deep gold on two or three sides, 8 to 10 minutes per batch. Move the browned pieces to a plate. Don't crowd the pot, or the meat boils in its own juices and loses the dark base this dish needs.
- 3
Soften the leeks
Lower the heat to medium. Add the leeks and onion to the same pot and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, scraping the bottom as they release their water. They should soften and turn glossy, not brown hard. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, just until the paste darkens.
- 4
Build the braise
Return the pork and any juices to the pot. Add the wine from the soaking prunes, holding the prunes back for later. Bubble the wine for 3 minutes, then add the bay leaves, cinnamon, allspice, orange peel, and hot water or stock. The liquid should come about halfway up the meat, not drown it.
- 5
Braise until tender
Cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer gently for 1 hour 15 minutes, turning the pork once or twice. The liquid should barely tremble. If it boils hard, the pork tightens and the leeks break down before their sweetness has done its work.
- 6
Add the prunes
Nestle the soaked prunes into the sauce and cook uncovered for 25 to 35 minutes more, until the pork yields to a fork and the sauce is dark, glossy, and spoon-coating. Taste at the end. If the prunes are very sweet, stir in the vinegar, one teaspoon at a time, until the sauce comes back into balance.
- 7
Rest and serve
Pull out the cinnamon stick, bay leaves, allspice, and orange peel. Let the pot stand off the heat for 15 minutes before serving. Spoon the pork, leeks, and whole prunes onto a warm platter with plenty of sauce. Mashed potatoes, rice pilafi, or good bread all know what to do here.
Chef Tips
- •Choose pork shoulder or neck, not lean loin. This dish needs the small seams of fat that melt into the sauce. Lean pork turns dry before the leeks have finished their work.
- •Use soft, good dried prunes, the kind you would eat from the packet. If they're hard as stones, soak them longer in the wine, but don't boil them separately. You want them plump, not emptied of themselves.
- •Cook it a day ahead if you like. The sauce settles beautifully overnight. Reheat it slowly with a splash of hot water, because a hard boil will break the prunes and roughen the meat.
Advance Preparation
- •The pork can be cut and salted up to 12 hours ahead, then kept covered in the refrigerator.
- •The whole dish can be cooked 1 day ahead and reheated gently before serving.
- •Soak the prunes in the wine 30 minutes before cooking, or up to 2 hours if they are very dry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 430g)
Calories
780 calories
Total Fat
50 g
Saturated Fat
15 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
35 g
Cholesterol
145 mg
Sodium
1000 mg
Total Carbohydrates
45 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
21 g
Protein
38 g
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