In the southeastern Serbian town of Pirot, a traditionally crafted spicy sausage in the shape of a horseshoe has long been said to lift spirits during long winter months. The “ironed sausage”—or peglana kobasica in Serbian—is made from selected meats loaded with seasoning and dried naturally, with its distinctive shape created by a unique bottle-flattening technique. Though it has been part of Pirot’s tradition for generations, the delicacy is now gaining recognition far beyond the town near Serbia’s border with Bulgaria.
The sausage’s rise reflects growing international interest in artisanal, regionally-rooted food traditions—and the cultural and economic pressures threatening to erode them.
An Ancient Recipe Earns Official Recognition
In 2022, Pirot’s ironed sausage received a certificate from state food safety authorities for regional excellence and origin—a designation that requires producers to follow specific regulations. “It is a supreme product,” Marjan Savic, who heads an association of ironed sausage producers, told The Associated Press. “Our sausage is one of the best, if not the best.”
Roots Stretching Back Centuries
The sausage-making tradition in Pirot dates back at least a century, and possibly to the Ottoman era, which ended in the Balkans in 1913. In earlier times, sausage makers dried their products—sometimes hanging them on broomsticks in sheds or attics—after stuffing them with meat from older animals.
The Craft of Making Peglana Kobasica
Around 35 to 40 certified producers operate in the area. They use locally bred beef and goat meat, adding garlic, hot pepper, and spices harvested from the nearby Stara Planina mountain. Making an ironed sausage is “hard labor,” as Savic explained. The meat must first be fully cleared of all fat and connecting tissue, “which is probably the hardest part of the job,” he said.
The production process spans about a month. Misa Rajic, who learned the sausage-making craft from his grandfather and now runs a small manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Pirot, walked through the work. The sausages are dried and flattened daily by hand. Producers press them with a glass bottle, working from the middle outward, which “helps further mix the meat inside the sausage and it helps with the drying because it extracts the moisture,” Rajic explained. A well-dried sausage has a dark color with the greyish surface of the beef intestine casing, which is removed before serving.
Tradition Consumed With Ceremony
Locals in Pirot consume the sausage much like a digestif—after a full meal, including dessert. They cut it into leaf-thin slices and chew slowly with red wine. “We recommend red wines that are a bit robust to match the poignant aroma,” Savic said. “It’s not so good with white wine.”
Each January, Pirot hosts a sausage fair that draws thousands of visitors, including many from neighboring Bulgaria. Yet despite this growing international recognition, traditional sausage-making businesses are threatened by dwindling goat herds in the area and warmer, more humid winters in recent years—shifts experts partly link to climate change.