The national cuisine of any country is of interest and a desire to know its traditions and culture. This is the part of life that can unite the warring nations, because "war is war and lunch is scheduled!" So, today we will learn about traditional dishes of Serbian cuisine.
Serbian cuisine features
The traditional cuisine of the Serbian people is similar to dishes from other Balkan countries - Montenegro and Yugoslavia. The formation of these traditions at different periods in the history of the Serbian people was influenced by the cultures of the Middle East and European countries.
Serbian cuisine (recipes) is characterized by more than one feature, we will indicate several:
- total use of cheese in cooking - it is added to the first, second and sweet dishes;
- vegetables - there are a lot of dishes from them in the traditional culinary of the country, primarily because of their cheapness;
- simple recipes for sweets, often bakery products and masses resembling jams and preserves;
- natural drinks - herbal teas, fruit drinks and juices from berries and fruits are popular;
- self-made alcoholic drinks - tinctures, liquors, wine, rakia.
Rakia - a strong alcoholic beverage traditional for the Balkan countries, made from fruit and berry juices by distillation using the primary fermentation system of raw materials.
About raw materials for dishes
The most common food products that are used in cooking are those produced by the country's natural agriculture and livestock production.
These are lamb, pork, lamb and goat. The meat is prepared in whole pieces for chop, portioned - for stewing. There are also many recipes for kebabs, smoked or grilled sausages made from natural meat. Meat products are cooked and dried.
Soups, stews and fried dishes are prepared from fish and seafood. Despite the geographical proximity of the sea, Serbian cuisine offers recipes from simple and inexpensive river fish.
Milk and dairy products. Cow and sheep milk are widely used . Almost every day a resident of the country begins with it, regardless of his property status. Hard, smoked cheese and feta cheese, amazingly tasted, are made from milk (cow, sheep, goat), bread and bakery products are baked with milk. They also prepare liquid fermented milk products, which are rich in Serbian cuisine (recipes with photos, see below).
Vegetables are the most popular among the inhabitants of the country. Serbia serves them everywhere and always. Breakfast or lunch, dinner or afternoon snack - you can always see on the table of each family a lot of fresh vegetables. Traditionally, they are served as a simple chopped salad with greens and olive oil dressing. But sometimes there are complex recipes in which some vegetables are first boiled or fried. Among the most used vegetables are tomatoes, onions, potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, cabbage, green lettuce and many others.
For dessert, recipes of Serbian national cuisine offer an abundance of pies with cottage cheese, cheese, vegetable or meat filling, donuts, pies, baked nuts and plums, jam, cookies and a lot of all kinds of sweets.
Dishes of national cuisine
The following national dishes are typical for Serbian cuisine:
- bread - its baking and consumption are similar to the national ritual (the first thing that guests offer in any home is home-made bread and salt) - loaves, bagels, flat cakes, rugs, pies (of various sizes), a “family” of small rolls;
- soups - fish soup, meat, vegetable and cereal first courses;
- second courses - fried meat dishes, sausages, thick cereal cereals with cheese ("Popara"), meat rolls with ham and cheese, stewed meat dishes with vegetables, stuffed vegetable dishes;
- salads of fresh or fried vegetables with cheese, "Lutenitsa" - an appetizer of baked sweet peppers (this is an analogue of vegetable caviar, the dish is usually prepared for the future);
- desserts - rice pudding, gingerbread cookies, “Palachinka” - a variant of national pancakes, “Tufahia” - apples and walnuts stewed in sugar syrup, cherry pies with nuts and a lot of various goodies;
- one of the traditional drinks is "Bosa" - a mixture of fermented corn with water and yeast, often made from oatmeal - the drink is considered low alcohol.
What spices and seasonings do you use?
Serbian cuisine (national dishes, recipes) does not have a strong tradition of using any spices and seasonings. In a broad sense, this is due to the temperate climate of the Balkan Peninsula.
In recipes, the usual black ground pepper or dried spicy herbs (bay leaf, coriander and some others) predominate.
Serge Markovich
Serbian dishes and recipes for the Russian review were opened by the famous Serbian chef and restaurateur Serge Markovic. He is the author of several cookbooks and many thematic workshops on cooking national dishes of the Balkan country.
If you liked Serbian cuisine, you will also like Serge Markovich’s recipes. All of them are mainly arranged in a video sequence and do not have specific descriptions, however we have found for you some original recipes from the famous chef.
"Torator" - cold soup recipe
Torator is a kind of analogue of the Russian traditional okroshka. Its constant components include cucumbers, unsweetened yogurt (kefir) and walnuts.
What products are needed:
- unsweetened yogurt (or low-fat kefir) - 0.5 l;
- fresh cucumbers - 2-3 pcs.;
- greens of young dill - 100-150 g;
- garlic - 2-3 cloves;
- walnuts - 100 g;
- olive oil - 2-3 tbsp. l .;
- salt, black pepper - to taste;
- cold boiled water - optional.
How to cook:
- Rinse cucumbers, dill and garlic. Peel the latter.
- Grate the cucumbers, finely chop the dill, and chop the garlic into gruel.
- Kill the walnuts in a blender or harvester in large crumbs.
- In a saucepan, mix yogurt, cucumbers, dill, garlic, nuts, olive oil. Season everything with salt and ground pepper.
- Attention! The dish is ready to eat. But if it seems to you that it turned out a little thick, add chilled boiled water and mix.
This soup is served cold.
"Pleskavitsa" - recipe with meat
Serbian cuisine highlights meat recipes in a separate chapter of its history. Pleskavitsa is one of the most popular meat dishes in this country.
What products are needed:
- lamb (or lamb) - 300 g;
- pork - 100-150 g;
- onions - 50-70 g;
- garlic - 1-2 cloves;
- salt;
- olive oil.
How to cook:
- To get started, rinse all the meat and peeled vegetables. Then scroll in a meat grinder with a fine grill. Need a gentle uniform minced meat with vegetables.
- Mix the resulting mass with salt and divide into two approximately equal parts.
- From each piece of meat, form a flat patty about 2-2.5 cm thick. Lubricate it with olive oil and fry in a hot pan for 4-5 minutes on each side.
Traditionally, such meat patties form about the size of a human palm (or oblong sausages) and are fried over an open fire or grill.
"Tufahia" - a national dessert
What products are needed:
- apples - 2-3 pcs.;
- lemon - 1/2 pcs.;
- walnuts - 50 g;
- sugar - 150 g;
- water - 100 ml.
How to cook:
- Peel and finely chop the apples. Mix with water and juice of half a lemon (you can take any citrus fruit, but the juice should be at least 50 ml). Add sugar and simmer until thickened.
- In the meantime, chop the walnuts. Serbian cuisine does not say anything about peeling nuts from dark peels, but you can do this if you wish.
- Add nuts to apples and mix.
- When the mass is thick, remove from heat and put in a bowl or portioned jars.
This dessert can be prepared in the form of stuffed apples. Then follow the step by step preparation:
- apples in general, but peeled from the skin and core, boil in sweet water with lemon juice (water will need more than 100 ml - it should cover the apples);
- chop walnuts into crumbs and mix with a small amount of sugar, sauté in a pan until sugar is caramelized - stuff the apples with this mixture and serve.
If desired, sprinkle a little cheese on top of such apples.
The drinks
There are many alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in Serbian culture. Many of the latter are based on brandy. One of them we present to you - “Shumadi tea” - hot or cold sweet raki.
"Shumadian tea" - recipe
What products are needed:
- rakia (40-45 ° C) - 500 ml;
- water - 750 ml;
- sugar - 50 g.
How to cook:
- Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. All sugar grains should dissolve.
- Pour into glasses immediately and drink hot. Or leave to cool and cold serve.
Serbian cuisine (recipes and cooking traditions) is a wide topic for familiarization and, perhaps, we will return to it in further articles.