Serbian food and drinks

Serbian cuisine - History and origins

● Serbian cuisine is a Balkan cuisine that consists of the culinary methods
and traditions of Serbia. The roots of the Serbian cuisine lie in Serbia’s
history, including centuries of cultural contact and influence with the
Greeks and Byzantines, the Ottomans and Serbia’s neighbouring
countries.

Meals - Breakfast
● Breakfast in Serbia is an early but hearty meal, rich in calories, meant to
provide one with lots of energy to start the day. Bread is frequently served
with butter, jam, yoghurt, sour cream or cheese accompanied by bacon,
sausage, salami, eggs or kajmak. Coffee is often drank before breakfast.
● Serbians often stop by a bakery in the morning for fresh pastries such as
pogačice, burek, kiflice, perece, buhtle.

Burek
Börek or burek are a family of pastries or pies found in the Balkans, Middle East
and Central Asia. The pastry is made of a thin flaky dough such as filo with a
variety of fillings, such as meat, cheese, spinach or potatoes. Boreks are mainly
associated with Anatolia, the Middle East, Armenia, and also with the former
Ottoman Empire, including the Balkans and the South Caucasus, Eastern
European and Central European countries, Northern Africa and Central Asia. A
borek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as
individual pastries. They are usually baked but some varieties can be fried. Borek
is sometimes sprinkled with sesame or nigella seeds, and it can be served hot or
cold.

Appetizers

● Meze is an assortment of small dishes and appetizers, though, unlike the

Middle Eastern meze it does not usually include cooked dishes and is
therefore more similar to Italian antipasto.
 ● A Serbian meze includes slices of cured meats and sausages, cheeses,
olives, fresh vegetables and zimnica. Meze is served either to accompany
alcoholic drinks or as a starter before a soup on bigger meals.

The main course is most commonly a meat dish. Besides roštilj (barbecue) which
is very popular, braising, stewing, and roasting in an oven are the most common
cooking methods.

Main courses - Karadjordjes cutlet

Karađorđe's schnitzel (Serbian: Карађорђева шницла/Karađorđeva šnicla) is a

Serbian breaded cutlet dish named after the Serbian revolutionary Karađorđe. It
is a rolled veal or pork steak, stuffed with kajmak, and then breaded and fried. It
is served with roasted potatoes and tartar sauce.
The dish is a modern invention, created by chef Mića Stojanović in 1959 who,
when he needed to prepare Chicken Kiev for a distinguished visitor from the
Soviet Union, was faced with lack of poultry. He used veal instead of chicken.]
However, not fully satisfied with the result, he poured tartar sauce over it, and
decorated it with a slice of lemon and pieces of tomato, which at the end
resembled the medal of the Order of the Star of Karađorđe, and thus the steak
was named.

Main courses - Sarma

Sarma (Cyrillic: Сарма), commonly marketed as filled grape leaves or filled
cabbage leaves, is a stuffed dish in Southeastern European and made of
vegetable leaves—such as cabbage, patience dock, collard, grapevine, kale or
chard leaves—rolled around a filling of grains (such as rice), minced meat, or
both. Sarma is part of the broader category of stuffed dishes known as dolma.

Main courses - Pasulj

Pasulj (from phaseolus; пасуљ), grah (грах) or grav (грав) is a bean stew made
of usually white, cranberry or pinto beans, and more rarely kidney beans that is a
popular dish in Balkan cuisine. It is normally prepared with meat, particularly
smoked meat such as smoked bacon, sausage, and ham hock, and is a typical
winter dish. Other commonly used ingredients include carrots and onions.

Deserts
Šampita is a whipped meringue dessert with egg yolk crust, originating in the
Balkans.

Lazy pie has been a delicacy since ancient times. It is often made in Serbia
because it is very easy to make and the ingredients are cheap. It is usually made
with apples, but can also be made with cherries, blueberries and other fruits.
Systematically speaking, it looks like putting fruit between two crusts. Different
variants of the recipe have been created over time, and every housewife has a
secret recipe for her pie.

Bajadera , a sweet made of chocolate, ground biscuits, walnuts and butter, is

one of the most popular desserts in Serbia and is an indispensable part of every
festive table.

Drinks
Rakija
The simplest way to explain rakija is to call it a fruit brandy. It’s a traditional
Balkan alcoholic beverage (Southeast Europe) that’s made from fermented fruits,
most commonly plums, grapes, and pears, but there are many other fruit options
like cherries, apricots, apples, and more. One might even call rakija a fruit
moonshine; it does contain very high alcohol content – 40% ABV. In countries
such as Serbia and Bulgaria, rakija is treated almost as a national treasure,
where many people make their own rakija for household use and treating guests.
Rakija can also be found in many beverage shops around the world.