Sarajevo has been a crossroad of east and west for centuries. Many cultures have been intertwined and each one left marks of its period. Habits and tastes have been changed and adjusted through centuries. These changes were also present in Sarajevo’s kitchen. We should not wonder if we find in the kitchen Austrian, Hungarian, Turkish, Italian or some other influences. Sarajevo has been finding its specific taste in culinary art for centuries, which cannot be found everywhere. Recipes were passed on mainly in oral way from generation to generation. Many of these are forgotten.
Food industry also caught this part of the world, but good domestic kitchen was preserved in majority Sarajevo’s homes up until now. There are some characteristic meals in Sarajevo, where you can eat Begova (Bey's) soup, „pace“, „sogan dolma“, „sarma“, kebabs, grilled meat patty, sausages, different kinds of pies (with meat, cheese and spinach), traditional cakes („baklava“, „ruzice“, „kadaif“, „tufahije“, etc.) and many other meals for which tourists return again.
Preparation of food and drink and enjoing it is taken very seriously in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is almost no fast food except cevabdzinice and "burek-saloni", and even it could be interpreted as a kind of “slow food” places. In Bosnia, all food is prepared slowly and enjoyed slowly with the good company and conversation. Meals are plentiful, usually consisting of meat, vegetables and dairy products and spices are used in moderate amounts. The dishes are usually fried and cooked, and desserts and coffee are an unavoidable part of the ritual of eating.
A special pleasure for the guests is “meze” with dry domestic meats, sausages, cheese, sour cream, pickled vegetables, homemade bread and other foods.
Bosnian specialties:
• Appetizers: Cicvare, Popare, hladne plate – meze
• Soups: Begova, Sarajevska, Tarhana Corba, Visegradska, Starigradska, Povrtna Corba, Bosanski Duvec
• Cevapi: Hadzijski Cevapi, Sis cevapi, Chicken, Veal Cevapi and Grilled Meat Patties
• Cured Meat: Smoked Meat, Sausages
• Burek and Pies - Zeljanica, Sirnica, Kljukusa, Maslenica, Krompirusa
• Sarma, Sarma Japrak (with vine leaves)
• Sataras, Peppers stuffed with Potatoes, Snap Beans
• Musaka (Zucchini, Eggplant) and Kvrgusa
• Flat Bread: Bosnian Flat Bread, Somun, Devrek, Corn Cake
• Baklava, Hurmasice, Tufahije, Lokum, Fritters, Krempite and Sampite
• Coffee - As a rule coffee in Bosnia is drunk from the cups with sugar cubes or rahatlokum
Bosnian coffee is a reflection of the Bosnian gourmet mentality. Preparation of coffee begins with roasting and grinding. After that, finely ground coffee is put in a mildly heated metal dish or Turkish coffee pot, to which boiled water is added. Pot is then placed on the hot plate, coffee is stirred and one waits for it to rise to the top of the pot, or until fine foam is made. For the coffee grounds fall to the bottom, one adds a few drops of cold water.
Bottom of the pot has to be wider, while top has to be narrower. One should wait until the coffee cools off a bit and then all we need to do is pour coffee into the cups or as Bosnians say “fildzans” and serve on a special coined trays with lokum with a rose or nuts and a glass of cold spring water.
