The food is delicious in Bosnia. I had enjoyed the meals I’d had in Sarajevo last year, although between the interviews had not had time for many proper meals and often just ducked into a café for some strong coffee and an occasional piece of baklava. There was one particularly good Ottoman restaurant, and a cozy, off-the-beaten-path bistro with wonderful Italian food.
Since arriving here, I have had by far the greatest number of consistently good meals, be they soups or cevapi or dolma, far more than in any other ex-Yu country so far. Seated before a plate of steaming dolma, one can easily imagine the skeptical suspicion with which the Serbs would have viewed Ottoman cuisine; it is by no means as straightforward as most Serbian food. There are spices, and mixed flavors, and food chopped up into tiny pieces and put inside of other food, such as dolma, which is far more than just stuffed grape leaves – different varieties include peppers or tomatoes or, incredibly, translucent layers of onions, containing ground meat and rice. The attention paid to flavor could only have been revolutionary.
It will be an effort not to live in restaurants here; although to be fair, my culinary experience in Serbia has seldom included traditional food, nonetheless, after months of fried meat cutlets and such gems as the Karadjordjevic steak (ground meat cutlet wrapped around cheese, breaded and deep-fried and served on a roll with cabbage, tomatoes and cucumbers) and so much pork, Bosnian food reminds me of the feeling I used to get after swimming underwater and holding my breath for a second too long and bursting to the surface.
That first welcome gasp of air?
That is Bosnian food.
Since arriving here, I have had by far the greatest number of consistently good meals, be they soups or cevapi or dolma, far more than in any other ex-Yu country so far. Seated before a plate of steaming dolma, one can easily imagine the skeptical suspicion with which the Serbs would have viewed Ottoman cuisine; it is by no means as straightforward as most Serbian food. There are spices, and mixed flavors, and food chopped up into tiny pieces and put inside of other food, such as dolma, which is far more than just stuffed grape leaves – different varieties include peppers or tomatoes or, incredibly, translucent layers of onions, containing ground meat and rice. The attention paid to flavor could only have been revolutionary.
It will be an effort not to live in restaurants here; although to be fair, my culinary experience in Serbia has seldom included traditional food, nonetheless, after months of fried meat cutlets and such gems as the Karadjordjevic steak (ground meat cutlet wrapped around cheese, breaded and deep-fried and served on a roll with cabbage, tomatoes and cucumbers) and so much pork, Bosnian food reminds me of the feeling I used to get after swimming underwater and holding my breath for a second too long and bursting to the surface.
That first welcome gasp of air?
That is Bosnian food.
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