Niš Baklava
The Balkan Cookbook Niš Baklava As a child, I used to visit auntie ‘O’ on St Nicholas’s Day—Santa Claus is my uncle’s patron saint. On this day over a thousand years ago my uncle’s ancestor had given up his pagan gods and become a Christian. It fell to his descendants to honour the anniversary...
Serbian Chicken Risotto
The Balkan Cookbook Serbian Chicken Risotto I used to hate this as a kid. The smell of boiling chicken never worked for me and it wasn’t until I was in my teens that I really developed a liking for rice. Today this dish is one of my favourites. They used to serve a...
Slavonian Beef
Recipes from ’The Balkan Cookbook’ Slavonian beef with lettuce salad My mum swears she invented this recipe, and after failing to find any beef dish in any Balkan restaurant with exactly the same delicious flavour, I was starting to believe her, until I visited Jerusalem. While walking through the Jewish quarter of the old...
Tomato Salad Straight from the Balkans
The Balkan Cookbook Tomato salad Straight from the Balkans OK this is for me a standard side order when I am traveling through the Balkans in the summer. It is the perfect accompaniment to grilled meat and fish dishes helped along with a few rocks of bread. On the plane somewhere over the Alps I...
A Serbian Breakfast
The Balkan Cookbook A Serbian Breakfast I discovered my first Serbian Breakfast at the national trumpet festival in Guca. The trumpet festival happens once a year in the village of Guca where for one weekend a few hundred thousand people descend on Guca and spend five days and nights, without pause, drinking and dancing to...
Adriatic Roast Potatoes
The Balkan Cookbook Roast potatoes This method of roasting potatoes is found all along the Adriatic and is a perfect partner for all grilled and roasted meats. Pecene Krompira — petch-en-ee crom-peer-ah 4 persons Pre-heat oven to 220c. Grease a roasting dish with two tablespoons of a mild olive oil, and place in the oven...
Turkish Coffee – Greek Coffee – Serbian Coffee – Bosnian Coffee
The Balkan Cookbook Balkan Coffee kahve — kar-vay (Turkish) kafa — ka-fa (Bosnian Serbian) karve — kar-vez (Greek) To make the coffees use an ibric, aka dzesze (jez-ma)—a saucepan will do—and finely ground Turkish blend of coffee. All the Balkanista use a Turkish blend of coffee, all have an obsession with the...
Greek Steak
Recipes from ’The Balkan Cookbook’ This dish always takes me back to Crete and a pebble beach restaurant lit by a string of multi-coloured bulbs—where the sound of faraway discos danced on folding seawater and I calmed the soul with a full bodied red. Greek Fillet Steak Grilling steak is all about personal preference...
A Marianne Faithfull Moment
Faithful Once a year or two—if I’m in the neighbourhood—I drop by the Salisbury on St Martin’s Lane, and prop my bones up against the bar. I stand in the same place and stare at the same thing—an empty booth across the way. In that empty booth sits the ghost of a teenage Marianne Faithfull....
