Bosnia & Herzegovina: Must Try Foods you Need to Know

The food blog has been slacking lately – much of this due to the fact I am starting to have depleted funds. Compared to Asia, Europe (even Eastern) is EXPENSIVE. My pocketbook is feeling the pain. In Bosnia, however, it is super cheap so I am able to have a properly filled out Thyra Eats yet again. Disclaimer, much of what I ate here is traditional in other Balkan countries as well. I have found the food in the Balkans to all be of a similar kind, with each country putting their own spin on it.

Cevapi

The most common thing I ate during my time in the Balkans. Cevapi is minced grilled beef. It is served in 5 or 10 small pieces with onion, tomato, and a popular flatbread. Cheap, delicious, and filling! I love a good sandwich.

Borek

Borek is a pastry, made with flaky dough and filled with delicious things – such as meat, spinach, cheese, or potatoes. I had heard that Sarajevo was famous for their borek and boy were they right! I devoured this whole plate, larger than my head!

Coffee

In every hostel in BiH there is a sign in the kitchen explaining the history and preparation method of coffee. People lump it in with Turkish coffee but it is actually quite different. Here is what I learned:

First, you roast raw coffee. After baked, the beans are ground in a manual coffee grinder. Next, in a lightly heated metal pot (dzezva), the grounds are added to boiling water. Put the dzezva on a hot stove. Stir once and wait for the coffee to get up to the top. Add a few drops of hot water so that the coffee dregs fall to the bottom. Wait a few minutes until pouring.

Alcohol

Although I have a picture here of beer, I drank a lot of rakija when I was in the country. Rakija is a popular regional liquor (think brandy) made from fruit. If high quality and without sugar, the hangover is slight (tried and tested)! The best rakija is homemade.

My next food blog should be from Spain…I am already salivating.

T