It’s Almost Time to Go
Au revoir, Bosnia. Or rather, dovidjenja! But, I’ll be back. The project in rural tourism and agricultural development that I’m working on is compelling, and I love the people and the food, absolutely. There is something so warm, so authentic, so deeply friendly and delicious about it all. And there is something else. People here […]
Pura – Bosnian Polenta
Yesterday I learned how to make a dish called pura, the Bosnian version of polenta, with its own delicious twist. Zora Pentic was my “teacher.” Zora belongs to a rural women’s group dedicated to keeping the old food ways, and part of my job while here was to offer a cooking demonstration to this group. […]
Making Pita in the hills above Sarajevo
A personal dream came true today as I watched Zijada, a Bosniak cook at the mountain chalet Ruralna Kuca, make and roll out the paper-thin dough that makes a Bosnian pita, or pie, so very special. The dough isn’t like any sort of French pastry. There is no fat in it, except the sunflower oil […]
Gathering Recipes outside Sarajevo
By 9:30 a.m. the heat is already roiling up from the blacktop in Sarajevo, making our planned day in the hills above the city sound like a perfect idea. We headed first for the village of Gornje Biosko to visit the wheat, corn, vegetable and fruit farm of Spomenko Codo. He and his brother, […]
Food and Other Ways in Sarajevo
I’m in Bosnia, helping out a non-profit with their worthy project that involves keeping the family on the farm through agricultural tourism. My assignment: transcribe traditional recipes from the farm, demonstrate to Bosnian farm women how to teach cooking to tourists, and document traditional food ways. Today was my “orientation day” in Sarajevo. Farouk Helac […]
