When people are away from home, sometimes they start doing traditional things that they didn’t use to do at home. You go to another part of the world and by all means have to have some traditional item. For example, I wanted to celebrate this Christmas as proper as possible. A couple of dear people from Balkans, one Estonian, food that reminds of home and Badnjak. The good times.
Orthodox Christmas is on January the 7th. The day before, we fast.
I’ve had these peppers for the first time a few years ago at Gaga‘s home. Something new to me, we usually eat peppers stuffed with a mix of ground meat and rice. And if they are stuffed with cheese, I’ve only had roasted and then stuffed peppers. In this part of Serbia, they don’t skim milk before they make cheese, so cheese is strong and salty. They often use sheep or goat milk cheese. This is one of those dishes Gaga learned from her mom, and I was lucky try the original also. The recipe that follows should be a guide for finding your perfect combination of cheese and peppers.
To have a fried dough for breakfast… After a teaspoon of slatko and a cup of coffee. In Sumrakovac village. Love it! The dough is called mekice, or mekike more often, and slatko is a type of fruit preserve that in Serbia we usually offer to the house guests as soon as they enter the door. It is served in a decorative bowl, alongside glasses, all filled with water. The guest eats a teaspoon of slatko, puts teaspoon in an empty glass and drinks from another. It’s an old custom and some people like to have it at their home first thing in the morning, before the coffee. So, back to mekice, the fried dough. It is basically a basic bread dough that Gaga‘s mom always has on hands. Flour + water + salt + yeast, and that’s it. Here, they eat them with fresh cheese, or sprinkled with sugar.
There is a village in Eastern Serbia where I always love to come back. It’s a village where Mrs. Ljubinka writes poetry and a home of her daughter, Gaga, my great friend. Village is Sumrakovac, and I visit every year. Last time I wrote how Gaga’s mom is a great cook and how happy I am about her dinners.