Serbian Food- 54 Amazing Serbian Dishes And Drinks You Have To Try
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Loading... - Lily Pickford
- 23 Aug 2022
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Serbian cuisine is a Balkan cuisine that consists of continental flavors spiced up with an Ottoman touch. The cuisine consists of Serbian food, as well as the culinary methods and traditions of the people of Serbia. Throughout the years, the region saw many conquerors come and go which has contributed to Serbian cuisine becoming a big melting pot of Byzantine, Slavic, Mediterranean, Ottoman, and Central Asian cuisines. Most Serbian recipes are archaic, trace their origins hundreds of years ago, and are a very important part of the country’s rich cultural heritage. In this post, we’ll sum up some of the most delicious Serbian dishes and drinks you should try when visiting Serbia.
But first things first…
Overview Of Serbian Food
Serbian food is characterized by a diverse, solid, and mildly-spicy food with a predominant use of meat, dough, dairy products, and vegetables. Meat is an irreplaceable part of Serbian cuisine and most dishes consist of meat but as you can see from this post, there are some options for vegetarians too.
The best place to try Serbian barbecue is the town of Leskovac in Southern Serbia that takes pride in its barbecue preparation methods that are famous across the Balkans. Serbia’s national fruit is plum which is the main ingredient of Serbia’s most famous alcoholic beverage, šlivovica (rakija made of plum), and a few popular local desserts. The tastiest wine, vinjak, and rakija are said to come from Timok Valley in eastern Serbia and the Šumadija-Great Morava region in central Serbia.
Many of the Serbian recipes shown in this post don’t have a foreign counterpart and can only be tasted in this part of the world. An interesting fact about the local diet is that traditionally, the average Serbian diet consisted of only lunch and dinner but in the last 2-3 centuries, breakfast has become a part of the diet of the average Serbian.
One last thing you should note is that most of the ingredients used for local dishes are organic which is why seasonal food is a very important element of Serbian cuisine and some dishes can only be found around a certain time of the year. Serbia is actually one of only a few countries to ban the production and import of GMO items, a legislative that’s the main reason for a long-running dispute between Serbia and the WTO (World Trade Organization).
Appetizers & Salads
Appetizers are an important part of Serbian cuisine. The list of Serbian appetizers consists of different types of cheese and other dairy products, salads, dips, and smoked sausages. Appetizers are usually served before lunch and sometimes, dinner. Here are the most popular Serbian appetizers.
Pule Cheese
We’re starting off this list of authentic Serbian food with Pule- one of the world’s most expensive kinds of cheese. It originates from Zasavica Nature Reserve in central Serbia and is made by using donkey milk. The preparation of pule requires more than 25 liters of milk to produce 1 kilogram of cheese. Donkey milk is also low-fat which is why the final product (the cheese) contains only 1% milk fat and is said to have anti-allergenic properties. One kilogram of average-quality pule costs around 1,000 euros while the finest kinds of pule cost up to 5,000 euros per kg.
Srpska Salata
If you ever visited the Balkans, you know that every country has a salad they call “their own” (i.e. Macedonia has a Macedonian salad, Bulgaria has a Bulgarian salad, Greece has a Greek salad, etc.) but all of these salads are very similar to each other. The Serbian version is no exception. The salad consists of finely chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and peppers drizzled with some oil and vinegar, and seasoned with salt and black pepper. It’s one of the most popular appetizers Serbians have before their meal, often alongside a glass of rakija. Read More…
