Influences and Ingredients
Bosnian cuisine is balanced between Western and Eastern influences. The food is closely related to former Yugoslav, Middle Eastern, and other Balkan cuisines.
Bosnian cuisine uses many spices, but usually in moderate quantities. Most dishes are light, as they are cooked in lots of water; the sauces are fully natural, consisting of little more than the natural juices of the vegetables in the dish. Typical ingredients include tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, spinach, courgette, dried and fresh beans, plums, milk, paprika and cream called pavlaka and kajmak.
Typical meat dishes include primarily beef and lamb. Some local specialties are ćevapi, burek, dolma, sarma, pilav, gulaš (goulash), ajvar and a whole range of Eastern sweets. The best local wines come from Herzegovina where the climate is suitable for growing grapes.
Alhough most Bosnians consume meat and enjoy cooking meat on open fire (a form of socializing), there is variety of traditional vegetarian meals as well.
Read about Halal Food in Bosnia. Learn about Traditional Drinks in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dishes
Some traditional Bosnian dishes include:
- Ćevapi – Bosnian kebabs: small grilled meat sausages
- Pljeskavica – a patty dish
- Begova Čorba (Bey’s Stew) – a soup
- Stuffed peppers
- Sogan-dolma – onions stuffed with minced meat
- Ćufte – meatballs
- Meat under sač – a traditional way of cooking lamb, veal, or goat under a metal, ceramic, or earthenware lid on which hot coals and ashes are heaped
- Burek – a meat-filled flaky pastry, traditionally rolled in a spiral and cut into sections for serving. The same dish filled with cottage cheese is called sirnica, one with spinach and cheese zeljanica, and one with potatoes krompiruša. All these varieties are generically referred to as pita (pie).
- Sarma – meat and rice rolled in pickled cabbage leaves
- Bosanski Lonac – Bosnian meat stew
- Sudžuka – (Sujuk) – spicy beef sausage
- Suho meso – air-dried meat similar to Italian bresaola
- Djuveč – vegetable stew
- Sataraš – a dish made with vegetables only
- Klepe – a traditional Bosnian dumplings that are a mix of Turkish manti and Italian ravioli
Dairy
Famous Cheeses are:
- Livno cheese (Livanjski sir) – a world-famous dry yellow cheese from the west Bosnian town of Livno
- Tešanjski – made from the nettle and milk
- Travnički – a white feta-like cheese
Desserts
Most widespread Desserts are:
- Baklava – flaky pastry with a filling of nuts, drenched in sugar syrup or honey
- Hurmašica – pastry drenched in sweet syrup
- Jabukovača – apple pastry
- Kadaif – hair-thin pastry strips drenched in sweet syrup
- Kompot – a cold sweet drink from cooked fruit
- Palačinka – crêpe
- Sutlijaš – rice pudding
- Tufahija – whole stewed apple stuffed with walnut filling
Recipes
If interested to try cooking yourself, here are some links to Bosnian national cuisine recipes:
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/bosnian-recipes/
http://www.sbs.com.au/food/cuisine/bosnian
https://www.thedailymeal.com/best-recipes/bosnian
https://bakingwithsibella.com/category/traditional-bosnian/
http://www.balkanfoodrecipes.com/
Bon appetit!