A Wasp's Journey to Serbia - part 1

A few days ago, I returned to terra firma after spending a week in Belgrade, Serbia, where my husband was born and raised. For a myriad of reasons, my husband had not been back for eight and a half years, and I had never been there, since his last visit was early in our relationship.

The nutshell version of the visit is this: Serbia is pretty much like western Europe with a spicy twist; a nation of warm, giving and fierce people.

For the extended and more interesting version, read on...

From Rome to Belgrade
This was an entertaining experience. I took an Alitalia flight into Belgrade from Fiumicino. I noticed that there were a lot of people on the flight who had instruments. When I boarded the plane, I found myself in the back of the plane, in the midst of some sort of party involving a large band. These people (Serbs) talked, laughed, sang, and drank massive amounts of beer for the duration of the flight. A few minutes before landing, en lieu of the over-the-top American-style rocket landing sequence, the flight attendant literally ran through the aisle making a motion to lift the tray tables. The party in the back lifted their beers off the trays, put them in the locked position, and resumed drinking and singing.

When we landed, the guy next to me, one of the partiers, said something to me in Serbian. I told him that I didn't speak Serbian. He didn't speak English, but he did speak Italian. So we conversed a little, and he told me that the guy next to us is a huge pop star in Serbia. I asked what his name was, and he said "Sinan Sakic." Okay, I filed that away to ask the hub later. My seat companion said to Sinan Sakic, "Hey, she's American!" Sinan Sakic got up and shook my hand. He said he was really tired because he had given a concert in Naples the night before and hadn't slept.

So when I finally made it to my husband's family's house, I said that I had sat next to some guy who was supposedly a big star there. They asked who, and when I told them they said, "YOU SAT NEXT TO SINAN SAKIC????!!!!!!" Then the hub showed me a video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34swgQ6X1Jg

Turns out, I did know who Sinan Sakic is, because my husband and his roommate used to think it was hilarious to wake each other up (and me, by default) in the morning by blasting "Ej, odkad sam se rodio."

First Impressions
My views on Serbia, prior to this trip, had been formed mostly through my filtered and limited exposure to Serbs here in America. My husband likes to reminisce, and therefore I thought that time had stopped in Serbia in the late eighties--all the Serbian movies and TV shows we watched were outdated; he went on and on about old Yugos; I was shown photos in which people were outfitted in eighties getup that made me cringe. It wasn't too wildly off, thinking that time may have stopped. I have been in places in southern Italy that were struck by earthquakes in the late 70s and it really did look like a gigantic time capsule, as they had never rebuilt.

I was in for a very pleasant surprise. Time most definitely has not stopped in Belgrade. When I landed, I discovered a vibrant, pulsing city that is both gritty and beautiful. Shiny, new glass high rises and office buildings dot the landscape, right next to Communist-era cement behemoths and ornate gems from the 1800s. Immaculately dressed women and men strutted around in their fashionable finery. The pedestrian zones were clogged with outdoor cafes and restaurants, all filled with people and conversation. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of New York and Paris.

Food
Before I left for Italy this summer, I was following a mostly vegan diet. That went out the window when I got to Italy. And in Serbia? FORGET about it. I do not know how all those women maintain their waif-y appearance. Serbian food is very heavy, and they eat a lot of it. The typical meal usually consists of boiled meat, boiled vegetables, soup, fried stuff, and bread. Oh, and cheese. Note to self: bring All-Bran next time. Rather than being difficult and princess-y, I decided to roll with it and go native. I had abdominal pain and a face full of zits.

That said, there are some really interesting and tasty things to be had in Serbia, especially with the Turkish influence on their culture:

Ajvar (pronounced eye-var): a paste of roasted red peppers and spices. My husband loves to put this on sandwiches. (You can buy ajvar at Trader Joe's if you want to try it--they just call it red pepper spread)

Kajmak: a sour, gamey, earthy butter. Usually served with grilled meats (because what goes better with meat than butter?!)

Ćevapčići/Ћевапчићи: Minced meat formed into small sausages and then grilled. Served with bread, kajmak, ajvar, and Serbian salad, which consists of tomatoes, onion, and cucumber.

Gibanica: a savory pastry dish. Filo dough is stuffed with Balkan feta and egg mixture, or also meat. Very heavy but very tasty.

Kisela štrudla: A yeast bread rolled jelly-roll style and stuffed with various fillings. The versions I had were with cheese (savory) and with poppy-seed paste (sweet).

Punjene paprike: stuffed peppers. The most popular peppers I saw in Belgrade were a very pale green, almost white. My mother in law prepared them stuffed with rice, meat, onion, and spices, and boiled them with broth and tomatoes.

Pastries: The Serbs know how to make REALLY GOOD PASTRIES. I almost put on 10 pounds just looking in the window of the hundreds of Pekara (bakery) in Belgrade. They are experts at making flaky, tender pastries containing a myriad of mouth-watering fillings. I think the key is that they aren't afraid of using lots of fat. In addition to western treats such as pain au chocolate, croissants, and ciabatta, Serbian bakeries offer some of the best cakes and cookies I've ever eaten. At one bakery, we had bite-sized flaky crescents filled with cherries and topped with powdered sugar. At a cousin's house, we had little squares of cake that had been dipped into chocolate syrup and then rolled in coconut. My mother-in-law likes to make vanilice, which are two small shortbread cookies with apricot filling in the middle, topped with vanilla-infused powdered sugar. I could go back to Belgrade right now for the pastries alone. Again, still don't understand how they are a nation of whippet-thin women and men (mostly, anyway).

Coffee: coffee, or kafa, in Serbia is made Turkish-style in a dzezva, which is basically a little pot with a pouring spout on one side and a long handle on the other. Water and sugar are boiled on the stovetop, then a little is poured off into a cup. Very finely ground (espresso grind) coffee is added to the boiling water, and then the water from the cup is added back in. The whole mixture, grounds and all, is then poured into a cup. I drank milk with mine, but I don't know how common that is. I was missing my little Italian Bialetti, and even considered buying one in Belgrade, but I decided to roll with it and drink Turkish coffee for a week. It's not much different than Italian espresso except for the ground at the bottom.

Since there's way too much to tell in just one blog post, I will continue this in segments. Check back later for more adventures in Serbia!