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193 recipes

Slavski kolačDecorated ceremonial bread

The slava is a uniquely Serbian Orthodox custom: each family honours its own patron saint on that saint's feast day, passed from father to son, with a lit candle, boiled wheat (žito) and the slavski kolač, a round, decorated bread. The priest blesses it; the family turns it, cuts a cross into its base, pours a little wine into the cuts, and breaks it together. It is decorated with dough crosses, the seal 'IC XC NI KA', doves, wheat ears and grapes. It is a plain, vegan bread. Chef's tip: keep the decorations' dough a little stiffer than the loaf, so they hold their shape.

110 minBalkan Baking

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RužiceWalnut pastry roses in syrup

Ružice, meaning 'little roses', are baked for Bajram in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Eid holidays when trays of syrup-soaked sweets are set out for every guest. Thin sheets of pastry are brushed with butter, scattered with walnuts and rolled up, then sliced so each piece opens like a rose in the oven. The baked roses drink up a cold lemon syrup and turn sticky, crisp on top and soft underneath. Chef's tip: pour cold syrup over hot pastry (or hot over cold), never both the same temperature, or the roses go soggy.

90 minBalkan Desserts

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PincaEaster sweet bread

Pinca (or sirnica in Dubrovnik) is the Easter bread of Dalmatia and Istria in Croatia. It is a tall, golden round of rich yeast dough with egg yolks, butter, lemon and orange zest and vanilla, cut with three slashes on top before baking so it opens into a three-pointed cross. It is blessed at church on Holy Saturday with the Easter eggs and ham, and eaten at Easter breakfast. Old recipes add a spoon of rum or prošek wine; this one doesn't. Chef's tip: let the dough rise slowly, even overnight in the fridge, as pinca gets its tender, fragrant crumb from a long rise.

80 minBalkan Baking

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Bakalar na bijeloSalt cod with potatoes and garlic

On Badnjak, Christmas Eve, Croatian families in Dalmatia keep the meal meatless, and bakalar na bijelo ('white salt cod') is the dish that says Christmas. Salt cod is soaked for days, then cooked with potatoes, a lot of garlic, parsley and good olive oil and shaken in the pot until it turns into a creamy, almost spreadable mix. It is served warm with bread and a glass of wine for the adults. Chef's tip: shake the pot rather than stirring it, so the fish breaks into flakes and emulsifies with the oil and potato.

90 minBalkan Fish

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KalanehWild leek stuffed flatbread

In Kurdistan and Kermanshah, Newroz arrives with the first spring greens on the hillsides, and families gather wild leeks to fold into kalaneh, thin griddle breads cooked over a fire or a hot pan and soaked in melted butter. The dough is plain and soft, rolled very thin around a pile of chopped leek or chives with a little salt and pepper, so the greens steam inside as the bread blisters. Eat it hot, torn into strips, with yogurt and tea at a Newroz picnic. The common mistake is wet greens, which turn the dough soggy and make it tear; dry them well after washing. Chef's tip: brush the butter on the moment the bread leaves the pan so it soaks right in.

65 minMiddle Eastern Breads & Parathas

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Dowina (Kurdish yogurt soup)

Dowina, called ash-e doogh in Persian, is warming spring food in Kurdish homes around Newroz, when yogurt is plentiful and the first herbs are cut from the garden. Rice and chickpeas simmer in a tangy, lightly thickened yogurt broth, finished with fresh dill, coriander and a sizzle of dried mint in oil. It is eaten warm, never boiling hot, with flatbread. The common mistake is to heat the yogurt too fast without stirring, which makes it split into grainy curds. Chef's tip: whisk an egg yolk and a spoonful of rice flour into the yogurt before it goes on the heat; it holds the soup smooth all the way to the simmer.

75 minMiddle Eastern Soups

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KaguyjyWhite corn pudding

On the night of 23–24 June, Paraguayans celebrate San Juan with bonfires, games like walking over hot coals and the 'paso de fuego', and a table of traditional foods, and kaguyjy (also mazamorra) is one of them. It is a soft, creamy pudding of cracked white corn (locro) simmered slowly in water and then milk with sugar or honey, sometimes with orange peel. It is eaten warm or cold. It is gluten free. Chef's tip: soak the corn overnight and cook it until each kernel is tender before adding the milk, or it never turns creamy.

130 min

Paraguayan Desserts

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Pajagua mascadaBeef and cassava patties

Pajagua mascada is a Paraguayan street-food classic that appears on every table for the San Juan festival on 24 June, when bonfires burn and the night is full of games and traditional food. Minced beef is mixed with mashed cassava, onion, garlic and a little egg and flour, shaped into flat patties and fried until crisp. The name comes from Guaraní and refers to the 'chewing' of old Paraguayan cooks, who made it from leftover meat. Chef's tip: dry the boiled cassava well and remove its woody core, which keeps the patties light and crunchy.

60 min

Paraguayan Meat

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PečenicaRoast pork

Pečenica is the Christmas Day roast of Serbia and Montenegro: traditionally a whole young pig turned on a spit in the yard from early morning, so that it is ready when the family returns from church and greets each other with 'Hristos se rodi'. This home recipe follows our site's approach of using carved portions rather than a whole animal: bone-in pork shoulder pieces with the skin on are rubbed with salt and slow-roasted until the meat is tender and the skin crackles like the spit-roast. Serve with česnica bread, pickled vegetables and roasted potatoes. Chef's tip: baste the skin with beer, or with cold water for an alcohol-free version, near the end; it helps the crackling blister.

290 minBalkan Meat

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Chipa so'oCheese bread with spiced beef

In Paraguay, families bake chipa in the clay tatakua ovens on Holy Wednesday so there is food for Thursday and Good Friday, when cooking stops. Chipa so'o ('chipa with meat') is a cassava-starch and cheese bread wrapped around a little filling of minced beef cooked with onion and egg, then baked until crisp outside and chewy within. It is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: knead the dough until it no longer cracks at the edges when pressed; dry dough splits around the filling.

90 min

Paraguayan Breads & Parathas

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Lenja pitaGrated apple pie

The name means 'lazy pie', and that is the point: unlike the paper-thin pies of Serbia and Bosnia, lenja pita needs no stretching of filo, just two sheets of soft short pastry and a thick layer of grated apple with cinnamon. Home cooks in Belgrade and Sarajevo make a tray of it on autumn weekends, for name days and slava visits, and cut it into squares dusted with icing sugar to serve with Turkish-style coffee. The pastry is tender and crumbly, the apple soft, sweet and sharp. Putting the grated apple straight onto the pastry is the error to avoid: it floods the base, so squeeze it and cook it down first. Chef's tip: mix sour and sweet apples and leave the skins on a few of them for more flavour.

75 minBalkan Baking

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SomunDimpled flatbread

During Ramadan in Sarajevo, queues form outside the Baščaršija bakeries in the last hour before iftar, everyone waiting for somun still warm from the oven. It is a round, pale flatbread about three fingers thick, with a crust so thin it barely crackles and a soft, airy middle, and a criss-cross grid pressed into the top. All year it is split and stuffed with ćevapi and onions at the grill houses; for a meat-free plate, fill it with kajmak, roasted peppers and ajvar or grilled vegetables. Somun should stay pale: leave it in the oven until it is brown and the crust turns hard, which is the commonest mistake. Chef's tip: wrap the loaves in a clean tea towel the moment they come out; the trapped steam softens the crust to that typical pillowy finish.

140 minBalkan Breads & Parathas

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LampreadoCassava starch cheese fritters

Paraguayan grandmothers fry lampreado on Sunday evenings to eat with a mug of cocido, the toasted yerba mate drink: small pan-fried cakes of cassava starch, egg, milk and grated cheese with a little onion, crisp at the edges and stretchy inside. Some families also make it with leftover meat, but this version is all cheese. Queso Paraguay is set with animal rennet; a vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese plus mozzarella works well. The trap is a batter that is too thick, which gives heavy, gluey cakes. Chef's tip: the batter should drop slowly off a spoon like thick pancake batter; add milk a spoonful at a time until it does.

30 min

Paraguayan Snacks & Starters

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TokashMilk bread buns

Tokash are the soft, round milk breads Kazakh families bake for breakfast and for the dastarkhan, the generous tea table set for guests in Almaty and the steppe villages. Traditionally they were baked in a cast-iron kazan or a tandyr; at home a round cake tin gives the same pull-apart loaf. They are eaten with butter, jam, kaymak cream and milky tea. The mistake is too much flour: the dough should stay soft and slightly tacky, or the buns turn dry. Allow about 2 hours with rising. Chef's tip: brush the buns with warm milk as they come out of the oven and cover them with a cloth; the crust softens beautifully.

55 min

Kazakh Breads & Parathas

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Mandi'o chyryryFried cassava with onion and egg

Mandi'o chyryry means 'fried cassava' in Guaraní, and it is what rural Paraguayan families make from yesterday's boiled mandi'o: chunks crushed and fried in a big pan with onion until crisp in places, then scrambled with eggs. It comes out for breakfast with cocido or for a quick supper, and costs next to nothing. Use sweet cassava, the kind sold in supermarkets. The mistake is stirring constantly, which turns it to mush; let the cassava sit and brown. Chef's tip: the best chyryry starts with cold, day-old boiled cassava, which fries crisper than freshly boiled.

45 min

Paraguayan Sides

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Capeletis a la CarusoStuffed pasta in cream sauce

Capeletis a la Caruso were created in a Montevideo restaurant in the 1950s and named after the great tenor, and they are still a Sunday lunch favourite in Uruguayan homes: little stuffed pasta hats in a rich sauce of cream, cooked ham (pork), mushrooms and onion, finished with grated cheese. Buy good fresh capeletis or tortellini; the sauce is what you make. The usual mistake is boiling the cream sauce hard, which makes it oily and grainy. Chef's tip: cook the mushrooms in a dry hot pan first until they squeak and brown, before any butter goes in, for a deeper taste.

35 min

Paraguayan Pasta & Noodles

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ZlevankaBaked cornmeal and buttermilk cake

Zlevanka, from the Slovenian for 'poured', is a farmhouse batter cake from the Prekmurje and Štajerska regions, poured into a tin and baked for breakfast, then cut into squares and eaten with a big cup of milky white coffee. This sweet version is made with cornmeal and buttermilk, which give it a soft, moist, slightly crumbly crumb with a golden crust; some families add fruit on top. The common mistake is overmixing the batter once the flour goes in, which makes it tough; stir only until combined. Chef's tip: soak the cornmeal in the buttermilk for 15 minutes before mixing, so it softens and the cake isn't gritty.

50 minBalkan Baking

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Ka'i ladrilloPeanut molasses bricks

Ka'i ladrillo — 'monkey brick' in Guaraní — is the sweet sold by vendors on Asunción buses and at country fiestas: roasted peanuts bound in boiled cane molasses and set in brick-shaped blocks, crunchy and dark with a slightly smoky toffee taste. It contains peanuts, so keep it away from anyone with a peanut allergy. The common mistake is taking the syrup off too soon, so the bricks stay sticky and never set. Chef's tip: test the syrup by dropping a little into cold water; it is ready when it sets into a brittle thread that snaps.

40 min

Paraguayan Desserts

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KajganaScrambled eggs with peppers

Kajgana is the everyday breakfast of Serbia and Montenegro, cooked in every home and kafana: eggs scrambled softly in a little fat, often with sweet peppers or onion, and finished with a spoon of kajmak, the rich clotted cream of the Balkans, or crumbled white cheese. It is eaten straight from the pan with warm bread. The mistake is high heat: the eggs seize into dry, rubbery lumps; a medium-low flame and constant gentle stirring give soft, creamy curds. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat while the eggs still look slightly underdone, because they keep cooking in the hot pan for another minute.

13 minBalkan Breakfast & Brunch

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PasuljWhite bean soup

Pasulj is the beloved bean soup of Serbia, served in Belgrade's old taverns and in army and school canteens, and especially on Thursdays and cold weekends. Usually it is cooked with smoked pork ribs or bacon; this vegetarian version gets its smoky depth from smoked paprika instead, and it is the version cooked on Orthodox fasting days. White beans simmer slowly with onion, carrot, bay and paprika until creamy and thick enough to stand a spoon in. Eat it with bread and pickled peppers. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 310 kcal and 40 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is thickening with too much flour roux; mashing some beans gives the same body and keeps it gluten free. Pressure cooker option: 25 minutes at pressure. Chef's tip: change the water after the first boil, as Serbian cooks do, for a softer, gentler soup.

130 minBalkan Soups

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LakrorLeek and cheese pie

Lakror comes from the south of Albania, around Korçë, where it was baked in a round copper tray under a saç, a domed iron lid heaped with embers, and eaten for breakfast or carried to the fields. Thin rounds of homemade dough are layered with oil, then filled with leeks, onions and cheese, giving a pie that is crisp at the top and soft inside. At home, a very hot oven stands in for the saç. The common mistake is rolling the dough too thick: each round should be thin enough to see your hand through, or the layers stay doughy. Chef's tip: rest the dough balls for 30 minutes after kneading; relaxed dough rolls out thin without shrinking back.

100 minBalkan Baking

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BrudetFisherman's fish stew

Brudet (or brodetto) is the fisherman's stew of the Dalmatian coast and islands, cooked in Split, Hvar and Korčula with whatever the morning's catch brings, and eaten for Friday lunch and summer suppers. Thick fish steaks on the bone stew slowly in olive oil with onion, garlic, tomato and a dash of wine vinegar, and the pot is shaken, never stirred. It is high in protein and suitable as part of a balanced diet; polenta is the classic partner, but grilled courgettes, chard or a small portion of soft polenta keep the carbohydrate down. About 330 kcal and 10 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is stirring with a spoon, which breaks the fish into shreds. Chef's tip: use at least three kinds of fish, mixing firm and softer ones, for a deeper broth.

60 minBalkan Fish

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PetullaFried dough fritters

In Albania and Kosovo, petulla are fried on weekend mornings and for family celebrations: a very soft, wet yeast dough is pulled into rough rounds with oiled hands and dropped into hot oil, where it puffs into golden, airy fritters. They are eaten hot with feta-style cheese, jam, honey or a dusting of sugar, alongside tea or coffee. The common mistake is adding flour until the dough is firm and easy to handle; it should be almost too wet to hold, which is what makes petulla light and hollow. Chef's tip: keep a bowl of oil beside the pan and dip your fingers in it before each fritter, so the sticky dough slides off your hand and stretches thin.

35 minBalkan Breakfast & Brunch

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BusecaTripe and white bean stew

Buseca arrived in Montevideo with Italian immigrants from Lombardy and became a classic winter dish of Uruguayan bodegones and family kitchens, eaten on cold June and July days. Honeycomb tripe is simmered until tender, then stewed with white beans, pork chorizo, bacon, peppers, tomato and paprika into a thick, warming stew served with crusty bread. Buy tripe that is already cleaned and blanched (dressed). The usual mistake is undercooking the tripe: it needs a full 2 hours, until it's soft enough to cut with a spoon. Slow-cooker option: after step 4, cook on low for 8 hours. Chef's tip: a little grated lemon zest and parsley stirred in at the end lifts the rich, gelatinous sauce.

185 min

Paraguayan Meat

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