St. Luke Slava

On Oct. 31, my new husband and I went to my Kum's house to celebrate his Patron Saint St. Luke's slava.

The slava is a Serbian Orthodox tradition. The family celebrates their Patron Saint every year. Each family has their own Patron Saint, taken from the father. A married woman will take the slava of her husband. This tradition has been called the heart of Serbia - it is specific to the country.

Everyone brings a gift. Usually, it is wine or liquor for the host and flowers for his wife. Flowers here are truly beautiful...huge blooms and wonderfully scented.

The family will invite their closest friends and relatives to this party and they feast on traditional dishes. The ceremony begins with the lighting of the slava candle and a prayer. The most important of the foods served are "slavski kolač"-"the slava cake" a yeasty bread that is served by bringing it to the table whole and then tearing it into pieces by hand and Koljivo (also called žito) which is made of boiled wheat flavored with ground walnuts, nutmeg and honey. The Koljivo is served in a bowl which is taken around to the guests on a tray with a small spoon for each guest. You make the sign of the cross and take one little spoonful of the Koljivo. You put your used spoon in a glass of water on the tray. Each guest is approached one at a time. Red wine and rakija (homemade brandy) are served to drink. Red wine symbolizing the blood of Christ.

At this particular slava, we ate sarma (minced meat, rice and spices in cabbage rolls) and a freshly roasted pig. The host's Kum was presented with the pigs head as a token of the respect he has for her:


The pigs head is considered a delicacy and is reserved for the guest of highest honor.

My Kum is not a particularly religious man, so there was no priest at this gathering. From what I understand, many people do have a priest conduct the service at their slava. My Kum's daughter lead the prayers and read from the Bible.

After these ceremonies were completed, it was time to eat, drink and be merry. Music is an important part of the Serbian culture. People here love to laugh and sing. There was even dancing in this small room with 12 guests!

When I was watching all of the goings on, I couldn't help but think of how similar it was to celebrations I've been to in Louisiana...particularly South Louisiana. When I lived in Shreveport, I often visited friends in Abbeville, New Orleans, etc. and good food, laughter, music and dancing are an integral part of those celebrations as well.
Of course, in Louisiana, we feast on crawfish and beer and dance to the Zydeco music of Clifton Chenier!

And the closeness of the family unit is also a part of both of these cultures. My Kum's son lives in Austria, but he made sure to call during the celebration to wish his father well and to send his regards to the guests.

To Belgrade on Friday

We have our appointment at the American consulate in Belgrade for this Friday morning. We will take the train in.

I read somewhere, on someone's blog (can't find it now, of course!) that there was some kind of commissary at or near the American consulate in Belgrade where one can purchase American groceries like Dr. Pepper, etc. Do any of you reading this know what I am talking about? Could you please leave me a comment with any info you have, like WHERE IS IT? I would love to visit this place while I am there.

Roasting Peppers - The Easy Way

This is the time of the year when the locals buy bags of red peppers to roast and enjoy in the fall/winter months. A friend of ours told me an easy way to do this and I wanted to share the method with you. (We don't have a grill which is what lots of people use, so we needed another way.)

First, you just go and buy how ever much of fresh red paprika that you want. Wash them and dry them thoroughly and put them on a baking sheet or pan:

Turn your oven to it's highest heat and let it preheat. After it is ready, put the pan full of peppers inside and cook them until they are bubbly and cooked to where there is some black on them. My oven goes to 250C and it took about 20-30 min for my peppers. Don't open the oven during this process unless you must. Here's the finished product:

Now carefully remove the peppers from the oven and the baking sheet with tongs or something. Put them into a plastic bag, close it and let them cool. You'll have to pick them up with your hands to pull the skins off, so they really need to cool.
When they have cooled, they will look like this:

Now comes the fun part. Cut the stem of the pepper off and peel the skin away. It should come off rather easily, but if you need to, use a knife to help it along. You can keep the seeds, or discard them...whatever you like. You can keep the peppers whole (more authentic, I think) or cut them into slices. Here's what that process looks like:

For the final step, put your peppers into a bowl and add chopped fresh garlic, a little oil and vinegar and a little salt. Mix it all up and refrigerate it for a couple of hours to let it marinate. I like to refrigerate overnight and enjoy them the next day. As you can see, I like mine garlicy, too. No problem with vampires in our apartment!

These are great as a side dish, which is the way the locals have served them to me. I think they are fantastic on sandwiches or added to salads.

I don't know how long they will keep, as we eat them all in one day, but I would imagine it is best to eat them in a couple of days since they are fresh and have no preservatives.
Isvoljeti! Prijatno!

Shopping for Food in Novi Sad

Last night we went to the grocery store. We go every 2 weeks after my love gets paid. We go to a store called "Alba Supermarket". It's very much like any medium sized grocery store in Louisiana, with a couple of exceptions:

In the produce section, you choose your fresh fruits and veggies, but you take them to a worker who weighs them and puts the info on the bag for you. These seem to be grown organically, or at least with minimum pesticides because they aren't the pictures of perfection that you get in US supermarkets. But they certainly look and taste fine. You can also by bulk dried beans, rice, nuts etc. in this area, but the worker has to bag and weigh it for you. Not a problem unless it is a busy Friday night, but that's the American in me, I guess. People I have seen just wait calmly.
Of course, you can also buy these things packaged in other areas of the store.

There is a section where you can buy fresh fish. By fresh fish I mean, the fish are swimming around in a big tank and you can pick the one you want and they fish it out for you with a small net. They also have packaged fresh fish and in the frozen food department you can buy frozen fish, octopus, squid, shrimp, etc...complete with heads, tails, etc. or breaded and ready to cook. See earlier rant about this here.

Anyway, the rest of the store is like in America. They have fresh meat-not a lot of beef in our Alba. I've only seen what we would call stew meat (used for goulash)ground beef but no steak (as if anyone could afford it). There is a lot of nice chicken and pork. A good selection of deli meats and cheeses, baked goods (but, I haven't seen fresh baked cookies-not that I need any of those) and prepared meats like rotisserie chicken fresh feta and similar cheeses, marinated olives, and lots of sausage (!). (Note to BettiM - they DO have cornflakes, several kinds in fact..and peanut butter.) The selection is plentiful, the store is clean, no funky smells... Just what you would expect in a nice store.

They are always restocking the shelves. We have been in there on probably every day of the week and workers always have flats and boxes of merchandise they are putting out.

Many times when we go on the weekend, in the juice, soda, pivo and wine area they just leave the packages of stock on the floor close to the shelf because people buy these so fast, it's the easiest way to keep up with demand.

I've met such nice people in the store, too. I always go with my fiancé, but when I am looking for something women need like something to wash my face with, or body lotion, etc. I've had to ask a stranger in the aisle, or a worker because he really has no clue...hahaha. As I have mentioned before, many of the young people speak english very well, so I just find a young woman and ask. They have always been very helpful and seem "tickled pink" (as we say in the South) to speak to me.

My love always buys chocolate bars and little yogurts with fruit for his little grandsons when we go to the store. Doesn't sound like much to an American like I used to be, but again, things here aren't easy for most people and this is a real treat for these little guys. He loves them very much and it pleases him to give them regularly what he rarely got as a child. Have I mentioned how wonderful he is lately?

There are some things that we prefer to buy in the fresh markets you can find all over town. There is one close to where my fiancé works and he goes to that one for fresh produce and "fish fingers" (fish sticks - only MUCH better because they are fresh and a little spicy - I LOVE spicy). He also buys some stuff for around the house there because it is cheaper (like cleaning cloths, batteries, etc.). Every dinar counts in this place.

We buy stuff like water,pivo, and juice at the little liquor store a couple of blocks down from us. We buy fresh brown eggs at the little store across the street, and bread from the bakery that is practically our neighbor.

As far as clothing, I haven't really needed to buy much here yet. I brought most of what I need with me. I have had to buy a couple of things and I bought them at one of the ubiquitous Chinese shops that are on every 10 blocks or so. Things there are cheap (price and quality) but for just a top to wear around, why not? There are tons of clothing and shoe stores all over town if you want to buy something and spend some real money, but that's not really an option or a need for me right now.

These little Chinese shops have clothing for men, women and kids. They have household things like dishes, towels, glasses. Some of the larger ones have some pretty neat Chinese trinkets. They are staffed and run by Chinese...some of them have a local working there to talk to customers, but really, the Chinese person just bags your purchase and takes your money, so a lot of conversation is not really necessary. When I go to the little one a few blocks from our home, I just look for what I need, or else by means of the universal language of hand signals and pointing, etc. she is able to understand what I want.

And of course, you can find EVERYTHING and ANYTHING at the flea market in Novi Sad.

Not quite as easy as just going to WalMart for everything, but a lot more interesting.

Visit to Čelarevo in Vojvodina, Serbia

On Friday we went to visit my love's sister and brother in Čelarevo. They each have a little house on the Danube there. These little houses are compact, but very comfortable. His brother bought his and fixed it up as nice as any home in town.

The bottom floor of most of these houses has a large kitchen with a table for eating indoors and a bathroom. There is a large front porch where they usually have another table so they can eat outside, which is what they do during the nice weather.

There are stairs leading up to the second floor where there is a nice sleeping area, with a television and in some cases, another bathroom. They also have terraces up on this floor.

Here's a picture of his brother's house on the River:


In the kitchens of most of these homes is a wood burning stove like this one:


I am amazed and impressed at what they are able to cook on these stoves. They also do a lot of cooking outside. Some have grills, others use the tripod with a cooking pot method. When we were there, his brother-in-law made fish soup (regional specialty) outside on a tripod cooker.

When lunch was served, we had 2 courses. The first was the soup served with egg noodles. You put the noodles in your bowl and pour the rich fish stock over them. You add some Pavlaka if you like and stir it up. (Pavlaka is like sour cream...yummy, but fattening of course!) When you have your fill of that, you put some of the fish in your bowl and eat it with your fingers. The fish is basically the whole gutted fish sans the head. So, you pull off the fins and stuff and try not to eat any bones! His sister also made some delicious paprika on the side. And no meal is complete without bread - hleb.

Here is that course:


After I was stuffed with that, they brought out the fried fish. They fry with fat. They are quick to tell you that oil is "not natural" and gums up your blood. Fat, they say is "natural" and flows right on through. Anyway, I just ate a little. It was delicious. Here's the fried fish:



Before eating, we all had a little "Stomaklija"..a rakija (brandy) with herbs that is supposed to be good for your stomach. This is another example of the cultural-medical wisdom here. Very interesting. The drink was good and it stimulated the appetite not a problem for me, unfortunately :^( Here's a picture of the bottle...note the obligatory ashtray.


During the meal, though we did not have any drink. It's one of those things here. Most of the time, no drink is served at a meal, not even water. After you eat, beer, vino, rakija, everything is offered to you. My love says this is common.

The water on the river was up, but it crested on Sunday and will begin to go down. I took some pictures of a beautiful pair of swans that swam right up to where we were...very comfortable with the people. My love's sister says she gives them some bread and they like that. Here they are:

Vojvodina Ethnic Festival of Food and Music

This Saturday we went to the Vojvodina Cultural Festival of Food and Music here in Novi Sad. There are about 40 different ethnic groups living peacefully together in Vojvodina. The festival was held down at the Strand beach on the Danube River. The Strand beach is very popular with the locals for swimming, sunning and hanging out.

This event had booths set up for people to sell wine, pivo, rakija, kobasica,kolač and other foods from this area. Others sold handcrafted items like embroidered table cloths and painted items. People walked around in swimsuits, shorts, capri pants...all kinds of summer clothes and everyone had a good time.

We walked around, tasting and sampling the food and had a pivo sitting at a table in the shade with a couple who were kind enough to share their table with us. While we were looking at everything, we met the president of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (President of the Vojvodina Government), Bojan Pajtič and he was kind enough to have his picture made with me.



There was a large stage where live music was performed by many ethnic groups. There were also dancers in colorful costumes:



It was a very hot day, but with the shady areas scattered throughout the festival site and the location of the beach just steps away, it turned out to be very comfortable.

One of the things I love about this place is these wonderful festivals that occur almost every couple of weeks!

Srećan Rođendan! (Happy Birthday!)

This is a busy weekend for us.

Tonight we celebrate my love's birthday. We have invited friends over to our apartment and we have a half of a roasted pig cooking at the corner pekara to eat with them.
Must run now and go buy mineral water and pivo which we will serve in addition to beli vino.

Tomorrow we go to Čelarevo to visit family and celebrate the 15th anniversary of my love's brother and his girlfriend. This will be another big party with lots of food and laughter.

I will have pictures of these events and tell about how they celebrate birthdays (birzdays..haha) in my next post.

Cheese and cheesiness

On the bright side, I found some cheese that is close enough to Cheddar that I think I will be able to use it as a substitute in cheese enchiladas and macaroni and cheese. It is called "Trappist" cheese. We went to visit our neighbors on Friday and had a wonderful, cheesy lunch with them. The wife made what was basically macaroni and cheese with little chunks of chicken and just a touch of beef. It was delicious and soul-satisfying. It was made with this cheese, which is available in all of the shops I have been to. It's mild and light yellow. I don't think it is expensive...wait, what am I saying? To most people here, it's ALL expensive.

Speaking of markets and shops here that sell food. As I have mentioned before people here don't make a lot of money. A $400-500 a month paycheck is pretty good. So....

1. Why do they sell shrimp and other expensive seafood with all of the stuff you can't eat? Like the heads, eyes, antennas, etc? And yes, I know people here eat the fish heads...I am talking about the things no one eats.

2. Why, when you go to the local Police Station to get your license plate, drivers license, visa, passport, etc. do they CHARGE you for the form that you must have? I can see charging for the service, but for the frickin' form????

3. Why don't they either clean up the water so that people are comfortable drinking it (and then don't have to buy water at 70-80 dinars for 5 liters - about $35 a month, just for WATER) or if it is clean and safe, spend a little money on a campaign to inform the public?

4. Vojvodina is the bread basket of Serbia. So, why don't these good people get a break on prices of fruits, vegetables and meat? They raise and farm the stuff, but they pay the same as the rest of the country.

That's my rant. I don't want to be political. I don't begin to understand the politics here. I have no right to tell anyone else how to live, but I see these things and they seem so unfair. The people that I have met here will give you the shirt off of their backs...what little they have, they will share with you. I just wish they could get a few breaks, y'know?

Mexican Feast

Last night I cooked Mexican food for our neighbors. I couldn't believe how well it turned out, considering I can't find cheddar cheese here. Back home, I wouldn't even attempt Mexican food without it. But, I had a major craving for Mexican and our neighbor had asked me what to do with the tortillas he had seen at the market.

This was the menu:
Chicken Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce
Refried Beans
Mexican Rice

Every bit of it was homemade...nothing from a can. Wow. And it was fun. Cooking in our tiny kitchen was a bit of a challenge, though. I had 3 of 4 burners going at one time.

It was interesting the substitutions I made. (I had brought a large container of chili powder with me when I came here...don't really know why, but at the time it seemed like a good idea.) The tortillas were flour, I prefer corn, but they only had the flour kind. Couldn't find Monterrey Jack, so I used a little "Pizza Sir"...mozzarella cheese...it's fairly bland and melted beautifully. I just wanted a little cheese to hold the chicken and other stuff together in the enchilada and a little to put on top. I used the beans they have here and refried them with a little oil and onion and garlic and chili powder. I don't know exactly what kind of bean they are. Pretty much like pinto beans. I can't find green bell pepper here to put in the enchiladas and rice, so I used some mild paprikas instead since green bell peppers are mild...worked out fine.

I made a homemade salsa from tomatoes, onions, garlic, hot paprika (peppers), a little oregano, crushed coriander, salt, pepper and a little oil. I made it the day before and it was great as a garnish on the enchiladas with the sour cream on top. If I could have found some tortilla chips, I would have made more for a dip. The fresh tomatoes and other vegetables here are unbelievably delicious!

The funniest part of all was when I finished everything, I thought "uh oh, it doesn't look right, I don't think it will be good." But, I was committed, we had nothing else prepared and our neighbors were at the door.

It turned out well. They LOVED it. You can tell someone here likes it when they really eat. The wife had 2 helpings and her husband had 3! My love had 2 helpings also, although he is so sweet that he will eat anything I cook.

I made chicken and sausage jambalaya when I first came here for some friends and take my word for it...they DIDN'T like it. They ate only one tiny helping to be polite. We had to eat that stuff for days because you just don't throw food away here. And that's ok.

Now my love has two dishes he loves and wants me to cook for everyone...my "American" pizza with mushrooms and sausage and now my Mexican feast. We went for a drink with other friends afterwards (these late nights are killing me) and he was telling them about it and inviting them over for dinner soon to try it!

Foods I Miss

Today is the 4th of July. The first one I have ever spent away from the US, and I miss the celebrations, the food and of course, my family.

However, I can't really dwell on that.

Instead, I am thinking of some of the foods that I miss from "back home". While I love the food here in Novi Sad - sarma, fish stew, goulash, etc., I am craving the following dishes (in no particular order):

1. A big thick Whataburger hamburger and fries. Hell, I'd even go the "whole hog" and get it with cheese. Yes, I know there is a McDonald's here in Novi Sad, but I hated that crap in the US and I still don't want it.

2. Micheal Angelo's frozen vegetable lasagne. This is so good. You put a little extra mozzarella on the top and "zap" it in the microwave.

3. A big box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Wow, I really am pitiful. Not exactly gourmet stuff.

4. I am from Louisiana, so of course boiled crawfish must be included in this wish list. With new potatoes and corn on the cob cooked in with the crawdaddies.

5. Some California Rose wine. I really love this, but rose here is expensive and rare. Plenty of good and cheap whites and reds, but not much in blush or rose.

6. Some Bar-B-Q ... anything. Pork ribs, chicken leg quarters, sausage...I'm not picky.

Well, I think that is plenty for now. I really need to stop thinking about it and just go enjoy my day.

Happy 4th to anyone who is American and might be reading this blog today.