I dance with a Balkan folk ensemble. A couple weeks ago, one of the
group's babas (grandmas) brought me some Bosnian sandwiches.
The bread reminded me of Indian fry bread, slightly sweet white bread,
about 1/2" thick and 8" in diameter. The entire surface was golden, so
the fat in which it was cooked must have been fairly deep. Later, I
asked some of the Serbs and Croats in my group if they knew the name,
and they said it sounded like a bread called pogaca.
One sandwich was filled with cevapcici, small Balkan "sausages." I
think these were beef and lamb, seasoned simply with salt and pepper,
maybe garlic. The other sandwich was filled with kajmak, a thickened
and salted cream--a fat sandwich on fried bread!
She also gave me dessert, which consisted of Cream of Wheat with
shredded dough on top, similar to filo. The Cream of Wheat had
solidified as it cooled. The dessert was flavoured with cinnamon and a
sugar syrup. It was very similar to the galaktoboureko I've had at
Greek restaurants, which is Cream of Wheat in filo, with sugar syrup.
The food was delicious. Baba promised to teach me how to prepare some
of the specialties from her country, so I am looking forward to the
lessons.
Derek Juhl