A Hearty Serbian Meal

My first Serbian meal was at the Bohemian Quarter of Old Town Belgrade. We went to an elegant hotel restaurant with a nice patio outside.

I had been told that Serbian meals are hearty, accompanied by pepper-based side dishes and doughy desserts. Serbia has a rich supply of meat, dairy products, and honey and their cuisine is characterized by a highly diverse array of dishes that has a mixture of Greek, Bulgarian, Turkish, and Hungarian influences. I was excited because I was quite hungry after our long drive.

“We have the best meat here,” our Serbian Tour Director proudly declared. Naturally, we went for a meat-heavy lunch. In fact, the restaurant’s house specialty called, “The Saber of a Hero” is a long saber with an assortment of meat skewered on it – beef kebab, smoked pork fillets, smoked pork ham, spicy sausages, chicken drumsticks, and chicken fillet. It came with a huge tray of baked potatoes served with a yogurt-cream cheese dip, as well as grilled vegetables with cream cheese and pepper dip, and a lettuce and red onion salad. This huge dish is good for four, that is, four hungry carnivorous diners. But it could be more than enough for five to six people with smaller appetites. I shared this dish with my roommate and three other ladies.

We were told that food in Serbia often comes with music because it is always treated as a celebration. Most traditional kafanas (coffee shops) and Serbian restaurants have a tamburazi (a small band). We were serenaded by a trio of musicians, each playing an instrument – a guitar, an accordion, and a cello. They sang traditional songs, as well as modern romantic songs requested by some diners.

I had gotten to know the other three ladies at the table with us – an Australian, a New Zealander, and an Australian-South African (grew up in S.A. but moved to Australia with her family), who were all doing teaching stints in the U.K. They told me that it was common for Aussie and Kiwi youngsters to work in a European city for a year or two. They take teaching and other similar jobs to gain professional experience, be exposed to other cultures, and enjoy the opportunity to travel the world while they are still young. For them, cultural immersion is an integral part of their preparation for their future careers, as well as for their personal growth. Seeing the world is like a continuing education for them.

Since Australia and New Zealand are British dominions (just like Canada), using London as their base makes sense. Living there gives them easy access and cheaper airfares to the rest of Europe, and even down to Africa and across to North America, compared to travelling from their home countries.

Talking to these youngsters opened my eyes to their view of the world and their idea of “living a full life.”  Travel for them goes hand-in-hand with university life and is essential to jumpstart any career. Including an impressive travel portfolio on their CVs is as important as listing their on-the-job training experience. It’s an entirely different perspective from that of my generation or those older, where travel usually comes a lot later – with the job or after you’ve reached a certain level of employment stability. It is quite refreshing to hear about their take on things.

We enjoyed our conversation and humongous meal. The meat was all good – tender, juicy, and cooked to perfection, with the added zing of Balkan spices. But we couldn’t finish everything, so the Aussie and British guys from the other table gladly partook of our leftovers.

My Aussie and Kiwi tablemates remarked how glad they were that we decided to order this meal. They had missed eating good meat. Coming from Australia and New Zealand where vast cattle ranches and farms provide a supply of premium meat, they had to adjust their palate to the lower quality meat they get in London.

My roommate and I nodded in agreement. In Canada, we get high-quality, grade-finished beef, even grade AAA beef from regular supermarkets. My roommate, who is based in Prague, but grew up in the U.S., knew what I meant, with their USDA prime grades almost at par with Canadian beef.

But we mentioned that they can get good meat from the U.K., too. England is known for breeds like Aberdeen Angus and Hereford. But these are relatively more expensive, and you have to get them from specialty butcher shops or farm stores. However, we understood that working students like them usually shop at supermarkets where the standard meat sold are more “processed” in appearance with limited marbling.

The good news is that we would be spending several days in the Balkans and they could have their fill of good meat for a fraction of the price.

We ended our meal with some traditional raspberry cream cake and strong coffee.