Lesson 7, Culture

Lesson Seven, Culture

Ethnic Food and Beverages

[ćevapčići] [pita] The region features several major culinary influences, including Mediterranean, Near Eastern, and Central European. Some culinary habits (such as roasting young lambs and piglets on a spit, eating animal brains, testicles, etc.) may strike American visitor as unusual. However, ethnic food and beverages by-and-large are tasty and congruent with American nutritional habits. A further difference lies in the culture of food consuming. People in the region in general do not pay attention to caloric or other values of the food, concentrating rather on its taste. Similarly, guests' nutritional habits are not inquired about and it is assumed that one is not vegetarian. The most common beverages include wine, as well as brandy prepared from both plums and grapes. Here are the most common ethnic foods and beverages:

Appetizers

The most common appetizers are cheeses, salami, hams, and pickled vegetables. These appetizers are often used as snack when drinking alcoholic beverages. Appetizer is predjelo 'lit. before-the-meal' in Serbo-Croatian. The best known cheeses come from the regions of the island of Pag in Croatia, the city of Sjenica in Montenegro, and the city of Travnik with its mountain Vlašić in Bosnia. They are called paški sir, sjenički sir, travnički/vlašićki sir. Another common regional dairy product is kajmak, a rich and salty dairy cream. The most beloved variety is užički kajmak produced in the vicinity of Užice, Serbia. The best known meat delicacies are smoked ham, called pršut or pršuta (found mostly in Herzegovina, Montenegro, and the coastal regions of Croatia), with njeguška pršuta from the Njeguši region in Montenegro being the most respected variety, as well as different kinds of hard salami, sudžuk or sudžuka form Bosnia, and sremska kobasica from Serbia. The best known pickled vegetables are sauerkraut (called kiseli kupus), pickled peppers (called kisele paprike) often stuffed with sauerkraut, and pickles (called kiseli krastavci). In addition, there is a vegetable spread prepared from peppers and eggplants called ajvar. Some main course items, such as pita (see below) can also be used as appetizers.

Soups

There are three words for soup: juha in Croatian, supa, elsewhere in the region, and čorba, thick soup (a word used outside of Croatia). The three best known kinds of soup are begova čorba (lit. bey's soup) from Bosnia; the rich in vegetables and small chunks of meat and somewhat unusual istarska supa (lit. Istrian soup, after the region Istria) from Croatia, prepared with wine and olive oil; and riblja čorba (lit. fish soup) - fish stew, prepared in particular in the areas along the Danube river in Serbia and Croatia.

Main Courses

The Serbo-Croatian word is glavno jelo. The most common "fast food" main course items are as follows: First, pita, also known as burek, phyllo dough stuffed with either meat, spinach, potatoes, or cheese. While the word burek is used in Bosnia for only meat variety of this stuffed dough, the word denigrates dough with any kind of stuffing elsewhere. Pita is served in the parlors called buregdžinica. Second, ćevapčići, small grilled meat sausages, served with Near-Eastern style bread and onions. These and other grill products are served at the parlors called ćevabdžinica.

Other ethnic food products widely spread across the region are cabbage or vine leafs stuffed with meat and rice, called sarma, and bell peppers stuffed with the same mass called punjene paprike. Spit-roasted lamb (jagnjetina or janjetina) and young pork (prasetina) are popular all across the region. In the Mediterranean, a variety of seafood is available. The most exquisite seafood is comprised of dentex, cuttlefish, squid, and shrimp. A popular seafood dish is brodet, a stew composed of several varieties of fish. It is worth noting that bread is an obligatory component of any main course, even if the side dish are potatoes, polenta, or rice. Also, one should know that salads are eaten simultaneously with the main course rather than ahead of it.

Deserts

The aforementioned pita also comes as a desert filled with apples or cherries. Most other deserts have Near Eastern origins and are ubiquitous in Bosnia. They include rahat-lokum also called ratluk, i.e., Turkish delight, apples stuffed with walnuts and cooked in sweet water called tufahije, and baklave i.e., baklava. There is also traditional preserve, served with water as the first item to any visitors in Serbia, called slatko, boiled wheat with walnuts and honey served on a Serbian family's patron's day. Finally, northwestern Croatia is known for its strudel called štrukli.

Beverages

Beverages, i.e., pića can be alkoholna 'alcoholic' or bezalkoholna 'soft'. The beverages of choice are wine and brandies. Other alcoholic beverages do not have tradition in the region and should be avoided. This is particularly true about beer, which is characterized by a very low quality despite all claims made by the locals. Two common varieties of brandy are plum brandy, called šljivovica in the center and the north of the region, and grappa, i.e., grape brandy, called lozovača in the south. Both brandies come in different strengths from 40 to 140 proof. The most respected varieties are distilled in monasteries. The generic name of manastirka refers to such brandy.

Although there are wine regions in the north, especially around Kutjevo in Croatia, and Vršac in Serbia, the best known vineyards are in the south along the coast of the Adriatic sea. The most distinguished sorts are called Babić, Malvazija, Plavac, Pošip, Postup, and Žilavka. It is interesting to point out that Californian Zinfandel originates from the Croatian Plavac Kaštelanski.

This page offers numerous recipes of local dishes. Further examples can be found here and here.

Major Tourist Points of Interest

[Plitvice] [Gamzigrad] Although major urban centers, mentioned earlier in this course, offer important sightseeing points, it is the regions in the province that offer the most interesting natural and historic sights. In northern Croatia, one can find medieval castles, such as Trakošćan, and numerous hot thermal spas. The Adriatic coast of Croatia and Montenegro offers numerous examples of Ancient Roman, Medieval, and Renaissance architecture (primarily in the cities of Pula, Zadar, Šibenik, Split, and Dubrovnik in Croatia, as well as Kotor, Buva, and Bar in Montenegro). The region is furthermore characterized by marvels of natural beauty, such as the archipelago of Kornati near Zadar, the Plitvice lakes in the hinterland to the North of the port of Šibenik, both in Croatia, and the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. Finally, the region is abundant in marvelous stone beaches. Serbia is known for sites of Neolithic culture, such as Vinča; Ancient Roman sites (e.g., Gamzigrad and Mediana); and most importantly for numerous medieval monasteries, such as Žiča and Studenica. Some of the natural beauties in Serbia and continental Montenegro include the Đerdap gorge on the Danube, the canyon of Tara. Serbia is also known for its health spas, such as Vrnjačka banja. Bosnia and Herzegovina are best known for pearls of Islamic architecture, with numerous mosques, clock-towers, and hamams in many towns, some of which, such as Počitelj, have preserved the entire city structure from the times of the Turkish rule (15-19 century). The best known natural marvel is Perućica, the only preserved European jungle. Mountains around Sarajevo, Bjelašnica and Jahorina, offer excellent skiing terrains.

More about tourist destinations in the region are available here and here.

[Studenica]

Popular Music

Popular music in the region falls under the following broad categories:

Traditional rural and urban - listened to by mostly older audiences in both rural and urban areas. The best known varieties include Serbian starogradske pesme, Bosnian Muslim sevdalinke, Northern Croatian popevke, and Southern Croatian dalmatinske pisme. This kind of music is usually called izvorna narodna muzika/glazba. The most notable performers are Predrag Gojković Cune, Zvonko Bogdan, and Dušan Dančuo (starogradske pesme), Safet Isović and Himzo Polovina (sevdalinke), Ladarice (popevke), Klapa "Omiš", and Klapa "Trogir" (dalmatinske pisme). These varieties are somewhat of a functional equivalent of blues or folk in the United States.
Contemporary folk - This variety of music, called novokomponovana narodna muzika or narodnjaci is less wide-spread in Croatia. There, the kind of music which serves the same social functions is the Dalmatian (southern Croatian) version of pop music. Both narodnjaci and dalmatinski pop are roughly the equivalent of country western music, listened to by less educated rural populations. Examples of such music can be found in performers like Miroslav Ilić, Sinan Sakić, Halid Muslimović (narodnjaci), Mišo Kovač and Milo Hrnić (dalmatinski pop).
Pop - This kind of music, called zabavna muzika/glazba, is popular in both rural and urban areas. It features two varieties - older scores performed mostly by individual singers, and newer songs played mostly by pop bands. Performers like Oliver Dragojević, Zdravko Čolić, and Leo Martin represent the first variety, while bands like Plavi orkerstar and Crvena Jabuka offer examples of the second kind of music.
Rock and alternative - This musical genre is popular mostly in urban areas. The most popular older rock bands include Bijelo dugme and Indeksi. There are also numerous newer rock groups such as Haustor or Električni orgazam. Bands like Disciplina kičme and No Smoking Band offer excellent examples of alternative rock music.

The Web page Nostalgia offers mp3 samples of the aforementioned performers. Just follow the link Muzika and note that performers are sorted by their names not by their surnames. Thus, when looking for Mišo Kovač, one should go to the M rather than the K section of the archive.

Proceed with further exploring the lesson by clicking the [GRAMMAR] link on the left