Taste of Home!

The local cuisine here in Macedonia is really wonderful, to be honest--especially the skara (aka. grilled meat), bread and shopska (aka. cucumber, tomato and shredded feta salad).  However, there are just some days that I miss a good California club sandwich, a non-mixed meat burger without fries stuffed in the bun, or Cali-Mex flavors.  You know, a taste of home.  Those days tend to pop up more often during the holiday's, btw.

Well, Sunday after church while enjoying macciatos and conversation with friends, one couple mentioned finding a new restaurant called, "Taste of California."  Yes, I admit that my head snapped up and the "where?!" was out of my mouth before I could even fully process the comment.  Then came their description of real nachos, homemade guacamole, salsa, real burgers, sandwiches and, be still my heart, Cali-Mex! They enjoyed it so much they went two days in a row! [Seriously, I must admit that my mouth is watering even as I type this!] 

Yesterday another friend and I decided to track this place down and to give it a try.  Oh my goodness!  Let me just say that it was WONDERFUL.  We ordered nachos and taquitos to share/try and a club sandwich.  It was all delicious, but I must say that so far my favorite is the club: grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, melted cheese, bacon and advocado on lightly toasted, homemade bread... the proportions were perfect and the flavor was.... a taste of home!

Yep!  You guessed it!  This California girl has signed off on this "Taste of California" in Skopje, Macedonia as being pretty authentic and a welcomed taste of home.  For those who are interested, it's located on Ortse Nikolov between DM and Hotel Tim's.

For those who are interested, it's located on Ortse Nikolov between DM and Hotel Tim's.

The Smell of Summer in Skopje

Freshly cut grass in the early mornings. Hamburgers sizzling on the barbeque. Damp towels drying in the sun. These are some fragrances that always signaled the arrival of summer for me growing up in the Sacramento Valley. Tea. That is the perfume that heralds the official arrival of summer for me here in Skopje.

Tea? I'm sorry, what? Did I really just say that?

When I'd ask the local baker or taxi driver about the силен мирис (strong aroma) filling the summer air the response was always, "Leepa. For tea."

Tea? I'm sorry, what?

Totally confused and convinced that I wasn't communicating well, I took a picture of the trees to show them. Several, actually. "Becky" at the local burek shop just looked at the images, smiled and said with a twinkle in her eye, "Yes, Karolinche. These are the Липа trees... we make tea from them."

Who knew! For some reason it never occurred to me that tea wasn't just made from herbs and such but from actual tree blossoms. She was totally bemused by my mystification but I was happy to learn something new about this special city and culture.

The Linden (aka Tilia) trees line the streets here in Skopje and their heady scent is reminiscent of gardenias, lilacs, lilies or other florist favorite. It envelopes you and its bouquet gets into clothes and hair and stays with you long after coming indoors.

Yes, summer has arrived here in Skopje. And next winter when the ice is thick on the ground and the sky heavy with snow, I'll only have to wrap my hands around a steamy mug of linden tea, close my eyes and breathe in deeply the lovely warm scent of summer and smile.

Swiss Pickled....?

OK, I will refrain from commenting on the Swiss chocolate and Swiss cheese that I'm enjoying while here in Switzerland and instead share a new food. See those burnt orange cubes? Well, several of us tried them and couldn't quite figure out what they were, but they certainly packed a flavor punch of different spices (like cinnamon and ginger) and were delicious. Well, we asked the chef and she said they were pickled pumpkin! Who knew?! She then went on to say that they'd had a huge crop this year and she really doesn't like making the same things over and over and prefer making new and different things. So would you believe that the pickled pumpkin was an experiment? Oh that all my cooking experiments come out as good! Now... how to I talk her out of the recipe... hmm......

Simple Pleasures

It's always exciting when something new appears on the shelves here in Skopje. Things like: M&Ms, brown sugar, tortillas, Brita filters and so much more! Well, the newest item to show up was celery stalk! Frankly, I couldn't hide my excitement when I saw them! I snatched one up and held it too my chest, smiling like an idiot and dreaming of all the wonderful things that can be done with celery. Sure, we've been able to get celery root here all along, but it's JUST NOT THE SAME as the snappy, crunchy wonder that is a celery stalk (especially in soups, stuffing, stir fry, etc).

The next purchase I made was some peanut butter.... mmmm..... celery sticks and PB... a favorite snack. It's amazing how something so simple can bring so much pleasure. :)

Meeting Friends at Enriko's

It's hard to believe I've been back in country for only 2 weeks... my time in the US seems so long ago already. One of the things I missed while in the US was meeting friends for coffee or breakfast/lunch at a little place called "Eriko's." It's tucked away in the Leptokarija shopping center, around the corner from "Gringos" (lol) and on the opposite end from Tutunska.

For you Californians, I'm sure this name makes you imagine all sorts of Mexican cuisine. Sorry, this restaurant, though it's decor and menus boast African/tribal themes, the food is all Italian... Macedonian-style. :)

The atmosphere is quaint and inviting with seating both indoors and outdoors and the servers always polite and helpful. The food... well, let's just say that they make the BEST pepperoni pizza on the PLANET! (No, I'm not exaggerating.) Not too much sauce or cheese, lots of real pepperoni and the most amazing crust ever.

Other favorites include what's called the "Enriko Breakfast" and is the perfect blend of flavors; the fruit salad that's always changing according to the season, but always flavorful; and rich coffee that always comes with a small piece of homemade chocolate. I've never tried their pastas, but as the pasta itself looks like it's made from scratch I imagine it's great too!

The best thing about Enriko's, though, is to enjoy this atmosphere and meals with friends. I've had the pleasure of going a couple times now with two different friends. One friend & colleague and I had a "girls days" that consisted of a trip to our favorite hair-stylist and then heading out to lunch. We enjoyed a great time catching up on each others lives and continuing to build on the friendship. The other friend is a relatively new one. I'd met her just before I went to the US and this was out first day hanging out since I got back. Enriko's was again a great place to go and hang out and chat, while enjoying some of the best food Skopje has to offer. =)

It's great to be back in Mac!

[My apologies for how much like a commercial this sounds! That was so not intentional!]

Poppin' for Shampoo & Toast

Pop! Bang! The sound of sporadic popping of balloons and a crowd filled Ramstore's entry way this morning. There was a lot of popping going on, but it'd never occurred to me that it was on purpose. :)

It's Saturday and normally the day for different promotions: from chocolate and cheese to vita-drink mixes and dishwashing soap. Normally, I just walk on by, but today there was an announcement over the store speakers that if you spent over a certain amount of money you could enter a contest by bringing your receipt to the main entrance. Ah, I thought, the balloons... but as I didn't understand everything being said I'd no clue as to what the contest was and was curious to find out.

I thought perhaps we'd have to fill out a form and submit it for a drawing or something. Nope, this was infinitely better: you get to chose an orange, green or white balloon. Then a girl marks your receipt and then grabs the balloon and a pin and POP! The balloon explodes and a folded piece of paper flies out (or across the room, or hits someone in the head) that tells you what you've won! Ha ha! What fun!... though I'd no idea how the gals didn't jump like I did every time they skewered a balloon. ;)

For my balloon-poppin fun I won some shampoo, soap and a coupon for a free toast at Twiggy's. =)

****

For those who are thinking, "Gee, she won a piece of toasted bread... yipee...," it's actually much much better than that. Here in Macedonia "тост" is actually more like a grilled cheese sandwich with lunch meat ham and optional mushrooms, ketchup, mayonnaise and, of course, oregano.

Comfort Food & Traditions

Living overseas, thousands of miles away from family and dear friends, can be hard--especially around the holidays (and nephews birthdays). Yet in our international community here we've found some traditions and comfort "foods" that help take the edge off of missing family and friends. One is the annual ladies "Caramel Apple Night."

The first one was held 10 years ago and has been a strong tradition since. The lady who started it is now back in the US, but each year she so graciously sends the caramels and prayers from ladies for the party. This is a fun evening of fellowship with anywhere from 20-50 women who are believers and live and work in a variety of roles here in Macedonia & Kosovo. Some of the ladies have been here for 9 years while others just "got off the boat" three days ago!

For many of us this is the only time we get to see each other and so is a lot a fun to catch up and to hear how each are doing in their various areas. We also share local finds (like Brita filters and a "Gourmet" restaurant) and cooking tricks (homemade vanilla extract and pie crust from filo-dough).

It's funny how things like the team Thanksgiving, the single-women's Christmas party, Carmel Apple night, the team Christmas party, ajvar-making retreats and Field Forum are all becoming regular traditions and events... ones that I find myself looking forward to each year. Back in the US we had/have traditions but they were just a part of every day life and I didn't think about their specialness very much (shocker!)... since being overseas, though, I've noticed the difference and am finding that I cherish the traditions we do have. There's a certain comfort in the familiar while in the midst of the all-together unfamiliar. Comfort "life-food" while living in a foreign land. :)

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. They mean so much and are deeply appreciated.

*******

Pictured clockwise: just a portion of the ladies shoes left by the door, apples cooling/setting in the cool winter air on the balcony (Trivia: which "apple" is not like the others?), spiced apple cider, the caramel dipping process. Mmmmm.

Recipe: Old World Apple Cake

I've always thought that October is the best month in which to have a birthday. The air is crisp but still carries hints of the summer gone by. The trees, parks and wooded paths are colored in various shades of greens, yellows, oranges and browns. Тhen there are the numerous seasonal items like squash, sweet potatoes and, of course, apples. And with apples comes the best game ever for a kid's birthday party: apple dunking (or bobbing)!

For those who aren't familiar with this, imagine a big barrel or ivar-making-tanger (танџер) filled with water and dozens of bright red harvest apples bobbing on the surface. Then the children hold their hands behind their back and try to pick up an apple with just their mouth. :::giggle:::


[Apple-dunking picture source:
http://www.borehamwoodtimes.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/apple_day/ ]

Unless there's a decent stem, the participants will end up dunking their entire heads all the way in to wedge an apple against the bottom and sink their teeth in. Coming up they send splashes of water onto everyone within a 5 foot radius. They are soaking wet from head to torso but with a triumphant apple-filled smile. Ahhh... memories. :) (My Macedonian friends are probably cringing at this moment at the image of children being outside with wet hair in October.)

Now a days I don't go dunking for apples anymore (though the kid in me would love to!) instead I bake. And that's just what I did this weekend with the big bag of organic apples that a friend gave to me on my birthday last week. It's an old family favorite of mine and a gem I thought worth sharing. It's from my Mom's well-worn and loved 1966 copy of the Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery (Vol. 1, Fawcett Publications, Inc., New York, 1966, pg. 102).

Old World Apple Cake

Ingredients for Filling
3 Pounds cooking apples
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 slices of lemon

Ingredients for Pastry
2 Cups sifted all-purpose flour (sift before you measure)
1-1/3 cups sugar (about)
1-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 egg yolks (room temperature)

Method

Peel and slice apples. Cook with sugar, water and lemon until tender but not mushy. Drain and cool. Remove lemon slices.

Mix flour, 1-1/4 cups sugar and baking powder. Cut in 1/2 cup butter with pastry blender or work in with fingers until mixture is crumbly. Mix in egg yolks. Reserve 1 cup four mixtrue for top. Pat remainder on bottom and sides of greased 9-inch spring-form pan. Fill with apples; sprinkle with reserved topping; dot with 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake in preheated moderate oven (350F) for 1 hour. Serve warm or cold. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

OK, now for my Macedonian friends who have asked me for this recipe...сега ке пробам да ви го кажам рецептот на Македонски (благодарам на моите учителки кои што ме помогнаат со овој рецепт).

за полнење
3 кила јаболка за печење
1/3 шолја шеќер
1/2 шолја обична вода
2 парчиња лимон

Излупете ги и сечете ги јаболката. Ги варете сите парчиња со шеќерот и лимонот ċе додека не омекнат. Исушете ги и се изладете ги. Вадете ги парчињата од лимон.

процедно (за тесто)
2 шолји приближно брашно
1-1/3 шолји шеќер (околу)
1-1/4 мала лажица пециво (прашок за печиво)
2/3 чаша путер или маргарин (околу)
2 жолтчки (соба темпетура)

Загрејте ја рерната на 177°с.

Во среден сад го мешате брашното, 1-1/4 чаши од шеќерот и пецивото. Само 1/2 чаши од путерот го сечете заедно во смесата со вилушка. Додадете ги жолтчките во садот со смесата и мешајте дури не стане хомогена смеса. Ставете една чаша од смесата на страна и ставете го другиот во една тава. Ставете ги јаболките или овошјете од ваш избор и на крајот ставете ја смесата на врвот на обошјето. Сега, со голема лажица, ставете го шеќерот на врвот. Печете ја тортата на 177°с за еден саат.

Prijаtno јадење! And have an enjoyable and color-filled fall season! :)

The Great Pepper Debate

One of the big debates that we had while making Ajvar was whether or not to core and de-seed the peppers before or after roasting. Talking to locals you find a wide range of passionate opinions as to the "correct way" to do it. We each had experience doing it both ways and since we had 75 kilos of peppers to work with over two days, we decided to do a compare and contrast. So here's what we found out, and at the end is the verdict and an opportunity for you to throw in your two-denars.


Day 1: We cored and de-seeded the peppers before roasting.
Coring wasn't so bad if you had fingernails as you could simply push the nail in at the base of the stem and pull it out. The seeds are then easily shaken out by tapping against the side of a bowl.
Roasting was a little tricky as it was harder at times to grab hold of the peppers in order to turn them. Additionally, it seemed to take a long time to roast the pepper until it was peel-able (meaning black).... more often than not the burn would extend beyond the skin and into the "meat" of the pepper.
Peeling was very difficult as we'd left them in the plastic bags overnight. The upside was that there were few if any seeds to deal with, and the peppers stayed drier (a key thing is to keep the water level down for cooking)



Day 2: We washed the peppers and placed them directly on the stove to roast complete with stems attached (and seeds inside).
Roasting was much nicer as the stems made for good handles in turning. Additionally, as the steam built up inside the peppers they were easier to smoosh down with tongs to obtain a more even burning of the skin. Finally, the peppers seemed to cook faster and so there was less burnage and loss of the meat (unlike on day 1 where several peppers simply disintegrated in our hands from overcooking/burning).
Peeling was by far much easier when the peppers were still warm. We let them sweat in plastic bags for at least 2 hours before beginning peeling and the peels simply slid off! The downside were the numerous seeds that seemed to get everywhere. People resorted to dipping the peppers in water to get rid of the seeds (a big NO NO according to every Macedonian domakinka). I found the scissor method worked quite well (put the meat between your fingers and simply slide down, removing any seeds).

The Verdict: Having to deal with the seeds after roasting was headache enough that the general concensus was to core/de-seed before roasting, but to peel while still warm.

Personally, I agreed that dealing with the seeds was a big pain, but in my opinion the benefits of roasting with the stem on far outweighs the seedy inconvenience. It has everything to do with the steam held inside the pepper with the stem on.

1. The peppers plump while you cook them
2. The meat benefits from the flavor of the seeds (according to one of the Macedonian babas)
3. The meat says thick and flavorful as it's steamed rather than baked (the steam builds up inside the pepper)
4. The pepper cooks faster thanks to the benefit of the steam
5. The peel comes off more easily also because of the benefits of the steam
6. Less blackened pepper makes it into the final mix because less meat is burned

At this point I'd like to open up the comment section of this blog to hear from all my Balkan friends or others who have made Ajvar. Do you prefer to core and de-seed the peppers before roasting or after??

Ajvar: Community Pepper Peeling

Oui! How is it that every muscle in my body hurts?! It's amazing how sore you get while making Ajvar.... between hunching over and peeling, peeling, peeling and four-hours of stirring, stirring, stirring it's no wonder! Our second day making the local specialty went really well and was full of fun. Here's a picture diary of our day which began with:

Roasting peppers until they're black and easy to peel... this time with the stems on in order to do a comparison of methods used by locals... more to come on the verdict in another blog...
Beginning the pepper-peeling process....

Prepare shish-kabob's for lunch

Quickly move everything inside because the previously sunny day disappeared in a torrent of rain!... and peel more peppers

Roast eggplant (aka "black tomatoes")

Pause for lunch under the once-again clear skies.... the carrots and cherry tomatoes in the salad were fresh from the garden!

Continue to peel peppers and now eggplant (eggplant is by far the hardest to peel btw)...

Begin to grind the peppers and eggplant... don't you just love the innovation of using a drill vs. hand-cranking!?! Zip zip! It went so fast!

Continue peeling and grinding while beginning to stir the mix on the stove... adding 1 liter (!) of oil to start...


Chop fresh parsley from the garden and garlic for the ajvar beginning to boil on the stove..

Short break for early blackberry birthday pie for Pattie and myself [thank you!!].... while still peeling!

More peeling!

Finished the peeling and now finishing up the grinding!!

Now the brewing begins! We needed to cook this mixture until it's 1/2 this size!

That means... four HOURS of stirring... and stirring... and stirring..... Once the mixture had cooked down, thickened and darkened, we brought it all upstairs to begin spooning into freshly sanitized, prepared jars...

It's hard to believe that 75 kilos of peppers and 20 of eggplant boiled down to 20 small jars and 5 large jars of Ivar! (Or as my brother and nephews teasingly pronounced... Ajuh-bep... the Englishification of the Cyrillic for Aye-var... Ајвар)

If you're counting jars in this picture you'll notice there's only 4 large jars... that's because we ate one while it was warm! It's so yummy to slather warm Ivar on bread and top it with some sirinje (a creamy feta-type cheese). MmmmMmmm...

By far, the best thing about making Ajvar, though, are the hours of fellowship, laughs, conversation and community-building among participants enjoying each other, the work and the day. :) Besides making Ajvar with colleagues, I've twice had the priviledge of making Ajvar with a Macedonian family from church. I loved sitting at the stove with the dad and chatting while monitoring the peppers process and adding more when others were done... or the laughter and conversation that happened with everyone around the pepper-peeling on a crisp autumn day. Making ajvar is one of those very special community activities and something I look forward to now each year.

Though I could go another year before I peel another pepper! lol ;)

Making Ajvar for a Team Meeting

Yesterday Christine and I drove down to Bitola to hang with some colleagues and to make a local specialty called Ajvar (pr.. "Aye-var"). When we left Skopje it was sunny with a kiss of warmth in the air, but halfway to Bitola the sky opened and it began to rain. And rain. And rain. I also realized it was high time I changed the windshield wipers as the harder it rained the harder it was to see!

Arriving in Bitola we got right to work on coring and roasting 75 kilos (aka 165 lbs!) of vibrant red peppers. Oh! Wish you could smell the wonderful fragrance that they make as they're sizzling on the stove. We enjoyed some great conversation and laughter under a patio umbrella as the rain continued to come down. (Cracking walnuts for roasting also in pic below).

Their landlords would pop in one and another at different times to say hello and to watch us Americans try our hand at a Balkan specialty. Mark let me take over roasting while he and his landlords son chatted over by the apple tree (while sampling a few fresh from the tree as well). I really enjoy roasting the peppers, though usually it's the men who do it. At one point I was roasting and Christine and Becky were coring as Mark brought us more peppers. I can only imagine how odd that must have looked to the locals! ;)

About 6:30 the gals and I left Mark to the roasting and headed to the church for women's bible study. Christine and I were put a little on the spot to lead the song-time... um.. in Macedonian. I must say that was a first for me. Usually I'm leading songs in English for the International Church, but this was a really great experience. Afterwards we all had some great discussion times about living our lives as lights to those around us. We ended with prayer for our families and then the gals and I returned home to find that Mark had just finished roasting the second bag of peppers.

Today we have 25 kilos left of peppers to roast as well as a bag of eggplant. This batch of peppers will be a bit different, though. You see, one of the discussions we had yesterday was if coring the peppers before roasting is better than leaving the stems on for roasting and coring and de-seeding afterwards. Every Macedonian will tell you something different (even about peeling... sweat the roasted peppers in a plastic bag but peel them while they're warm vs. sweat them overnight). Anyways, today we roast with stems and will compare our experience with yesterday. :)

Mark and Pattie are joining us today as well and we'll be having a team meeting while roasting and peeling peppers. I must say, this will be the funnest team meeting I think we've ever had. ;)

The Last Day of Summer

They say there are just two seasons here in Macedonia: summer and winter. Boy do I believe it!

Just two weeks ago we enjoyed the late summer warm air next to a river to celebrate a baptism. It was warm and wonderful in all aspects of the meaning. And you can see from the picture that Macedonians really know how to grill well! And nothing surpasses the summer produce either--those locally grown tomatoes were simply delicious! Picnics are also a big thing here--starting with Picnic Day (or May 1st) through to the last days of summer. :) And as it turned out, this picnic was indeed on the last day of summer.


The next day, Sunday, it rained most of the day but cleared up just in time for the wedding at church. Then by Tuesday I was digging out a suitcase full of winter clothes from my closet, retiring open-toes shoes and capri's to a storage box and wearing long pants for the first time in months.

Now, two weeks later, I have a cold, my lungs are dry and my throat scratchy and as I drink the last of my Alka Seltzer cold medicine I'm remembering that lazy joyous picnic and baptism by the river with a bit of wistful longing for a little more summer. As it is, city heat doesn't normally get turned on until October 15th (just missing my birthday btw)... though it would have been nice if it were turned on yesterday... It's hard to believe how quickly the cold embraced us. I mean, from upper 30s (90s) to single digits (40s & 50s) in literally days!

Oh how I miss California's Indian Summer. Sigh... Welcome to the Balkans and to living in the land of two seasons! :) Then again, each new season has it's joys. The cold weather means it's time to roast peppers and make Ivar! Also, since the cold came so early this year... maybe they'll be lots of snow this winter too. Now wouldn't that be fun! ;)

Figs

One of my favorite seasonal fruits to be found here in the Balkans in August are figs. Since the first leaves appeared in the spring I've been watching the fruit slowly mature, and today they were ready. :)

Now here's the funny thing about me liking figs at all: as a child I really disliked them (hated even). As a family, besides picking August blackberries (another favorite), we'd pick ripe figs from a tree that grew in the wild near Folsom Lake. My Mom would then spend hours preparing them into a sweet cooked/candied dessert... that I refused to eat and, consequently, spent many an hour at the dinner table with a plate in front of me long after everyone else was done. There was just something about the texture and sticky sweetness that triggered my gag-reflex... I guess figs to me were like broccoli to other kids. It wasn't until years later, when my brother coaxed me with a fresh fig from the tree in his backyard, that I started to like them.

Now, having tried the fresh figs from the tree here in the Balkans, I'm hooked. I still don't prefer them cooked and so you can imagine how ironic it is that it just happens to be a favored specialty here in Macedonia! I used to say that it was one of the few items that I might actually refuse if offered some by a Macedonian friend... but quickly found I couldn't bring myself to be that rude last year when the family I stayed with in Dojran proudly served me a portion. It was wonderful... but if you say I said that I'll deny it! Still, my favorite is when they're fresh off the tree and still slightly on the tart side of ripe. Exactly what I found today on the way to work and later enjoyed for breakfast!

I wonder if Jesus was anticipating enjoying that juicy sweet flavor when he was hungry and looked for fruit on that tree that only had leaves? There was no fruit, he said, "May you never bear fruit again," and by the next day it was withered. I always wondered about that until I read that the fruit actually grows with the leaves? That means if you see leaves on a fig tree there should be fruit. Because there were leaves he was expecting there be fruit. Interesting application here, but I'll leave that to the theologians. :) I've also read that fig trees are supposed to have two crops as well: one in the spring and the other in late summer. Maybe that's for a different type of fig tree because the trees I've seen here have had only one crop each year: in August.

Anyways, if you've never tried figs, I highly encourage you too. If you're like me and don't prefer the cooked variety, try them right off the tree... they're amazing.

Strange Fruit -- anyone know what it is?

On any given day while walking to work in Skopje I pass dozens of different fruit trees: pear, apple, plum, kumquat, apricot, peach and fig. Just to name a few. Then there's this tree. The fruit looks like miniature apples, but they grow in clusters like a cherry. For the last couple months I've watched this fruit mature--from blossom to the beginnings of little green fruit til now and the luscious ruby-colored orbs. This morning as I walked by it was quite tempting to try one... though I'm not that adventurous!

Anyone out there know what these are? And if they're safe to eat, do you think they'd make a good pie?

Recipe: Burek/Pita aka Balkan Pie

When preparing to come here to the Balkans I'd read about a local specialty known as "meat pie" that was typically served for breakfast. Meat pie?? It conjured images of a double-crust American-style pie with meat filling. Or I imagined that maybe it was rather like a chicken-pot pie. Ha! Was I surprised when I arrived here and saw this:

The version pictured above is made in a 1-1/2" deep, round, baking pan and was first introduced by a Turkish baker from Istanbul in Nis, Serbia, in 1498 (according to Wikepedia). In Macedonia, a version called "pita" (Пита or "pie") is prepared by layering ingredients in filo-dough, rolling into a pin-wheel and baked in the round pan. Burek* (Бурек) is pretty much the same as pita except that the layering is done directly into a 1-1/2" deep round pan with no rolling. Personally, I prefer the Pita version because it's a little less oily and breaks off into easy bite-sized pieces--though a Macedonian lady told me that if you make it yourself you can make any of them less oily. :)

Here's the basic recipe for pita:

Filo-Dough, about three sheets (give or take)
Filling (choose one from below)
Oil

Work quickly so that the dough does not dry out. Simply place a little oil and filling in between the layers and roll into a pin-wheel. (Or layer in baking pan for burek using a bit more filo dough and filling.) Heat at 482F (250C) for 20 minutes until golden brown.

The salty versions are served warm with a bottle of plain yogurt to drink.

Filling Options:
Quantity depends upon how much you want to make. :)

Meat: browned meat with onions and a little Vegeta (a use-in-every-dish-under-the-sun seasoning)

Spinach & Urda cheese
My best description for urda is that it's like a dryer cottage cheese (some places online give Ricotta cheese as an substitute). Here's a basic recipe: bring 1 liter of milk to a boil and then add 1 tsp lemon juice into 1/2 cup warm water and add to the boiling milk. Reduce heat and Stir constantly until curdles and whey are completely separated. The curdling should happen fairly quickly, but if it doesn't, increase heat and add more lemon juice. Strain mixture through cheese cloth (or tea towel) and rinse with running water for 1 minute. Squeeze out excess water. Voila! Homemade kinda-cottage cheese. Season with salt and mix with spinach for fill.

2-4 Eggs & Urda cheese
Beat eggs and mix together with the cheese. Personally, I'd probably add some onions as well... ok and maybe a little ham too to make a breakfast pita. :)

Pictured: Sarafina making Bosnian burek with eggs and urda. It was so fascinating to watch her make the filo-dough by hand. Such hard work, the dough so thin and delicate. Amazing!

Leeks or Cabbage & Urda

Sweet versions (like strudel):

Pumpkin, seasoned with sugar and cinnamon
Apple, chop fine and cook with a little lemon, sugar and cinnamon
Cherry or Raspberry (or any berry, really), cook with sugar and small amount of water and corn starch to thicken

The versions called "burek" and "pita" here in Macedonia are a bit different than in other places. In Bosnia and Kosovo they're still referred to as burek, but they are generally not done in the huge round pans. They're simply rolled into tight oblong pinwheels and baked on a flat baking pan. Here's a link to Wikepedia that has a great little article on all things Burek as related to it's Turkish roots and different variations found here in the Balkans.

Americanized Version: I'm tempted to try making a "meat pie" using a thin pizza dough to roll the ingredients into rather than filo-dough to get more of a bready version. What do you think? Worth a go?