The Balkan Kitchen: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of the Balkans

by Irina Janakievska

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

272 pages, Hardcover

Published October 8, 2024

Reviews

[emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than just ‘recipes’ (excuse the cliché). Thoroughly ‘enjoyed’ this. Fab writing/stories, beautiful photographs, and almost needless to say — wonderful, accessible, ‘simple’ (or rather – uncomplicated) recipes.

‘The history of burek is one of necessity, migration, evolution, adaptation and reinvention. It is a question of geography, a way of living. Its nomadic origins are perhaps the reason it has persevered. It is in its conceptualisation a food created to be transportable and transported anywhere. An item designed to be versatile and able to sustain you in periods of scarcity – just dough with a little bit of foraged greens or whatever else you could find. This is why versions of it have taken root across so many lands, cultures, ethnicities and religions. This is why it has survived millennia of poverty, wars and conquest, displacement and migration – and why it will continue to do so.’

‘To date, there is no real geographical, historical, or political consensus on where the borders of either lie, and no real consensus as to which nation-states, or peoples, are included in the undefined and potentially indefinable boundaries of the Balkans.
In simplistic and practical terms, the Balkans lie in South East Europe, between the Adriatic Sea in the north-west, the Black Sea in the north-east, the Turkish Straits in the east and the Aegean Sea in the south. As for the northern land border, some would argue that this is marked by the Danube River up to Vienna, but many Slovenians or Istrians would not consider themselves Balkan. In short – the delineation of what constitutes the Balkans remains just as obscure now as it has always been.
To my mind, it is most helpful to think of the Balkans as a mutable region, and one which, in current global-map terms comprises nation-states born out of the demise of the former Yugoslavia – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia, as well as Albania, Bulgaria, and parts of Greece, Romania, Hungary and Turkey.’

‘I did not realise it then, but cooking was to become my way of dealing with grief, with what we call taga –a sorrow, a yearning, a love for a person, a time, a place. I have heard it said that home is where your eyes first see sunlight. Even though I had left out of choice, there was an irrepressible pull to my place of birth, to the Macedonian sun, to the Balkans. Threads that kept me firmly woven to my South East European homeland. Cooking became a way for me to be at home anywhere in the world. Sharing my food became a way to share a part of myself with people I loved so that they could experience the tastes of my childhood and understand me and where I came from. It was a way they, too, could taste and fall in love with the flavours preserved in my memories. It has, in recent years, also become a way for me to teach my son where a part of him comes from. His eyes may have first seen British sunlight, but his soul carries those threads of Balkan flavours and memories.’

‘I think it is a beautiful custom: exchanging food to celebrate the lives of those no longer with us, and a way to honour and preserve the memory of them. When I make it, it is rarely (if ever) for any significant slava or important date in the Orthodox calendar, but more of a spiritual homage to love, remembrance and preserving the memory of those loved and lost. Feel free to decorate it if you like, or simply light a candle, enjoy it and remember.’

‘I’ve lost track of the reasons why walnuts are integral to the Balkan way of life. The obvious ones are the use of walnut wood (for medicinal purposes, as well as for anything from kitchen utensils to furniture) and the ripe nuts, the latter of which are the bastions of Balkan baking. The spiritual reason is the shade of a walnut tree – the deepest, most cooling and most precious of all tree shades in the summer sun. The practical one is the walnut leaves, gathered, dried and stored around cupboards to protect clothes and linen from moths. The alchemical reasons: to make various concoctions, from young green walnut preserves and pickles to walnut leaf honey and homemade hair moisturisers. It is commonly thought that walnuts originated in Asia and were dispersed through migration into Europe, but recent evidence of the presence of walnut trees in glacial refugia across the Balkans suggests a more complex picture of the evolution of these bountiful trees. Suffice it to say, our love affair with walnuts is unsurprising and ancient. If you are lucky to have a walnut tree in your garden or your vicinity and you can bring yourself to sacrifice a few, precious green walnuts, do make orahovača (or orahovac) – a wonderful liqueur, which is very much a cousin to French liqueur de noix and Italian nocino. Use green walnuts from the common European walnut (Juglans regia). They are usually in season from late June through to early July in the northern hemisphere. After this, they harden into the ripe fruits. It goes without saying that the better the quality of rakija you use, the better the outcome will be.’

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the best cookbook I've read so far this year! Always love seeing Macedonian and Balkan food featured and talked about. Gorgeous photos and captivating stories occupy the recipes.

[Kanako Okiron]

The Balkans (a region used to describe what was once Yugoslavia) has such a complex and fascinating history, and the food is no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed looking through the cookbook and imagining what kind of recipes I'd like to make, even though in reality I knew I could never make them, lol. Fingers crossed I will get to experience Balkan cuisine for real one day!

[Susan Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliantly evocative trip around the Balkans highlighting both the historical and personal context of many of the recipes, which I found fascinating. The recipes are easy to follow and the dishes are fantastic to eat; they are full of flavour and delicious. The author has clearly put her heart and soul into this book to allow us to enjoy the food of her childhood and of the region.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book; it’s beautifully written and styled, and the recipes are so evocative and easily presented. I love to travel via food, so this is perfect for that!