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Macedonia: The Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from the Balkans
Discover the flavors and traditions of North Macedonia
Macedonian cuisine is a rich mosaic of influences from the Mediterranean and Middle East, and the neighboring countries in the Balkan Peninsula. It is known for its opulent family meals, and the regional dishes play important symbolic roles in local traditions and family celebrations.
Macedonia: The Cookbook is a love letter to Macedonian culture, and a cuisine deeply rooted in its land and traditions. Through over 100 mouthwatering recipes for mezze dishes, salads, soups, fish, poultry, meat, vegetables, and delicious sweets and preserves, chef and food writer Katerina Nitsou shares the authentic flavors and wisdom brought along with her family, recreated and adapted in her North American kitchen.
With beautiful photography of the food, people, and landscapes of North Macedonia, this cookbook captures the country’s essence and belongs on the kitchen shelf of every food lover.
Macedonian cuisine is a rich mosaic of influences from the Mediterranean and Middle East, and the neighboring countries in the Balkan Peninsula. It is known for its opulent family meals, and the regional dishes play important symbolic roles in local traditions and family celebrations.
Macedonia: The Cookbook is a love letter to Macedonian culture, and a cuisine deeply rooted in its land and traditions. Through over 100 mouthwatering recipes for mezze dishes, salads, soups, fish, poultry, meat, vegetables, and delicious sweets and preserves, chef and food writer Katerina Nitsou shares the authentic flavors and wisdom brought along with her family, recreated and adapted in her North American kitchen.
With beautiful photography of the food, people, and landscapes of North Macedonia, this cookbook captures the country’s essence and belongs on the kitchen shelf of every food lover.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published September 21, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 8, 2025
Had a few moments while reading this and looking at ingredients where I wondered if the Greeks I grew up in were all secretly Macedonians. Turns out that if you combine a bunch of Greek versions of a recipe with a handful of Romanian and Serbian versions it averages out to be Macedonian.
February 23, 2023
I am not Macedonian, though I did live there for years. I am also a chef, so I was absolutely thrilled to find this book. It is gorgeous, and many of the recipes are very appealing and I look forward to making many.
However, I am shocked at the ajvar recipe. For those who don't know, ajvar is a ubiquitous food staple for the whole Balkan region, and Macedonia is no exception. In the autumn months the smell of roasting peppers is pervasive throughout all the villages and small towns.
I don't know what the ajvar recipe in this book would be called, but it sure isn't what everyone else in Macedonia is making. The author roasts peppers and eggplant (check), peels and seeds them (check), chops them up (check), and then...that's it!? Ajvar is far from done at her stopping point. The final, crucial step is to then take the pepper/eggplant mass, add it to a pot with a substantial amount of neutral vegetable oil, and then cook it for HOURS until the vegetable matter emulsifies with the oil and all the water is cooked out. This adds significant caloric value and long term storage ability (by removing the water). These two qualities are what have allowed ajvar to be so prominent in a region of the world that, for much of it's long history, didn't have access to food staples in the winter months.
I can get behind recipe adaptations that are, perhaps, healthier, which the omission of so much oil would certainly do. But, I cannot get behind ignoring the fact that the recipe provides is inauthentic. And of all recipes, such an important one as ajvar.
However, I am shocked at the ajvar recipe. For those who don't know, ajvar is a ubiquitous food staple for the whole Balkan region, and Macedonia is no exception. In the autumn months the smell of roasting peppers is pervasive throughout all the villages and small towns.
I don't know what the ajvar recipe in this book would be called, but it sure isn't what everyone else in Macedonia is making. The author roasts peppers and eggplant (check), peels and seeds them (check), chops them up (check), and then...that's it!? Ajvar is far from done at her stopping point. The final, crucial step is to then take the pepper/eggplant mass, add it to a pot with a substantial amount of neutral vegetable oil, and then cook it for HOURS until the vegetable matter emulsifies with the oil and all the water is cooked out. This adds significant caloric value and long term storage ability (by removing the water). These two qualities are what have allowed ajvar to be so prominent in a region of the world that, for much of it's long history, didn't have access to food staples in the winter months.
I can get behind recipe adaptations that are, perhaps, healthier, which the omission of so much oil would certainly do. But, I cannot get behind ignoring the fact that the recipe provides is inauthentic. And of all recipes, such an important one as ajvar.
January 25, 2023
I checked this one out from the library and will be purchasing a copy for my personal collection - I enjoyed it that much and I know I will make plenty of the recipes to justify the purchase.
The recipes included are the most basic and most home-style dishes of the culture. I believe she has very successfully accomplished what she tells us is her intent in the Introduction - to present recipes from her homeland using ingredients and methods available in the Western World in the 21st Century.
If you've had a variety of Greek, Arabic and Persian food (and enjoy it) these recipes will look familiar but with slight but significant differences.
I am looking very much forward to diving into using this cookbook and even more forward to using it to make recipes from ingredients I'll grow in my garden this summer. I really appreciate the recipes for Preserves, pickles, dried tomatoes and homemade yogurt. While I already make my own yogurt, I am very pleased to see the recipe and instructions in a cookbook. It's so easy and healthy that we all should be including it in our diet if we can. And, honestly, the more non-processed foods we can incorporate into our diets the healthier we'll be. Cookbooks like this one really encourage us to cook for ourselves at home and enjoy it immensely.
The recipes included are the most basic and most home-style dishes of the culture. I believe she has very successfully accomplished what she tells us is her intent in the Introduction - to present recipes from her homeland using ingredients and methods available in the Western World in the 21st Century.
If you've had a variety of Greek, Arabic and Persian food (and enjoy it) these recipes will look familiar but with slight but significant differences.
I am looking very much forward to diving into using this cookbook and even more forward to using it to make recipes from ingredients I'll grow in my garden this summer. I really appreciate the recipes for Preserves, pickles, dried tomatoes and homemade yogurt. While I already make my own yogurt, I am very pleased to see the recipe and instructions in a cookbook. It's so easy and healthy that we all should be including it in our diet if we can. And, honestly, the more non-processed foods we can incorporate into our diets the healthier we'll be. Cookbooks like this one really encourage us to cook for ourselves at home and enjoy it immensely.
December 11, 2022
Really disappointed with this cookbook. Honestly, I didn’t feel the author had a true grasp of the cuisine and how to present it to the reader. The pictures that were chosen to showcase the food often looked dry or over baked. Only the mezze section looked solid and reflected what I remembered from the travels in Macedonia.
February 4, 2022
I am so excited to start cooking from this cookbook. My Baba and Dedo came to America from Macedonia and I loved watching my Baba cook. She cooked strictly by feel and I am happy to have some of those recipes but this book will make it so much easier!
July 26, 2021
I received this book from the publisher.
Beautiful pictures and interesting history of a unique area.
Beautiful pictures and interesting history of a unique area.
May 9, 2022
Quite a few good recipes.
May 22, 2022
Beautiful pictures of Macedonia and of the recipes. Everything looks amazing and fairly easy to execute. The breads and sweets sections, 🤤.
January 2, 2022
Reading this cookbook reminded me of my time in North Macedonia serving in the Peace Corps! Loved seeing all the familiar foods using all the amazing local produce that grows in the region. Gorgeous photos too highlighting a part of the world that not many people know about but should. One of the few cookbooks that I read from cover to cover and filled with recipes that I'm inspired to make and that bring back good memories of my 2 years there!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews