Putting the Sara in Sarajevo
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Bosnian Cooking 101: Bosnian Salad
tomato, paradajz
cucumber, krastavac
red bell pepper, crvena paprika
feta cheese, feta sir
olive oil, maslinovo ulje
red wine vinegar, vinski ocat
(or lemon juice, limon)
pepper, crni papar
oregano, origano
Combine equal parts chopped tomato, cucumber, pepper, and feta.
Lightly coat with olive oil and a minimal amount of vinegar or lemon juice.
Season with pepper and/or oregano to taste.
Stir until ingredients are mixed well.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Sarajevska crvena linija
To commemorate 20 years, Sarajevo's main street was filled with empty red chairs, each of which represented one of 11,541 people who were killed during the siege. There were even smaller chairs near the Children's Memorial to represent each child. A screen displaying the names of all of the victims stood roughly every 50 meters along the street, while nearby speakers blared a heartbreaking rendition of Albinoni's Adagio in g, the piece Vedran Smailović, the Cellist of Sarajevo, was most known for performing. People stopped to place flowers, teddy bears, and other gifts on the chairs in memory of their loved ones. Others gathered around the screens to watch their loved one's name appear on the lengthy list of casualties. Though most of the people I saw were reverent, some of them caught me offguard. One lady was grinning ear to ear while she happily took photos of the memorial. I don't think she really got it...
As I walked along the street from Ali Pasha's Mosque to the Eternal Flame, I was quite moved by the vastness of the memorial. In fact, I could not bear to look at the screens with the victims' names or truly listen to the music that looped endlessly throughout my 20-minute observance. I've heard the statistics from the war: how many people died, how many children died, how many shells fell on the city per day, etc. I've heard stories from my friends who were in Sarajevo during the siege. I've even watched real video footage from some of the massacres. Nothing prepared me for this though. It was the first time I could actually comprehend how much was lost during the war.
I have seen the signs of war damage every day since I came to Bosnia six months ago. There are still houses in my neighborhood with clear mortar scars and bullet holes. Next to those houses are new ones though, a symbol of hope and forward progress. On the tram ride from Ilidža to the center, it is hard not to notice the skeleton of a building so damaged that you can see the beautiful mountains through its remains. Closer to the center appears a cemetary covering an entire hill with densely-packed tombstones. Even my daily walk in the center is accompanied by the passing of a Sarajevo Rose. I am continually impressed with Sarajevans' ability to continue to live fairly normal lives in a place so touched by the scars of hatred.
If there is only one thing that I take away from my time in Sarajevo, it will be one part of the mindset of its people: the inclination to celebrate life. People here seem to live their lives to the fullest. They tell someone that they love them instead of waiting and making excuses for themselves. They take time to eat lunch or drink coffee in the sunshine. They make plenty of extra time for family and friends. Sure, I've realized in the past that these things are important, but it helps to be reminded of that. Coming from a society which seems to value success in terms of career rather than happiness, I found that I had to change my mindset quite a bit in order to feel like I belong here. I truly hope to be able to continue to party hearty when I go home.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Jahorina
Megan, Alisa, her friend, and I all piled into the crowded Holiday Market Bus one Sunday. We had to stand up in the isle, but the ride was rather short: roughly half an hour. Like my other bus-rides here, my eyes were glued to the windows as we wound our way up the mountain. The depth of the snow grew more extreme as we drove, and I was amazed at this bus's ability to navigate the snow-covered mountain road.
By the time we reached the resort, I felt like I was in Narnia. We took a short walk further up the mountain before meeting Mattia, who had taken an earlier bus so that he would have more time to ski. Evergreens lined the path as we trudged through the snow. It was so beautiful. When we found Mattia, we all grabbed some mulled wine and food in a nearby restaurant. After filling our tummies with hot food, we ventured back out into the cold to enjoy the snow.
Us girls weren't brave enough to go skiing, so we rented sleds instead. It was so much fun to act like a kid again. But between the teenage boys who blocked the entire hill while they waited to jump over their friends as they sledded down the hill and the fact that our sleds weren't made for steering, I managed to learn a new Bosnian word: Pazi! (Watch out!) Hehe.
We didn't let our wariness of skiing keep us from riding the skilift though. We wanted to see the bird's eye view of the mountain, but as soon as we made it halfway up the lift, we realized it may have not been the best idea. We hit a very dense fog, the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees, and it became incredibly windy. As Megan pointed out, it felt like we were in Chicago! ...except I wasn't dressed for that weather... Everything was covered in at least a centimeter of frost, and our hair had turned white due to the cold! I imagine that the skiers going up the lift we were wondering what these four crazy women were doing riding it up and back in the cold, wind, and fog. Oh well. It was still worth it.
We spent the remainder of our time there alternating between sledding and enjoying a hot beverage inside. I enjoyed every minute of it! I was really hoping to go back to the mountains again before the snow melted, but my schedule didn't allow it. I guess that means I'll have to come back to Sarajevo in the future. :) Three years ago, I had never set foot on a mountain, and now I almost can't imagine a life away from them. Even while walking to the tram to go to work in the morning, I bask in the glory of their magestic peaks.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Busy Busy Busy
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Bosnian Cooking 101: Chili in Sarajevo
One of my favorite things to eat during winter is chili, so naturally, I made it during our huge snow storm. It can be fairly difficult to find ingredients for American foods in Bosnia though. I was quite thrilled to find everything I needed in the Konzum in the Sara Centar. Here's what I came up with:
Ingredients:
500 ml beer, pivo400 g canned kidney beans, crveni grah
800 g canned tomatoes, paradajz
160 g tomato paste, paradajz pire
1/2 large chopped onion, luk
2 chopped green peppers, zelena paprika
2-3 cloves minced garlic, češnjak
1 package chili mix (Tex Mex Chili con Carne)
1 Tbs cayenne pepper, ljuta paprika
1 rounded Tbs dried oregano, origano
2 rounded Tbs dried parsely, peršin
salt and pepper to taste, sol i papar
500 g ground beef, mljevena junetina Note: I used a soup spoon for my tablespoon (Tbs) measurements.
Directions:
- Put beer, beans, tomato paste, onion, pepper, and garlic in a large pot.
- Cut canned tomatoes into medium-sized pieces (unless they are already diced). Add to pot.
- Add 3/4 of the chili mix.
- Add cayenne pepper, oregano, parsely, salt, and black pepper.
- Stir and start cooking on the stove at a low temperature.
- Brown beef in a saucepan. Strain the fat when the meat is still barely pink, and sprinkle the rest of the chili mix onto the beef. Let it cook all the way before adding to the rest of the chili.
- Cook large pot of chili uncovered for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Svijet Dinosaura
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Bosnian Cooking 101: Back to the Basics
Wolframalpha (for conversions and nutrition information)
Ingredient Substitutions
AllRecipes.com (for new recipes or ideas)
Good Eats Recipes (recipes backed by scientific explanations) Throughout this blog, I will be posting some guides to cooking specific recipes in Bosnia, complete with Bosnian-English translations and conversions to the metric system. I hope to learn how to cook some popular Bosnian dishes as well as expand on my knowledge of American recipes.