Cevapi are the national grilled specialty and one of the most famous Bosnian brands abroad. Cevap is a small dumpling made of minced meat, mostly beef, with the addition of garlic, onion and different spices. The average length of one ćevap is about 5 cm.

Cevapi are fried on the grill and are traditionally served in somun or lepinja (a type of homemade bread) dipped in grill sauce with the addition of finely chopped onions. Ćevapi can be served with rice, French fries, and salads, but this is generally a practice abroad.

Cevapi are traditionally served in ćevabdžinica, a specific Bosnian locale of special ambient, where except ćevapi you can find similar grilled dishes like burgers, sausages etc. With cevapi, you can perhaps try yogurt, sour milk, and kefir.

Bosnian coffee is a part of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian identity. It is the symbol of the country and a part of its tradition, but also a reflection of the gourmet mentality of its citizens.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has a long tradition of coffee drinking, which came in our country with the Ottoman influences from the Orient. Therefore it is right to say that coffee is one of the Bosnian national beverages.

Preparation of the traditional Bosnian coffee begins with the roasting of raw coffee. Baked coffee beans are then ground in a manual coffee grinder. Only then in a gently heated metal pot which in Bosnia is called džezva finely grinded coffee is put to which is added boiled water. Džezva is then placed on a hot plate. The coffee in the džezva should be stirred once and then one should wait for the coffee to get up to the top of the džezva, and makes a fine mousse. Add a few drops of hot water so that the coffee dregs fall to the bottom. The bottom of džezva must be wider and the dzezva should taper towards the top. Wait a couple of minutes until the coffee dregs settle and pour the coffee into fildžan (a small cup) and serve with rahat lokum and a glass of cold water.

The citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina truly enjoy the tasty and healthy food and drink. Traditional food is often prepared with meat, and meals are plentiful and delicious. The meat is of extraordinary quality, often organic, and well prepared. Meat is the ingredient of some of the most popular Bosnian dishes such as bosanski lonac, ćevapi, begova čorba, burek, and grah.

In the report for 2011 the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that when it comes to food safety, the residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina are, in all six segments that were evaluated and scored, in and above the average when compared to other countries in the region.

Food

Due to its geographical position and history, Bosnian cuisine is similar to the cuisines of Turkey, Greece, and other Mediterranean countries, but the influence of European cuisines, especially the Central European, is strongly felt. In all major cities, there is a wide selection of restaurants that offer Italian, Mediterranean, international and traditional dishes. Variety of spices is used in Bosnian cuisine, although in small quantities. Sauces are almost entirely natural. Typical ingredients of Bosnian dishes are tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, spinach, squash, and beans. Paprika, pepper, parsley, bay leaf, and celery are regularly used in Bosnian cuisine. Milk, cream, and sour cream are often used in and with traditional Bosnian dishes.
Herzegovina region is suitable for growing grapes and wine production, while in Bosnia the homemade brandy is made from plums.
In Sarajevo and all other towns, you will easily find pita and ćevapi. If you are in Herzegovina and especially if you visit Blagaj near Mostar, do not miss trout which is grown on the local farms and is sort of a local specialty.
Fast-food, except ćevapi and pita, includes other quickly prepared meals common in other parts of Europe as well: pizza, hamburger, hot-dog, kebab etc. Various types of sandwiches and pastries can be found in bakeries which are located throughout the cities and offer fresh salty and sweet rolls.

Along the roads you will often see restaurants offering lamb on the spit. That is a specialty and a treat for meat lovers. It is sold per kilo and usually is served with roasted potatoes and season salad.  No matter what you order in Bosnia and Herzegovina you will be served bread in almost all cases which is traditionally consumed in large quantities in Bosnia. Soup and salad are also common dishes that make up a complete meal in Bosnia.
The most popular soup in Bosnia and Herzegovina is Begova čorba – Bey’s soup. Tarhana soup is also a homemade dish of Turkish origin that is still cooked across the country. “Tarhana çorbasi” is the original name of this dish. It is a sour dehydrated homemade dough that is cooked in the tomato soup.
Salads are usually seasonal. In restaurants, you can also order so called winter salads like ajvar, pinđur, as well as pickled vegetables.
baklavaSweet dishes in Bosnia and Herzegovina also entice gastronomic sighs, especially of the visitors from abroad. Desserts are tasty and good because most are made with local products. Traditional sweets from Bosnia and Herzegovina are baklava, kadaif, ružice, and tufahije.

Drinks

As for drinks, black coffee is inevitable in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the very ritual of drinking and enjoying coffee with friends and acquaintances. In homes across the country Bosnian or Turkish coffee is cooked and served. Bosnian black coffee can be found in some of the many cafes in Sarajevo and other cities and it is often served with rahat lokum, another oriental delicacy, or a small cube of sugar. In cafes the usual espresso coffee is served which can be ordered with milk, or cream, and during the recent years the offer is enriched with all kinds of instant coffee beverages such as Ness café etc.

Regarding the alcoholic beverages, beer, wine and different homemade spirits are quite popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The local beer offer is quite extensive – Sarajevo beer, Pilsner Tuzla, Preminger Bihać, Nektar Banja Luka etc. Imported beers are also available in stores and restaurants and cafes. Herzegovina traditionally produces good wine. Red and white dry wine from Herzegovina is of the surprising quality and you must try the wine from the Cellar Čitluk and HEPOK wine. Small wineries along the Wine Route of Herzegovina are gastronomic gems where you will truly enjoy the local wine, ham and figs.

Most common and most popular homemade spirit is the plum brandy, but brandies from other local fruits are also common: pear, grape, cherry, walnut, apricot, apple, and various medical herbs, etc. Homemade spirits are of the excellent quality often with 40% of alcohol or above.

Water in Bosnia and Herzegovina is of exceptional quality. Almost all cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have at least one public fountain, which is often located in front or near the mosque. You will also often find the fountains along the roads that were used by passengers in the past. In mountains, you will find streams and springs – a common source of drinking water. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, water does not pose a problem and there is no need to buy water in bottles because the tap water is of outstanding quality. Bottled water in Bosnia and Herzegovina is of very good quality as evidenced by numerous regional and international awards for quality.

Burek — also known as börek, byrek, byurek, boureki and brik in different languages — is a filo pie made of thin, flaky dough and usually filled, quite often with a savory stuffing. In the Balkans, the most common burek fillings are meat, cheese, and spinach, cheese, potatoes or with mushrooms. It sounds so simple, yet the delicious result leaves no doubt as to why this dish remains incredibly popular, even hundreds of years after it was first made.

Burek is the KING of the filo pies. Burek is one of the most delicious foods ever created.

Burek, like so many foods in the Balkans and throughout the world, has a long, coiled history. It is usually said to have originated in what is now Turkey, during the Ottoman Empire, but others go back even further, tying the dish to the placenta, made of many layers of dough cyclical with cheese and honey and popular in Ancient Rome.

In fact, filled pastries date back to prehistoric times and eventually spread throughout the world, which is why pasties can be found in England, samosas in India and empanadas on the Iberian peninsula. But in countries once touched by the Ottoman Empire, versions of burek are given particular importance, often eaten on an almost daily basis. From North Africa on through to Central Asia, the dish remains a popular street food.

The foods derived from Turkish börek almost all have a thin, flaky crust rather than a more bready dough. But that’s not to say those once governed by the Ottomans all conformed to their rulers’ way of making börek. Turkey today presents a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and fillings, but its former subjects also vary their offerings. The end results are nearly all recognizable as börek, but each is infused with both the flavors and the cultural traditions of a certain region.

Why the Burek is king of filo pies ?

In 2012, when Lonely Planet named burek as one of the top 10 street foods in the world, they acknowledged its ubiquity throughout the Balkans, yet it was Bosnia’s version they praised. There’s no denying the country takes burek-making seriously. The thin dough is often wrapped tightly around the filling rather than arranged in an alternating manner, a far more time-consuming process. Often it is cooked “under the bell” but referring to a giant cast iron pan with a dome-shaped lid.

This attention to detail pays off in the finished product, which almost always manages to be somehow both crispy and creamy while letting the flavor of the filling edge through.

Just to make this burek thing even more complicated, many places in the former Yugoslavia seem to use burek and pita interchangeably. Apparently, there are differences but few seem to agree on what they are. In Bosnia, many argue that “pita” is the name for a round pie cut into wedges, while “burek” is a rolled meat pastry (that is also often cut into wedges). In other countries you can find “cheese pita” and “cheese burek” sitting side by side in a bakery, looking exactly the same. There it may be that the burek uses more oil than the pita. Who knows?

What kind of filling has this filo pie?

The all-time favorite fillings of the burek are cheese and meat but other fillings are also popular. There are filling like pumpkin, mushroom or shredded turkey.

The low cost means visitors are free to sample different versions from different bakeries (and, if they’re lucky, different cities and countries) before settling on their favorite. And because Burek can be eaten at almost any time of day, as a meal, snack, or late-night pick-me-up, there are plenty of opportunities to discover why it’s so beloved.

If you still don’t believe in this delicious story, go to the nearest store, buy one of our different flavors of Burek and enjoy the amazing taste of Burek. You are going to love the King of the filo pies!