sahan for two - sahan za dvoje
This blog is not only a tribute to the principle of the 'sahan' - in variety there is both seduction and delight - but its embodiment in the very life and cuisine of the Balkan region.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Review: Dialog Cafe
Migrant labour: starting a discussion, and signs of hope
While we were protesting in front of the Slovenian embassy, the sun came out, and started to burn all of us. Our unwavering-ness before the embassy however was not in vain.
Just when we thought that nothing was to come out of the meeting with the Slovenian deputy ambassaddor, Esad, Nermina and Andrej emerged and made a quick statement to the press. They had succeeded in convincing the Slovenian embassy in Sarajevo to act as a mediator in the labour dispute, and represent the workers form Cazin in talks with the Slovenian government, with the hope of eventually filing a suit against their former employer. The workers now have 2 months (until September 19th) to file their suit. This was not an ideal conclusion, but an excellent beginning. And in case the Slovenian government does not act upon the workers demands in the next few months, we will be prepared—more protests!!!
Monday, July 19, 2010
I work like a horse, live like a mouse and eat like a dog
This story changes for the better though upon arrival at the Slovenian embassy. With a group of really eager young people from 'Dosta' Sarajevo, a show was arranged for the embassy. There was music playing, speeches that were given, call and answer moments with the public, and a lot of cheering and applauses.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Seen around
An amazing graffiti tribute to a Bosnian delicacy? Burek!

For all of those eagerly awaiting Sarajevo's Asian Week, the first installment will be posted on Monday!

For all of those eagerly awaiting Sarajevo's Asian Week, the first installment will be posted on Monday!
Review: Buregdžinica Sać, Sarajevo
Yesterday morning, my visting anthropologist friend and I went for breakfast to Buregdžinica Sać, my favourite buregdžinica in Sarajevo's center mainly because my friend said that: "my stay in Sarajevo will only be deemed fulfilling if I get my hands on some krompiruša." Some strong words about a potato pastry. However, once you arrive at Buregdžinica Sać, this mad desire for pita makes complete sense. The first thing to note about Sać is that the ladies who work there are amazing - really attentive, quick service, and they always remember you, even if you were there more than a year ago. (The latter was not the case for us, since, of course, my husband and I make a visit probably every 2 weeks or so). They will always strike up a conversation, share details of their day with you, and they are truly, sincerely and personally disappointed if you do not finish every morsel on your plate. Last time I brought guests to Sać, all the pita was just too much, but our dear waitress mentioned at least 3 times "I am really sad that you did not finish your pita. Was it any good? I just can't believe how poorly you ate." Only here can someone equate the quantity of food you eat with your moral worth - this is something instilled by our mothers from childhood on...But on to the pita. We both ordered krompiruša, one with and one without pavlaka. Pavlaka is basically sour cream, but it is runnier, smoother and tastier. And the pavlaka at Sać is some of the tastiest in the city.
All of the pita at Buregdžinica Sać is prepared in one particular way. And it is precisely this method of preparation which lends the restaurant both its name and the pita its supreme taste.
A sać is a essentially a metal dish (sometimes it is made of copper, sometimes it is tin, sometimes steel) with a metal lid. You place the ingredients or dish you want to prepare/bake (not just pita, but you can put meat, seafood, potatoes etc in the sać as well) in the sać. Then, in your stone oven (because, of course, all of us have stone ovens) you create a fire and let it burn down until there are only ashes remaining. It is then the sać (with its lid) that is buried in these ashes. The dish inside slow cooks from the heat of the ashes alone. There is no direct heat or flame applied. This way of cooking rocks, the food is really tasty, with every flavour presenting itself as more intense than you can imagine. Buregdžinica Sać, with its combination of preparation, as well as its fresh ingredients, is the best in the pita world of the Čaršija.
It should be mentioned that the pastry at Sać is probably the most impressive part of the pita dishes: it is super flaky and quite crispy, especially on the bottom of the pita, which is just slightly blackened from sticking to the bottom of the sać pan. The bottom, because of the sticking action has a little bit of a sweet taste. The potatoes inside the krompiruša are not overcooked, and have the right amount of pepper to add zest, but not to overpower the taste of delicious locally-grown potatoes. Potatoes in Bosnia generally are delicious, they are usually a golden yellow colour, firm, not much water in them, and truly can be said to "have a taste of their own," as opposed to many of the potatoes you get in North America or Western Europe. On a Saturday morning, Buregdžinica Sać was already crowded, with people waiting for the coveted few outside seats (Sać can probably only sit about 8-10 people inside, and that many outside). I see one tour guide in particular who often makes a point of bringing his tour groups for lunch here. Avoid these tour groups at all costs. If you want your pita immediately, without much commotion surrounding you, choose odd hours of the day to eat, such as early morning or early to mid afternoon. Do not come here at around 11 am, you won't get a seat. Overall, Sać gets more than two thumbs up. In fact, I still assert it is the best pita place in the entire city. However there is one small catch. If you want to eat pita at this buregdžinica, prepare to be tortured non-stop while you eat with some of the most low-quality Turkish pop music you can imagine blasting from two tiny speakers above the door. Luckily for us, the repertoire on a slow-going and hot Saturday morning was some mid 80s Sezen Aksu.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Afterthought: BBC gets in on Ekrem fame, also Durkheim

"Ekrem Jevric would agree with Durkheim completely, if he had ever read him. Jevric's song describes disillusionment with life in the big city. He sings that he only goes back and forth from home to work among the giant skyscrapers of New York, the city where battalions of women walk the street, but have forgotten their children."
Sorry...what? No really, WHAT?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10665071
A Stuffed Pepper Extravaganza
10-11 green peppers
For the filling:
2-3 small onions
2 medium carrots
1 tablespoon of oil
3/4 teaspoon of sweet paprika
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of basil/oregano combination
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 kg of lean ground veal
2-3 handfuls of uncooked rice
For the sauce:
1 medium tomato
500-600 g of pureed strained tomatoes (not tomato paste)
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1-2 teaspoons of basil/oregano
1 heaping tablespoon of sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Grate 2-3 small onions and 2 medium sized carrots into a pot. Add one tablespoon of oil and lightly saute the onions and carrots. As the onions and carrots are saute-ing, add the salt and pepper, sweet paprika, garlic powder and basil/oregano. As soon as the onions are slightly clear, add the veal and mix so that all of the ingredients are well integrated. Saute not only until the veal is done, but until the whole mixture is quite dry (all the water released by the meat has evaporated). Remove the pot from the flame and put aside. Add about 2-3 handfuls of the uncooked rice into the meat and mix thoroughly. Cover the pot with a lid and leave to the side. You should have something that approximately looks like this:
It is important to stir the rice in raw and leave it in the warm meat while you prepare the rest of the steps. The rice, just through the steam inside the pot will begin to soften up, and by the time you are ready to cook the peppers, will be about halfway done.
Once you have placed the meat mixture aside, take your peppers, wash them well and hollow the inside, removing the core and seeds.
Stuff the hollow peppers with the meat mixture. You should take care not to fill the peppers all the way up to the top with the meat because the rice will expand as it will cook, and you don't want your peppers to overflow.
Take the tomato and cut it into the same number of pieces as you have number of peppers. Place a piece of the tomato into each pepper, on top of the meat mixture.
Place the pureed tomato into a pot big enough to hold all of your peppers. You can puree and strain your own tomatoes, however that is too much work. So I usually purchase the canned tomatoes (with no seasonings) at the store - it is perfectly fine, and just as delicious. The puree is quite thick, so I usually add about 2-3 cups of water to thin it out. With just the tomato sauce, place the pot on a medium-high flame and bring to a boil after you have added 1 tablespoon of garlic powder, 1-2 teaspoons of basil and oregano, 1 heaping tablespoon of sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the flavours come together. Feel free to experiment with the spices-it really is a guessing and testing process to get the flavour you want, especially with the sugar. Depending on how sour the tomatoes you have are, you may want to add more or less sugar, but the sugar is quite necessary to make the sauce less bitter, and more smooth. Once the sauce is done, turn the stove down to a low-medium flame and arrange the peppers in the pot. (Here I used two pots, because I didn't have just one large pot, but you can do it just in one.)
Cook until the rice is fully done, and the pepper skin is nice and soft, almost to the point of breaking, about 15-20 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes, or with just bread (somun as we did below, or another nice flatbread).
If you like, top with a dollop of delicious sour cream. See the picture way at the top of the blog for the sour cream version. After this very delicious dinner, I prepared a small summertime dessert (this was a special occasion!) - a little dollop of ice-cold rice pudding or sutlija and fresh nectarine slices. But more on rice pudding at another time.
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