Food experiences in Beautiful Bosnia

Interrail Stop 8

To round off our interrail tour of Eastern Europe before hitting the Croatian beach, we visited the beautiful Bosnia and Herzegovina. Definitely one of my favourite places on our trip, with amazing scenery, fascinating markets and welcoming people, but a country still feeling the after effects of the devastating war in the 1990s. We chatted to the locals and absorbed ourselves in the history, and, of course, sampled some of the food!

Sarajevo

We stopped firstly in Sarajevo and walked all over the city, visiting the many different places of worship and browsing the markets full of interesting items. Down one of these side streets we stopped for a bite to eat in a little cafe and shared a huge plateful of ćevapčići - tasty little sausages that are a national dish in Bosnia and Herzegovina and can also be found in some of the other Southeastern European countries. Served typically with a flat bread, raw onions and sour cream or soft cheese... it's a kind of kebab that tastes AMAZING!!


After having this for lunch in the cafe, we later found the hostel guys cooking it on a BBQ... which was soooo much more delicious! Less grease but still all of the flavour, and a great way to line the stomach before a night in Sarajevo!
 

Mostar

We then traveled down to Mostar, a city you might recognise by its Old Bridge (Stari Most), which proudly stands now as a handmade reconstruction of the same bridge that stood before the war and a symbol of Bosnia's recovery.


During our brief stay in Mostar we went on a trip in a small group to see the small village at the source of the Buna river, Blagaj and the Kravice Falls (the gorgeous scene in the photo at the top of this post). At the river, we we lucky enough to eat a traditional breakfast of Burek and Bosnian Coffee.

 

We had already sampled Burek on other stops, but this was a different dish again... with the pastry formed into a different shape and filled with either cheese or meat... it was a hearty breakfast for a day of walking, swimming and jumping in at the waterfall!

The Bosnian coffee was strong and rich - not my cup of tea (or coffee!!!) as I tend to prefer it super milky - but it was worth a try and I'm sure it would be delicious if you weren't a wussy coffee drinker like me!!


So there you have it... a brilliant end to our touring around Eastern Europe with some delicious food and some of the best sights. If you've ever wondered about visiting Bosnia, then stop wondering and just go!

Thanks for reading about the food we tasted on our trip! I can't wait to go and see some more amazing sights and try some new dishes some time soon! But for now, keep popping back to see some recipes, cookbook and restaurant reviews...

Super Easy Open Baguette

This was a ridiculously easy but very tasty meal that I cooked for a friend the other night after work. When you want to eat nice food, but really can't be bothered to spend hours in the kitchen, then this might be one for you! You can change the ingredients to anything that you fancy (I think most people would add tomatoes to this but I don't particularly like them), or you might prefer different toppings altogether...

Whatever you put on it, a part-baked baguette topped with tasty bits is going to be a hit! And if you are anything like me, then you just cannot have too much cheese...

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 large part-baked baguette
2 tablespoons green pesto (preferably homemade but if it's going to be a quick after-work dinner like it was for me then shop bought will definitely suffice!)
1/2 red pepper, sliced
4 pieces parma ham
1 mozzarella ball, sliced
freshly ground black pepper

Method

Cut the baguette in half and then top up with the ingredients in the order shown below. Make sure to give a good twist of black pepper before putting it into a preheated oven (according to the baguette packet instructions). I would probably bake it for about 10mins or until the cheese is bubbling deliciously!

Serve with a green salad (delicious with rocket!) and add some roughly chopped fresh basil leaves to compliment the pesto flavours... Enjoy!