Balkan food: the next big thing?

Could it be that a region so often associated with conflict is finally gaining a reputation abroad for its cuisine instead, asks Katy Salter for The Telegraph

 

You may scoff into your Thai green curry, but the Balkans is the latest region gaining attention from British foodies. Rick Stein’s new show and cookbook, From Venice to Istanbul, sees the chef travel around the Eastern Med in search of authentic dishes, including Croatian delicacies and Albanian baked lamb.

Yotam Ottolenghi is another chef interested in this part of the world, with dishes like tarator, a cold yogurt and cucumber soup, appearing in his books. Waitrose and Ocado now stock Pelagonia ajvar pepper spread, imported from Macedonia by Brit expat Philip Evans.

Both Jamie Oliver and Ottolenghi have shown interest in the product, with the former using it in a recipe for Bosnian Ćevapi (grilled meat flatbreads) and the latter stocking it in his online shop. Could it be that a region so often associated with conflict is finally gaining a reputation abroad for its cuisine, instead?


Chef Philip Evans with his premium “aivar”, made in Macedonia
Of course, most of us have been eating Balkan food in various forms for years. Greece is part of the Balkans after all, as is the easternmost part of Turkey (depending on which geopolitical definition you follow). But now it’s the other Balkan nations which are gaining the interest of curious British cooks: including Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia and Macedonia. Our curiosity also piqued, we asked a couple of experts to explain the Balkan food basics…

“Balkan cooking is seasonal and sourced from local ingredients,” says Philip Evans. “Each country boast of its speciality recipes, but you’ll find similar themes. The Balkans is a fertile region and the dishes are based on fresh produce, though you can’t escape the love of barbecued meat. Ćevapi (or kebabi) are to be found grilled on the street in every city.”

British chef puts Balkan pepper relish on the map

It was partly this love of grilling that led John Gionleka to set up Peckham Bazaar, an acclaimed pan-Balkan restaurant in London. John, who hails from Albania, says that the prevalence of chargrill cooking in the Balkans is because until fairly recently, in some countries charcoal was the only form of readily-accessible fuel. “Nonetheless, through repetition and care, it became an art form equal perhaps of tagine or oven cooking,” he says.


Peckham Bazaar (Celia Topping)
Gionleka’s favourite dishes from the region include boureks (filo pies filled with meat, vegetable or cheeses) and Albanian baked lamb. Meanwhile in Macedonia, Evans says starchy rice dishes are popular, including sarma (rice parcels wrapped in vine leaves or sour cabbage, depending on the season). “Baking is also a big part of home cooking, and filo pastry is common,” he says.

The key ingredients for cooking Balkan food in a British kitchen, according to Gionleka, are: “Olive oil, oregano, garlic, paprika, fresh fruit and veg, and a frugal hand to mix them together.”

To keen cooks already used to making Greek and Turkish-inspired dishes at home, this shouldn’t be much of a stretch. Just add a big crowd of friends and family (food has an important social role in the Balkans, says Gionleka), and try not to get too carried away with the mezze.

It’s supposed to “stimulate the appetite not sate it,” says Gionleka. He suggests thinking of it as akin to afternoon tea: “a selection of delicious morsels, mainly savoury, to while away the afternoon whilst drinking moderate amounts of raki or wine.”

Sounds like a tradition worth adopting.

DELICIOUS BALKAN FOOD RECIPES FROM PECKHAM BAZAAR

Rabbit and pearl onion casserole recipe

Plum and potato dessert dumplings recipe