Kristina Joshevska

Delicious Macedonian Traditional Dishes Macedonia is a country with a rich sense of tradition. The Macedonian cuisine is a big part of the Macedonian tradition. When you think of Macedonian traditional food, you think of something really delicious and colorful with a lot of organic local produce, meat, dairy and bread. The Macedonian cuisine was influenced by the Turkish, Greek, Serbian and other Balkan cuisines. The way of preparing those appetizing Macedonian dishes has remained the same since its beginnings with some minor alterations. Macedonian traditional food is diverse and completely opposite to the international fast food we all know. Macedonian dishes are not so fast to prepare. They take some time but all of them are definitely worth the effort. Sarma - Stuffed Cabbage Rolls This dish is made from fermented cabbage leaves, ground meat and rice. The rice and the ground meat are mixed together with some seasoning like salt and black pepper. Then, each cabbage leaf is stuffed with 3-4 spoons of the rice-and-meat mixture and rolled up. The dish is brewed and/or baked in an oven and after that it is ready for consumption. Cabbage sarma is mostly eaten in winter but there is also a summer version of it. The summer sarma is made with vine leaves instead of fermented cabbage leaves. Sarma can be vegetarian, too. Some people prefer the vegetarian sarma which is made in the same way, using the same ingredients except, of course, the ground meat. There are other similar Macedonian dishes to this one. For example, stuffed bell peppers are made by removing the top part of the pepper and by stuffing it with rice and ground meat. The same can be done with zucchinis instead of bell peppers. Even though all of these dishes seem similar, they are very different in taste. Tavche Gravche - Baked Beans Tavche Gravche is one of the tastiest dishes you will ever try. The organic, fresh beans are first boiled in water. After the beans are boiled, a roux is made in a separate pan with some oil, some flour and some red pepper powder. The roux is then added in the water with the beans and it is boiled again for some time until the mixture thickens a bit. At last, the boiled mixture is poured into a pot and baked in an oven. Simply delicious! Shopska Salad Traditionally, a Macedonian full lunch consists of some salad, soup and a main dish. One of the best well-known traditional Macedonian salads is called Shopska. This summertime salad is made from chunks of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, grated white cheese and sometimes onions, too. It is really refreshing and healthy! This is just a sneak peek into the Macedonian cuisine. There are a lot more mouth-watering Macedonian dishes like the ones we already mentioned. Some worth mentioning are: zelnik (stuffed pie), ajvar (red pepper spread), pastrmajlija (oval-shaped Macedonian pizza with meat chunks), kozinjak (sweet bread with raisins), kompir mandza (potato stew), makalo (liquid garlic sauce) and many more. Bon appetit! - Na zdravje! Exercises: 1. Match the words/phrases with their definitions: Word/Phrase Definition organic (adj.) A mixture of oil/butter and flour used to thicken sauces, soups and stews. produce (n.) A short preview/teaser for something. appetizing (adj.) Naturally produced, without any artificial chemicals. alterations (n.) Salt, pepper, herbs and other spices used to enhance the food’s flavor. diverse (adj.) Changes made for a particular thing. fermented (adj.) Agricultural , natural products collectively. seasoning (n.) Food that looks and smells good, appealing to your taste. roux (n.) Being very different, with a great variety. sneak peek Food that has undergone the process of fermentation. 2. Kitchen equipment vocabulary. Translate the words into your native language. Feel free to use a dictionary or the Web to do your own research. oven - __________________ stove - __________________ pot - __________________ frying pan - __________________ ladle - __________________ whisk - __________________ colander - __________________ grater - __________________ chopping board - __________________ rolling pin - __________________ apron - __________________ corkscrew - __________________ 3. Complete the sentences with the words given: oven gloves | utensils | peeler | tongs | sieve a) Don’t use your bare hands to get the food from the plate, use the __________________, please! b) I forgot to put my __________________ and I burnt my fingers. c) We need a new vegetable __________________ because the old one broke. d) I need a __________________ to strain my tea. e) The basic kitchen __________________ are forks, spoons and knives. 4. Countable and uncountable food. Write C for the countable nouns and U for the uncountable nouns: ● oil ___ ● honey ___ ● pineapple ___ ● glass of water ___ ● cucumber ___ ● coffee ___ ● pasta ___ ● stick of butter ___ ● chocolate ___ ● cabbage ___ ● bread ___ ● flour ___ ● bottle of milk ___ ● cheese ___ 5. Fill in the blanks with A/AN/SOME/ANY/MUCH/MANY: a) Are there ___________ tomatoes in the fridge? b) They can have ____________ rice cakes and peanut butter if they are hungry. c) I am going to get _____________ carrots from the supermarket. d) How _________ coffee is there in the cupboard? e) I can’t brush my teeth because there isn’t ___________ toothpaste left. f) There is _____________ policeman at the door. g) I saw ____________ monkeys, _____________ ostrich and __________ hippo at the zoo. h) Have you got ________________ money? i) How __________ sticks of butter are required for this dish? j) I need ___________ apple for my fruit salad.