Eastern European food?

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YEs, I would consider the Balkans. Mostly, if you are old enough to remember where the iron curtain was, anything east of that. My husband's father's family came from the old Yugoslavia -- his parents were Slovene. His mother's family was from the old Czecoslovakia - they were Slovaks. Funny, though, I'd consider someone from Hungary to be eastern European, but not someone from Austria. The "modern" (I'm over 50) mind-set. And yes, I do know that Slovenia was once a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire!

Anyway, I think of these foods as being charactorized by certain herbs & spices, a lot of stews and soups, sour cream. Hubby's mom used to make the most delicate noodles. As soon as the "iron curtain" fell, he and I made a trip to Slovenia, and we ate sumptuously. Many schnitzels. Sometimes our hotel rooms came with lunch, and it would usually be roast pork that was delicious.
 
Ahh yes - those wonderful noodles!!! While both sides of my family are/were Czech, we're Bohemian rather than Slovak. I clearly & fondly remember watching my grandmother make her homemade egg noodles for soup. Rolling them out tissue thin & cutting them by hand, then leaving them to dry on clean linen tea towels. Her soups were always to die for.
 
lol claire. i doubt that people, especially young people from eastern europe, prefer to call themselves "from behind the iron curtain".

also, just fyi, croatia declared independence on the same day, also being involved in most of the battles for independence.

very important info in my neighborhood.

btw, "to die for" ain't a good euphamism for food with war torn countries.
 
mitmondol said:
You would also serve the bone marrow!
Boy, what a delicasy!!
Just get it out of h bones on some hot toated bread, sprinkle a little salt on it and enjoy!
Geeeeez!!! Brings back memories!!:ROFLMAO:

Some pretty yummy dumplings can also be made with the marrow.
 
Eastern Europe

The former Yugoslavia was NOT behind the Iron Curtain, it was Socialist and NOT Communist. Tito played the political balance quite well buring from the West and selling to the East i.e. Russia.

I have always sort of considered The Balkans Eastern Europe but Greece is part of the Balkans and is never considered Eastern Europe.

Anyway, you all consider the former Yugoslavia Eastern Europe great-not sure I'd lump Greece into that mix. Bulgaria, Macedonia, Moldovia, all yes Eastern Europe.:chef:

Why did I aski? I have learned much of this area on our travels there, as well as from my son-in-law and family (Kahrovic) who have been here 6 years from Croatia via Kosovo. Our son-in-law was born on the border of Serbia and Montenegro, grew up in Croatia on his grandparents farm from the age of 2. His mother's family owned these lands for 300 years. His mom was a tiop chef for 17 years in Croatia before the civil war.

Anyone for Sarma, Cevapcici, ajvar, and so on?
 
lol, i told ya so! :)

thanks shanti. agreed, greece (and turkey) aren't considered eastern europe.

what is sarma, cevapcici, and ajvar?
 
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Eastern Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now I'm confused. My ancesters were from Hungary and Poland - Eastern Europe (I thought).

I don't have *specific recipes, but some foods my grandmother (Hungary)prepared were:

Stuffed cabbage
flanken (sp?)
Rugalah (sp?)
knishes
Borscht
knadelach (sp?)

So many dishes, I can't remember them all. Each family probably had their own recipes for the same dish, or the same dish was called by a different name, i.e. pierogies were called something else (in my household), but still dough with a filling of various ingredients.

*As I recall, I don't think I ever saw my grandma read from a recipe card or book, or write them down. Sadly, those "recipes" are probably lost forever.
 
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The former Yugoslavia was NOT behind the Iron Curtain, it was Socialist and NOT Communist. Tito played the political balance quite well buring from the West and selling to the East i.e. Russia.

Oh dear...
Let me clearify something here.
Ma, as you know, I was born and lived a big part of my adult life in Hu.
The official position there was this:

the only country "building communism" was the USSR
all the other countries (behind the IC) were "building socialism"
This is what was taught in schools, was heard and read in the media all the time.
So officialy a communist country didn't even exist!


I have always sort of considered The Balkans Eastern Europe but Greece is part of the Balkans and is never considered Eastern Europe.

Eastern Europe means (in this case) a country's political NOT geographical position.So Greece and Turkey are not part of it, even though they ARE Estern European countries.
Heck, a lot more than Hu or East Germany!:rolleyes:



Anyone for Sarma, Cevapcici, ajvar, and so on?

Oh yes MA, all of the above!;) Keep them coming!
 
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I was raised in a town that had sponsored many ww2 refugies from EU and Germany I could walk down the street at dinner time and smell the most wonderful smells, what a nice childhood I had some time i got to taste
 
i just read an article in my local newspaper about how eastern european take-out places are booming in my area. there a many immigrants from there where both parents now work "american" hours here, but they still crave the foods of their ancestry, which are notorious for long prep and cooking times. so the meals are prepared in several traditions, from polish to slovakian, to hungarian and so on.
we're also planning our next family event in a restaurant called "the royal warsaw".
i hope i don't fall on my dupa!
 
sorry:chef: if I sounded heavy on the Eastern Europe thing and Balkans, have been there, have a son-in-law and famly from there-much history. They fled Croatia came to the US via 6 years in Kosovo after a very comfortable life in Croatia. Family had been there for 300 years-but religion split the former Yugo to shatters. He is 1/2 and half. So he grew up in Croatia, mother was Serb late father, Muslim so he became a refugee-man without a country and is so dang proud to be an American citizen now, and cooks awesome food.
 
I'm looking for a Serbian pickled cabbage salad recipe called Kupus. It's just pickled thinly sliced cabbage with goat cheese and black olives, tossed in some vinaigrette. I hope someone knows about this... Thanks!
 
:chef: I'll ask Milka about Kupus, she was a chef at a huge hotel in Croatia. If I don't answer for a few it means daughter is having the baby-their secondf, a little sister for Marko.
 
shantihhh said:
:chef: I'll ask Milka about Kupus, she was a chef at a huge hotel in Croatia. If I don't answer for a few it means daughter is having the baby-their secondf, a little sister for Marko.

Thanks Shantih. I hope to hear from you about what Milka says...
 
Hello, people, I am new here, but as I'd like to promote Balkan cuisine (wonderful, but still undiscovered in the rest of the world) - I will try to help. :)

"Kupus" means "cabbage" and it can be both pickled and fresh. The combination with cheese and olives is not so common for Balkan countries, so I guess it was the invention of some clever chef. (Sounds tasty anyway.) But as pickled cabbage ("Kiseli kupus", to be precise) is never combined with anything except dried red hot paprika and oil, I guess it had to be fresh cabbage. The cheese was probably a simple white cheese (you can always try with feta as a good substitute). :)

P.S. I forgot the main part - for a good kupus salad, you have to cut it to really thin slices; add oil first, then salt, and vinegar in the end (the red vinegar, made of wine, is the best choice). But if you want the secret of the pickled cabbage... well, first you must have a separate cellar room for that - if you don't want your house smell like... pickled cabbage. :)
 
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