15 Serbian Dishes You Need To Try At Least Once

Ajvar is not a strictly Serbian thing. Instead, it's a pan-Balkan dish popular in Albania, Macedonia, and other countries throughout the region. Still, the first known recipe was published in a Serbian cookbook in the 19^th century, so perhaps the Serbs do have some claim to the dish (via BBC). From the name, however, it seems that ajvar may have Turkish roots, as hayvar is the Turkish word for caviar.

Despite the fact that ajvar is often referred to as "Balkan caviar," there's nothing fishy about it. The main ingredient is roasted red peppers with oil, vinegar, and salt, although the dish may also include garlic and eggplant. Ajvar is considered to be a condiment, one that is often served alongside meat. According to The New York Times, Serbian restaurant Kafana always tops its burgers (pljeskavica, see below) with ajvar. At the same time, Miami's Rakija Lounge uses it to accompany its sausages along with all the rest of the meats on its mixed grill. Fortunately for non-meat eaters, ajvar can be eaten atop sliced bread or crostini or used as a dip for crudites or chips.

There are a lot of things that make burek so special. Like ajvar, it is another pan-Slavic dish that most likely originated in Turkey (via History Today). It's also somewhat similar to bundevara in that it is a pastry made with a filling wrapped in phyllo dough, although that filling is typically savory rather than sweet. In fact, in certain quarters, there are those who insist that all bureks must be meat-filled, but actually, Serbia is not one of those places. Nor are Serbian bureks always coil-shaped, as is the case in Bosnia (via Serbia.com). Serbian bureks can be either coiled or quarter-cut circles and can be filled with cheese instead of or in addition to meat. A cheesy burek, according to Reddit, is known as burek sa sirom.

Burek is often eaten as a breakfast food, perhaps accompanied by yogurt and, of course, a strong cup of Serbian coffee. It also appears on dinner menus, as well, with Milwaukee's Old Town Serbian Gourmet offering four different types of burek: beef, cheese, beef and cheese, and cheese and spinach. However, the restaurant notes that a good burek takes time to prepare, but you can be assured it's well worth the wait. If you do not live anywhere near Old Town Serbian or any other similar establishment, you can still experience the joy of a good burek by ordering a frozen one shipped from a grocer specializing in European imports, such as Parthenon Foods.

Gibanica is yet another phyllo-based pastry, this one made with cheese. Although similar cheesy pastries are known throughout the Balkans and other countries, the Astoria Cafe and Bakery (via YouTube) says that gibanica is regarded as being a traditional Serbian dish. To make gibanica, sheets of phyllo dough are layered with a cheese and egg filling. As for the type of cheese, this may vary with region, but Wisegeek mentions feta, cottage cheese, and ricotta as possibilities. Kafana uses feta in its gibanica for a dish that The New York Times describes as "spongy and cakelike" rather than flaky as many phyllo-based pastries tend to be.

Gibanica can either be a sweet dish or a savory one, depending on the recipe. It may be a breakfast food or possibly a snack, or an appetizer. In this last-named instance, it would most likely be an unsweetened version, but for breakfast or snacking purposes, you could really go either way.

Lepinja is a Serbian flatbread that is somewhat similar to pita bread. Although flat, it is made with yeast and puffs up a bit when baked at high heat. Once it is sliced open, it creates a "pocket" that can then be stuffed with sandwich fillings, such as in the Serbian version of croque monsieur, called komplet lepinja (via Atlas Obscura). Lepinja is closely related to another Balkan flatbread called samun, and, in fact, according to AZ Central, the names are sometimes used interchangeably. While lepinja itself is vegan (the ingredients are flour, salt, and water), one of its primary purposes is to be served with meats like ćevapi and the Serbian burgers known as pljeskavica

Lepinja, however, is more than just Serbia's answer to the hot dog or hamburger bun, as this bread can stand on its own without meat. The New York Times says that Kafana typically grills its lepinja and tops it with cheese, while this flatbread can also make a good dipper for ajvar or even be put to use as the base for a Balkan spin on pizza. If you'd like to try lepinja for yourself, you could always attempt to bake your own, but if you'd rather not mess with yeast dough, it can be purchased frozen from Parthenon Foods.

If ćevapi is Serbia's answer to the hot dog, then pljeskavica is its take on the hamburger. As per Foodie Advice, this Balkan favorite is a patty of seasoned ground meat, and the typical version is said to be a mixture of pork, lamb, and beef. Definitions, however, define the dish (as is its mission) as being a combination of at least two of the following: beef, lamb, pork, or veal. There are also a number of variant versions, including hajdučka pljeskavica, which is made with ground beef and smoked pork, and sarska pleskavica, which is Serbia's own "Jucy Lucy," this being a cheese-stuffed beef patty. Pleskavica may also be mixed with chopped onions before grilling.

Pleskavica need not always come on a bun. However, The New York Times says that in the U.S., the patties are now typically stuffed inside lepinja or even pita bread to better resemble American-style burgers. Bunless or not, pleskavica may also be topped with various condiments, including sour cream, cheese, hot peppers, onions, cucumbers, or ajvar.

Okay, we'll go ahead and admit it from the outset — pule is one of those foods that, while you certainly should try if you ever get the chance, is something you're probably never going to even get within sniffing distance of. Well, not unless you're pals with Novak Djokovic, the Serbian tennis star who was once rumored to have bought up the entire supply of this unique cheese (although he says he didn't).

So what makes pule so rare that it is considered to be the most expensive cheese in the world? It is made from donkeys' milk, but the milk can't come from just any old donkey. Instead, only the endangered Balkan donkeys need apply, and even then, the cheese can only be produced by one single solitary cheesemaker. In addition, this type of donkey produces precious little milk, magnitudes less than cows do, and with fewer fat solids in each milliliter. So, it takes longer overall (via Atlas Obscura). We do not know whether Slobodan Simic plans to pass on his secret cheese recipe before he eventually passes away. Maybe he'll just let his cheese die out when he does. Still, there is doubt whether it's even possible to make cheese out of donkey milk in the first place, so there's a chance this elusive cheese is just a rural legend. Should you ever track down what may be Serbia's best-known least-known food, though, we hear it goes great with barbecued unicorn.

One type of food that's popular all over the world falls under the general heading of "things on sticks" or, to be more specific, "meat on sticks." In the U.S., we have that state fair favorite, the corn dog, while the Middle East has its shish kebab recipes, Japan its yakitori, Indonesia its satay, and Greece its souvlaki. In Serbia, their version is called ražnjići, something that World Food Guide explains is most often made from either pork or beef, depending on local style. Religious practices may also play into the type of meat used since while the majority of Serbians are Eastern Orthodox, approximately 3% of the population is Muslim, and Islam is the dominant religion in neighboring Bosnia. For Muslims, of course, non-pork ražnjići would be preferred.

At Three Brothers Restaurant in Milwaukee, pork-based ražnjići is what's on the menu, and it comes served with raw onion and tomatoes. NYC's Kafana, however, offers pileci ražnjići, a version made with grilled chicken. Chicken ražnjići has also been known to feature on the menu at Restaurant Cosmopolitan in Alexandria, Virginia, as well (via Single Platform).

Sremska Ljuta Kobasica is quite a mouthful in both senses of the word. It's a smoked pork or pork-and-beef sausage spiced with hot paprika that gives it a reddish hue as well as a fiery flavor. (Kafana even ups the ante with the addition of jalapenos.) As for the name, let's break it down: Google Translate tells us that ljuta means "angry," so we'll assume that refers to the hot peppers, while kobasica simply means sausage. Sremska, however, indicates that the sausage originates in Serbia's Srem District (via Townsend Butchers).

Sremska ljuta kobasica is a dry-style sausage along the lines of salami or pepperoni, something that makes it less perishable than fresh sausage and more suited for importing. There is, however, at least one U.S.-based manufacturer of this item, George's Brand Meats, in Franklin Park, Illinois. It's Sremska ljuta kobasica is available to order online and can also be purchased via Parthenon Foods.