In my kitchen there is a lot of fusion going down. Being Serbian I am partial to Balkan staples like onions, garlic, roasted peppers, potatoes, pig, lamb, and lots of ground black pepper. We’re pretty simple people, and our food reflects our need for comfort and family. Every recipe can feed an army and keep you full for days, and you feel blessed to have such an abundance of food provided by warm, welcoming, and often šlivovica-laden hosts.
Being Serbian I love to eat. All the time. I love food! I love shopping for it, I love putting it away when I come home from the grocery store, I love cooking it and eating it and cleaning up after it. But most of all, I love sharing it with the people I love. It’s the best way to show someone you love them (well…). I come up with lots of recipes that I want to share with friends, realizing that some of them are not very experimental with their palates.
But everyone loves Eye-talian food, right? It’s one of my favourites, and I often combine my roots with traditional Italian cuisine (and some shit I stole from my best ho Giada) to delicious effect. This Balkatalian Delight, as I like to call it (as of five minutes ago when I started writing this) is usually centered on olive oil, onions, garlic, red roasted peppers, sugar, salt, black pepper and Vegeta, my version of soffrito. I typically use this mixture (and sometimes additional ingredients) as a sauce for pasta or rice, and if I’m not fasting I add cheese, though some dishes are (gasp!) fabulous even without cheese.
The fettucine I just made was fucking genius! I started with the usual ingredients slowly sauteeing in Filippo Berio Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil, the only kind I use, added some red pepper flakes (or as a friend of mine once heard some stupid girl call them, “pizza sprinkles”) and threw in three tablespoons of ajvar and a few splashes of some red wine I’ve had open since my last party. While that simmered and thickened (and as I drooled) I put the fettucine on to boil. It was almost al dente when I drained the noodles; I tossed them into the pan with the veggies and tossed well so the pasta cook continue to cook for a minute or two. Perfetta!
And goddammit if that was not the best cheeseless pasta I’ve ever made! The red wine gave it a wonderful robust flavour, the ajvar made it comforting and tangy, and the fettucine was perfectly cooked. I make Serbian-size portions of everything for myself, which translates to being able to feed a family of four to the average person. I don’t measure anything. I cook like a peasant. Throw in what looks right, do lots of taste testing, and pray it gives you enough strength to help you herd those sheep in the morning!
My soon-to-be-famous Balkatalian Delight!
