Macedonian cuisine has been influenced by the culinary schools of Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and Serbia: its menu contains mostly simple and tasty dishes based on meat, vegetables and spices.
National cuisine of Macedonia
In Macedonia, they like to cook meat, for example, the dish "skara" - grilled meat, and several varieties of this dish stand out: if it is cooked from chicken, it is called "pileshko", from pork - "pig", from lamb - "lamb”. In addition, you should try chicken in kaymak or maid's sauce, Macedonian cabbage rolls (“sarma”), various versions of “kebab”, puff pastry with meat, “chebapi” (pork or beef sausages with spices and onions). As a side dish, noodles, fried potatoes, and stewed vegetables are often used. In addition, fresh herbs, cheese (feta cheese) and bread are always present on the table.
Those who are interested in Macedonian desserts should allow themselves to enjoy the taste of donuts with cinnamon, honey and sugar syrup (“lukumades”), sweet rice pudding (“sutliash”), puff pastry with custard and various fillings (“bugatsa"), mini buns in sugar syrup ("urmashitsa").
Popular Macedonian dishes:
- “Aivar” (salad based on tomatoes, beans, paprika, salt, garlic, sunflower oil);
- Zarzavat (vegetable-based stew);
- “Keftinya” (a dish in the form of meatballs, served with a vegetable side dish);
- "Mukhkalitsa" (a dish made from vegetables and pork);
- "Rural meso" (peasant-style meat stew);
- “Pastrmka” (a dish made from Ohrid trout, which is baked after being poured with a sauce of garlic, beaten eggs, vegetable oil and herbs).
Where to try Macedonian cuisine?
Thanks to the neighborhood of Turkey in Macedonia, you can find cafes and restaurants where you will be served meat patties, kebabs, Turkish meat. You can have a bite to eat in Skopje at Macedonska Kula (guests are treated to rakia and Macedonian dishes, such as tavce gravce beans fried in spices in a pan) or Amigos (this restaurant specializes in preparing Macedonian dishes; travelers). If you wish, you can leave a tip in the amount of 10% of the total amount.
Cooking courses in Macedonia
Those interested in the culinary delights of Macedonia will be offered to visit local restaurants - some of them will hold master classes on cooking fish and seafood dishes, the tasting of which will be accompanied by the consumption of white, red or rosé Macedonian wines.
Arriving in Macedonia is worth planning for the "Wine Skop" Festival (October, Skopje) - winemakers from different parts of Europe come here, which means that here you can taste different types of wines and all kinds of snacks to them. In addition, the guests at this festival will have performances by musical groups, and young visitors will enjoy contests and exciting games.
