When in BiH be Courageous!

Since coming to GVU my eating habits have changed. Besides eating everything in sight and being my little brother and sisters garbage, I have grown to love, or at least try, things I would never imagine having in Canada.

Last weekend while in Dubrovnik, I tried a dish with squid, amoung other seafood. The other day I tried a chickens heart for lunch; it was alright but without the potatoes it would be too gooshy for me.


Growing up I HATED sandwiches. Something about letting buttered bread touch the salome grossed me out! However, I have grown to not only like sandwiches, but I love them with TOMATOES! The other day I enjoyed a sandwich with cream cheese, tomatoes and salagne.


Moreover, I have learned to make some AMAZING dishes I cant want to try out at home! My family loves to make 'Fist in the Nose', which is meatballs, tomatoes and potatoes in boiled water. (mmm) My sisters favourite dish is a vegetarian dish called Sataraš. You cook onions in a pot of hot water. Then you add a variety of veggies like tomatoes, peppers, carrots, peas, etc. Then you eat it with tomato and cucumber salad, and bread, a staple in every meal. My mamas favourite is the same dish but the veggies are diced into tiny pieces, and rice is added.


Yesterday was my FAVOURITE day food wise. We had Sataraš for lunch (although I had it for 4 meals in a row after that meal ...mmm). It tasted almost like my Canadian parents freshly made pasta sauce. Then we had čevape for dinner and some baklava for dessert. In the middle of the night and in the morning I took some more baklava, not knowing it at was for the wedding my BiH parents are going to on Saturday. Whoops. I felt SO bad and apologized in the afternoon. However, my mama knew I didnt mean to so all was well. In fact that day my mama realised just how much I loved it SO ... my eyes popping out everytime I saw it probably gave it away. Thus, she asked if I wanted to learn how to make it after I was done work at the centre. Of course I said an enthusiastic ˝YES!˝

So at around 6pm today, Bridge, my little brother and sister, mama and I made Baklava. It took us about 30 minutes to prep, 30 minutes to bake, and 10 minutes to cool off (although it tastes better when it soaks in the sugary water for a long time).

The following is a recipe for Baklava:

• 1 kg sugar
• 1 litre of water
• 6 eggs
• 0.5 kg walnuts crushed
• 5 tablespoons of oil
• 0.25 cups (about 2 or 3 large tablespoons of butter)
• thin dough sheets that are used for Bosnian pitas that when heated look like spring rolls

1. Heat the sugar and water in a pot. Bring it to a boil.
2. On a heated pan put butter.
3. Meanwhile mix the eggs. Then add in 4 additional tablespoons of sugar. Mix until it looks like banana pudding.
4. Add the oil to the mixture and then mix in all of the walnuts.
5. Unroll dough from roller it is on (there are about 10 layers/sheets) onto a hand towel.
6. Grease a large pan.
7. Put batter into icing/butter device.
8. Grease the dough using the butter from the pan, and use the icing device to pour two thin lines of the batter onto the bottom/edge of the dough.
9. Use the towel to roll the dough into a spring roll/crepe shape.
10. Put the finished rolls into the pan and grease them more using the butter.
11. Put it in the oven at around 200 until it is red/brown (roughly 20-30 minutes).
12. Pour the whole pot of water and sugar on all of the rolls and let it sit so that the baklava soaks up the sugary water.
13. Enjoy!

Well I am off to watch a movie with my little brother and sister. (Tomorrow we are suprising my family, mostly our mama, by cleaning the house and making crepes, which will include our secret banana whipped cream... mmmmmmmm and peaches)