Montenegrin Cuisine

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Overview of Montenegrin Cuisine History
The Republic of Montenegro is a small, mountainous state, bordering Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, and the Adriatic Sea. Due to the location of the country, Montenegro can enjoy a productive agriculture especially is the southern side where the land is fertile. The most popular fruits and vegetables used in Montenegro cuisine are potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes, beans, spinach, cabbage, swiss chard (blitva), rastan (rashtan - wild cabbage, known as collared greens in the USA), aubergines, courgettes. Traditional food includes soups, stews, smoked meats, minced meat like cevapcici and meatballs, stuffed vegetables (such as peppers) and kebabs. A dish of mixed grilled meat is a specialty. Fish is used in chowders and is grilled and fried.

It can also be roasted with rice, vegetables and prunes (carp or eel). Smoked ukljeva (endemic fish known to live only in Skadar lake) is often smoked. Cooked smoked carp is a delicacy. Cod dish - bakalar (bacalau) is eaten at Christmas eve as salad. Bread and side salads are eaten with starters and main courses. Salads are made from a variety of fresh and pickled vegetables such as beans, cucumbers, onions, peppers tomatoes and sauerkraut. Fruit and nuts are used in desserts, for example, strudels, pancakes and pastries.

Cuisines of Montenegro
Montenegro cuisine is derived from mixed traditions, mostly influenced by Mediterranean, Hungarian, Turkish and Austrian cuisines, which makes it a diverse one. Soups are the most frequent dishes found in Montenegro cuisine which are made of vegetables and meat. Although the most delicious soup is fish soup, which is prepared of dry fish with Onion and garlic and is served cold. The most common dishes are simple pottages made of Beef or poultry with added noodles.

Notable dishes include Koljivo used in religious rituals, Montenegro salad, Sarma which means stuffed cabbage, podvarak which is roast meat with sauerkraut and Moussaka, Traditioanl dishes are priganice, rastan with kastradina (wild cabbage with smoked lamb meat), dry beans with saussages, kacamak (kind of polenta). Another important dish is Česnica which is traditional bread for Christmas Day. People from Montenegro serve three main meals including breakfast when they generally consume brad with butter and honey or burek; lunch when they eat almost all the time soups and like second dish meat with vegetables like paprikas; dinner when they have a light meal with cevapi or poppy.

Preparation Methods for Montenegrin Cooking
Montenegro cuisine uses elements from various cooking traditions borrowed from their neighbors and developed from their own traditional dishes. While there are no specific or unique preparation methods for Montenegro cooking, we should point out that attention to detail is important in the Montenegro cuisine. Using the right amount of spices for example is essential – either for spicing up the taste or for coloring the dish. The diversity of vegetables and cereals found in Montenegro is also noticed in the delicious dishes belonging to their cuisine. The visual attractiveness of the dish is also important, and a balance between colors and proportion differentiates. Each traditional dish has a special cooking method, which is more or less general in all of Montenegro’s regions. Meat is one of the main elements of most Montenegro dishes and cured and smoked hams are often parts of delicious dishes.

Special Equipment for Montenegrin Cooking
Ranging from cake pans, can openers, colanders, egg rings, poachers and holders, food dishers and portioners, food pans and food containers to other kitchen utensils, such as food scales, food scoops and fryer baskets and accessories, the Montenegro cuisine needs a diverse cooking equipment set in order to produce the most sophisticated Montenegro dishes. You should consider insulated food carriers if you are transporting the food and a full set of kitchen linens and uniforms if you wish to look like a pro. Here are a few other items that will come handy while cooking Montenegro food: juicers, kitchen knives, kitchen slicers, and kitchen thermometers, measuring cups and measuring spoons, miscellaneous utensils, mixing bowls and skimmers and strainers. Essential utensils like serving spoons, spatulas, forks, turners, scrapers and tongs should also be part of your cooking "arsenal".

Montenegrin Food Traditions and Festivals
In this special country are many festivals and holidays when the inhabitants serve traditional foods like Pogaca which is a very soft butter served with bread. During the winter festivals the most common plate is sarma which is made out of sour cabbage topped with Beef and rice. Because of the religion variety the traditions and festivals differ from a religious group to another but the main event like National Day which is on 13 July, Republic Day on 29 September or Christmas Day on 7 January are celebrate together. In Christmas day people from Montenegro eats cesnica which is special bread that has to be served in family.

People in Montenegrin Food

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There are many chefs who creatively use the basic ingredients and cooking method for traditional Montenegro dishes and create original and delicious food variations. Montenegro chefs are passionate about their traditional dishes and they enjoy presenting them to foreigners who has never tasted them before. Whether they are cooking dishes that go back in time for centuries or brand new, modern dishes, Montenegro chefs take pride in what they do, and this is readily noticeable in the unforgettable taste of their cooking.