Hey traveling people, are you thinking about some Sarajevo trip? I recommend this place to all. Just don’t make the same mistake as we did! we traveled there during winter and locals are burning everything in their furnaces. The result is poor air quality. Be clever and go to Sarajevo during the summertime.
The route to this city wasn’t an easy drive. There are not many motorways there, and drivers are committed to suicide inclination. On our trip, we witnessed more than ten tense moments with bad overtaking on non-transparent sections. Anyway, we got there, and everything was much better. There is no secret. The first thing we did was a proper meal. Cevapcici , this time Bosnian, with pita and grilled veal livers on the BBQ. We were starving and all that amazing smells were killing us in that little cevapcici house. Thank god, their food is actually fast food, so we didn’t need to wait long.
Food in Sarajevo!!!
Cevapcici were amazingly good: not because we were hungry but because this is a fact. These grilled meat rolls are delicious and I’m not surprised they are considered as their national food. Their ingredients are different than those ones in Serbia because people here are mostly Muslims. Pork meat is replaced by lamb but it’s not rare to see only veal option. We recommend some good veal livers and, of course, pita with cevapcici. To be clear, this is not the only good food around here. We visited an extremely sweet little bistro with authentic Bosnian food, served also in authentic dishes, whose review is coming soon.
Baščaršija
The main thing to see here is Baščaršija (“Bachcarchiya”), an old market existing from the 15th Century. Today, it’s still the main place for shopping and visiting a bunch of shops. The word “baš” which is “baş” in Turkish literally means “head” and “čaršija” which is “çarşı” in Turkish means “bazaar” or “market”. I can assure you, I didn’t find so many nice-looking shops in Ljubljana when I was there. Most of them are furnished in chic style, traditional or even modern. Service is mostly very professional, and the hospitality is also in their domain. In Bachcarchiya, you can take a tour around and see the market, old buildings, e.g. a mosque, and visit an alley with antiques and souvenirs. We were totally enchanted in this little alley.
We bought a handmade plate and copper dzezva – a pot designed specifically to make Turkish coffee or Bosnian coffee like they call it here. To be clear, however, it’s a different procedure in preparation. Well, both start out with roasted coffee beans that are pulverized into a fine powder and cooked in a small dzezva or cezve in Turkey. Turks add coffee powder into cold water, while in Bosnia they have two dzezvas. In one they boil the water and to the other, they put coffee powder, cover it with boiled water, stir it well and put it back on the stove. When the foam is created (they called it kaymak) they put aside the dzezva and wait for the foam to be lowered. This procedure can be repeated a few times, and, in the end, they add some boiled water to dilute it. Later, they pour coffee into a small cup called “fildzan”, which is made of two pieces. One is metallic and the other is ceramic. They serve sugar cubes aside, which you can dip into coffee and eat it. They won’t look at you strangely if you put one of those into your coffee and stir it well. Traditionally they also serve their sweets – a jelly-like candy called rahatlokum, which is great with coffee.
If you buy a plate or dzezva, be very careful. A lot of items are massively manufactured by machine. Their price is lower and so is the quality. In some cases, it can be even toxic, due to the wrong metal they use in producing it. So, if you want to use it, be careful about these three signs. If you use it only for a display it doesn’t really matter: just dust it well so that it shines on. The first sign is the signature of the manufacturer, the second is UNESCO, and the third is a mark of suitability.