On the portal of the British BBC was published a reportage by journalist David Farley, who told the story of one of the most popular dishes from the Balkan region – Bosanski lonac (Bosnian pot).
The article “The hidden meaning in a pot of stew” refers to a Bosnian pot which, according to Farley, is a national Bosnian dish and also a metaphor for a diverse population of BiH consisted of Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats.
A British journalist told his story from a restaurant in Bascarsija in Sarajevo, where Bosnian pot is served.
“A national dish of BiH, it’s viewed as a metaphor for the Balkan country’s diverse population, which is mostly made up of Bosnian Muslims (known as Bosniaks), Serbs and Croatians (with a smaller population of Jews and Romany).
Ingredients for this dish are bought in supermarkets, and it turns out that carrots come from Croatia, peas from Serbia so that everyone can find them in a Bosnian pot. There was lamb, carrot, potato … The gravy the ingredients were swimming in was rich in flavor, as deep as the gorges that exist in the countryside just outside of Sarajevo. The meat, having been simmered for hours, separated at the touch of the fork and melted when it hit my mouth,” wrote Farley.
“It may look like an ordinary bowl of meat and vegetables but there’s a lot simmering underneath the surface,” said Farley.
“After the Bosnia War of 1992-1995, the country that was once very mixed – with each town sprinkled with Muslims, Serbs, and Croats – became splintered. The Serbs fled to the newly created the RS, and the Croats migrated to Herzegovina. The Bosnia of 2017 is less of a pot and more of a TV dinner,” as stated in the article.
At the end of his reportage, he concluded that the Bosnian pot cannot be called Croatian or Serbian.
“You can’t call it Croatian lonac (pot) or Serbian lonac (pot) because they are more homogenous nations. That is why it has to be called Bosanski lonac (pot). And everyone I met up with said the same thing: the best Bosanski lonac (pot) is made in the home.”
Farley ended his story about Bosanski lonac and ways of its preparation in cities of BiH with a “toast to Bosanski lonac with the hope that the future brings a lot more ‘Little Bosnias’ to this wonderful and fascinating country.”
(Source: Radiosarajevo.ba/BBC, Photo: David Farley)
