They say that good things are best prepared slowly with a good recipe, proven ingredients and company that knows how to enjoy. Especially when kitchen masters gather around the kettle, and everyone has their own little secret for a winning bite. All this was brought together in one place by the gastronomic and touristic event “Golden cauldron of Semberija”, where this weekend there was cooking both for the palate and for prestige.
From early morning, the area around the kettle was alive. The teams prepared food, built a fire and carefully followed every step of the preparation. Someone inherited the recipe from their elders, someone perfected it for years, and someone claims that the most important thing for a good kettle is not to reveal everything.
“These are small secrets, no one will reveal their secret, and the most important thing is companionship and friendship. That is the most important thing in this whole story,” said Milorad Živanov, a competitor from Baranda.
“Love for cooking and socializing. There is no such thing as taste, everyone’s taste is different. What is cooked is what is eaten,” said Zoran Jedranjac, a competitor.
“Color, taste, aroma, smell. This is what needs to satisfy the jury in order for the stew to succeed and to win a prize,” said Slađan Adamović, a competitor from Semberija.
24 years of tradition
“The Golden Cauldron of Semberija” has been gathering fish soup lovers for 24 years, as well as those for whom a good reason to gather is enough in itself. Local teams, as well as teams from countries in the region, come to show what they know.
“We also have teams from the region, especially Vojvodina, which is the leader here, because they are known as gastronomic connoisseurs and lovers of good food. We have 50 registered teams so far, but if we take into account that each team has at least ten members, then we can say that a significant number of people gather here and that really needs to be taken into account,” said Dragana Dimić, spokeswoman for the Tourism Organization of the City of Bijeljina.
Food tells a bigger story
This is the idea of the “Golden Cauldron of Semberija”, a gastronomic and tourist event that tells a much broader story about this region through food – about natural potentials, water resources, water and nature, local products, customs and what is increasingly sought after on the tourist map today: an authentic experience.
