The 2024 Lamb Festival (Jagnjijada) was held in Vucija Luka, Istocno Sarajevo. A total of 107 teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the region competed, and the team Bijela Gora, led by Dragan Acimovic, the owner of Motel and Restaurant Konak in Mosko near Trebinje, won.
“We proved that the best lamb is not in Jablanica, as is commonly believed. The key to our success is good meat from lambs that grazed on a herb called Dalmatian laburnum. This endemic plant makes the meat juicy and uniquely flavorful. Our team had ten members. It’s no small feat to win against 107 teams from BiH, Serbia, Montenegro, and the entire region. It means our lamb is the best in the Balkans. We need to justify this next year as well,” Acimovic stated.
His establishment is renowned for its top-quality lamb, as well as excellent homemade wine and brandy. Konak is a regular spot for well-known athletes, musicians, actors, directors, and screenwriters.
Lamb from Mosko is even mentioned in some films and TV series, most notably in “Lud, zbunjen, normalan” (Crazy, confused, normal).
“Forget Moscow, you fool. It’s a village called Mosko. It’s north of Popovo Polje, towards Bileca. Nothing grows there except Dalmatian laburnum. The lambs graze only on Dalmatian laburnum. That’s the meat. My mouth waters just thinking about it. Par excellence, finger-licking good,” says Izet Fazlinovic in one of the episodes.
BiH citizens are known for their love of lamb. Despite rising prices, many people celebrate important dates with lamb and barbecue at popular picnic spots or in their backyards.
The price of raw lamb in BiH ranges between 23 and 25 BAM per kilogram, so a 15-kilogram lamb costs almost 350 BAM. The price of lamb in restaurants in the country is much higher. Jablanica is known for its restaurants with good lamb, where a kilogram costs between 60 and 65 BAM.
