The following highlights some of the popular Traditional Macedonian Foods. If you manage to be in an Macedonian restaurant or you are visiting Macedonia, I recommend the following:
1. Tavce Gravce (Pot-baked Beans)
Tavce gravce is one of the most traditional and popular dishes in Macedonian cuisine. It is customary to enjoy it on Fridays, during lunch with the family. The main ingredient of this dish is white beans or tetovo beans, so called because it comes from the city of Tetovo, in the northwest of the country.
2. Turlitava
Literally meaning “meat and vegetable stew”, this dish is a type of stew. It is very tasty and is a speciality of the Ottoman Empire. A variety of meats are used, including pork, beef and lamb, served with potatoes, tomatoes, onions, eggs and the ever-present paprika.
3. Zelnik
Zelnik is a traditional North Macedonian pastry that can be filled with various ingredients such as cheese, spinach, eggs, meat, leeks or cabbage. For best results, the zelnik should be greased and spread before baking, so that the cake browns. Zelnik is best served warm, preferably with a glass of yoghurt.
4. Mekici
Mekici is a popular North Macedonian cereal consisting of flour, salt, baking powder, eggs, yeast, milk and water. When the dough is ready, fry it in plenty of hot oil until the outside of the dough is golden brown. The crisps can be made at home or bought from a bakery. Tastes like a doughnut. Usually when a baby is born, grandma bakes a cake to celebrate the birth.
5. Polneti Piperki
Polneti piperki is a hearty North Macedonian dish consisting of peppers stuffed with minced meat, rice and a selection of spices. Sometimes chopped vegetables are added to the stuffing. This dish is usually baked in the oven until the paprika is slightly charred. Stuffed peppers are best served with mashed potatoes.
6. Pastrmajlija
North Macedonia’s answer to pizza is pastrmajlija, a rustic flatbread topped with diced or sliced meat (usually salted pork and lamb) and an egg. Pastrami is usually baked in a conventional oven at a very high temperature. Sometimes served with pickled peppers, this oval treat is especially popular during the cold winter months.
7. Musaka
Moussaka is a dish made with ground meat (usually pork and ground beef) and potatoes. In today’s Macedonian cuisine, this dish can be found in different forms and prepared with different ingredients. It consists of a layered casserole that is softened and aerated thanks to the béchamel sauce. This dish is made with roasted ground lamb and aubergines or potatoes.
8. Ajvar
It is not really a dish, but a sauce that is very popular in the Balkans and neighbouring cities. It can be sweeter, spicier or hotter depending on the spice ingredients it is made with. It consists of chillies and peppers together with aubergine and garlic. It can be eaten as a spread on bread or as a condiment for other dishes.
9. Sarma (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)
Sarmas are a delicacy of Macedonian cuisine. Their origin is uncertain, but they are traditionally eaten in the Balkan countries. It requires very elaborate processing of the basic ingredient, which is sour cabbage or sauerkraut. For its preparation, it is essential to use smoked and ground meat from pork, beef or a combination of the two. The sauerkraut leaves must also be soaked in cold water to reduce the excess salt and acidity present in them.
10. Pindjur
Pindur is a traditional spice that originates from the cuisine of countries such as the Balkans and Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a combination of roasted red peppers, tomatoes, aubergines, garlic, oil and salt. Pindur is used as a condiment or spread and is very similar to ajvar, but pindur has a slightly milder taste. In terms of structure, pindur is slightly thinner than ajvar.
If you found this list useful, here are some more Traditional European Foods to try out on my Pinterest channel.