Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Hacienda, a little taste of Mexico in Sarajevo!
So I'm walking around in Baščaršija, nothing new about that, I go there on any excuse possible. It's one of my favorite parts of Sarajevo. I had three good excuses to go there already.
Then I see this:
Yes sirree Bob! a genuine Meksikanski zastava! Right thar in Baščaršija! The weirdness was too much for me. I could not resist. First I took out my camera, and took the two pictures of the flag you can find on my Flikr account, then I thought 'Oh what the Hell, I can't resist looking at the possible results of Bosnians making Mexican food. It could be a real train wreck or it could work out like when they do Mexican music, fairly alright.'
Unfortunately the waiter placed me at a table that tips. I asked for a menu, studied it, realized that the owner has done his homework. Judging by his name he's Bosnian Muslim. Then I decided to order 'Nachos Atun' I do have that nasty meat milk interaction thing to consider, and the results can be precipitous and nearly explosive so I felt safer eating fish.
The tuna was canned, which could happen State-side, if you could even GET Nachos Atun. I ordered a side of guacamole, which I miss. You don't see avacados for sale here. I understand they are sometimes grown down in Hercegovina or Croatia, but I've never had the good fortune to see them around, I figured the tuna might be canned, so I decided I was going to have a beer. Sarajevsko was my choice. If I'd seen it in time, I would have ordered flan as well. The only bad thing about the meal was the tipsy table I was seated at. I'm going to ask for a different place to sit next time and tell them why. The decor is vaguely East L.A. meets the Balkans, and actually very pleasant. Smoking is allowed, in fact an ashtray was set right in front of me. I don't smoke so that was odd. I heard people speaking French, English and Bosnian. No one spoke Spanish, I may have been the only person who speaks Spanish in there unless the owner speaks Spanish.
The meal arrived, and the chips were made from flour tortillas. Forgivable since it's probably not possible to order corn tortillas. No Sanitary Tortilla Factory anyplace near! :).
If I had a chance to speak with the owner I would have told him to just order a bunch of bags of corn chips, even Dorritos if he had to, it's perfectly fine to use them in nachos. For flour chips they werent' too bad. The cheese was Monterey Jack, and there was good fresh Bosnian sour cream, sour cream here is about the best I've ever had, EXTREMELY good. There was corn which probably came from a huge bag of frozen corn, and there was the tuna which had been canned some lettuce, and some onions. The guacamole was a mite brown. Some lemon or lime juice might have helped, but it tasted alright, and for those who haven't been to Sarajevo or tasted Sarajevsko, it tastes like the higher end Mexican beers, it's VERY good beer, I found it went perfectly with the meal.
It's not a very expensive place, more than going to a čevapi or burek place but an acceptable expense if one is homesick for guacamole! :)
Next time, I'm ordering the flan, I'm sure given that there are traditional Bosnian and Croat desserts which resemble flan that the flan will be superb.
They have free wifi a few nights a week. Not that my computer is allowed to go out at night! :). I don't even go out at night! :)
Then I see this:
Yes sirree Bob! a genuine Meksikanski zastava! Right thar in Baščaršija! The weirdness was too much for me. I could not resist. First I took out my camera, and took the two pictures of the flag you can find on my Flikr account, then I thought 'Oh what the Hell, I can't resist looking at the possible results of Bosnians making Mexican food. It could be a real train wreck or it could work out like when they do Mexican music, fairly alright.'
Unfortunately the waiter placed me at a table that tips. I asked for a menu, studied it, realized that the owner has done his homework. Judging by his name he's Bosnian Muslim. Then I decided to order 'Nachos Atun' I do have that nasty meat milk interaction thing to consider, and the results can be precipitous and nearly explosive so I felt safer eating fish.
The tuna was canned, which could happen State-side, if you could even GET Nachos Atun. I ordered a side of guacamole, which I miss. You don't see avacados for sale here. I understand they are sometimes grown down in Hercegovina or Croatia, but I've never had the good fortune to see them around, I figured the tuna might be canned, so I decided I was going to have a beer. Sarajevsko was my choice. If I'd seen it in time, I would have ordered flan as well. The only bad thing about the meal was the tipsy table I was seated at. I'm going to ask for a different place to sit next time and tell them why. The decor is vaguely East L.A. meets the Balkans, and actually very pleasant. Smoking is allowed, in fact an ashtray was set right in front of me. I don't smoke so that was odd. I heard people speaking French, English and Bosnian. No one spoke Spanish, I may have been the only person who speaks Spanish in there unless the owner speaks Spanish.
The meal arrived, and the chips were made from flour tortillas. Forgivable since it's probably not possible to order corn tortillas. No Sanitary Tortilla Factory anyplace near! :).
If I had a chance to speak with the owner I would have told him to just order a bunch of bags of corn chips, even Dorritos if he had to, it's perfectly fine to use them in nachos. For flour chips they werent' too bad. The cheese was Monterey Jack, and there was good fresh Bosnian sour cream, sour cream here is about the best I've ever had, EXTREMELY good. There was corn which probably came from a huge bag of frozen corn, and there was the tuna which had been canned some lettuce, and some onions. The guacamole was a mite brown. Some lemon or lime juice might have helped, but it tasted alright, and for those who haven't been to Sarajevo or tasted Sarajevsko, it tastes like the higher end Mexican beers, it's VERY good beer, I found it went perfectly with the meal.
It's not a very expensive place, more than going to a čevapi or burek place but an acceptable expense if one is homesick for guacamole! :)
Next time, I'm ordering the flan, I'm sure given that there are traditional Bosnian and Croat desserts which resemble flan that the flan will be superb.
They have free wifi a few nights a week. Not that my computer is allowed to go out at night! :). I don't even go out at night! :)
# posted by Katja R. @ 6:37 AM 
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Katja,
One place to drink fresh-brewed beer in Sarajevo is the former brewery building in Bistrik (across the river from Bascarsija, near St. Anthony's monastery) that has been converted into a fancy brew pub.
Good food, excellent beer, nice ambience, prices not too bad all things considered.
Try it if you haven't yet.
András
One place to drink fresh-brewed beer in Sarajevo is the former brewery building in Bistrik (across the river from Bascarsija, near St. Anthony's monastery) that has been converted into a fancy brew pub.
Good food, excellent beer, nice ambience, prices not too bad all things considered.
Try it if you haven't yet.
András
# posted by 
: 10:18 AM
: 10:18 AM 
I don't like white flour much, I eat very little bread, because unless I can get hold of REAL Russian style black bread made from rye, I just don't like bread that much. For a lot of reasons I don't ask for it, because you seldom see rye bread here, when you do it's very expensive, and for a number of reasons I am not ABOUT to directly ask for it. People would know what I meant alright, and it might cause hostility! :). Half rye or the local idea of black bread just doesn't cut it.
So I only eat enough bread not to be rude, and at home I eat none. My S.O. finds that weird of me.
I grew up with a table where the choice was likely to be black bread or corn tortillas. I love fresh corn tortillas. Unfortunately not available here. I haven't seen even corn chips like Dorritos here. People here don't think of corn as food. Maybe a roast ear of corn or some popcorn, sometimes a little in a dish, but it's an unusual thing here and many people don't actually like it.
So I only eat enough bread not to be rude, and at home I eat none. My S.O. finds that weird of me.
I grew up with a table where the choice was likely to be black bread or corn tortillas. I love fresh corn tortillas. Unfortunately not available here. I haven't seen even corn chips like Dorritos here. People here don't think of corn as food. Maybe a roast ear of corn or some popcorn, sometimes a little in a dish, but it's an unusual thing here and many people don't actually like it.
Maize/Corn may not be a city food there, but at least some country people in Bosnia seem to like it. This summer I had a hearty breakfast of corn-meal mush (called "pure" in Bosnian) at the Vlasicka kuca, a rustic roadside restaurant at Turbe, just outside of Travnik, that specializes in artisanal cheeses and yoghurt. The "pure" (pron. POO-reh) comes steaming hot in a wooden bowl, with some melted butter drizzled on top and sliced onions and fresh sheep-milk yoghurt on the side. Finished off with a small shot of rakija (natch!), it's the Bosnian shepherd's way to start the day.
András
András
# posted by : 6:17 AM
: 6:17 AM
p.s. In case you can't make the trek out to Travnik soon (I recommend it - spectacular scenery, friendly people), here's a recipe for making pura (Bosnian cornmeal porridge).
# posted by : 6:44 AM
: 6:44 AM
pure, sounds suspiciously like polenta! polenta is one form of corn I can barely tolerate! :). It's not as bad as 'grits' which I won't eat either, but it's close! I'll check the recipe. One day I may get to go to Travnik, probably not soon, as Winter has sort of begun early here! :).
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