This project came about out of a desire to explore the rich culinary offerings of this often overlooked region of East Serbia. But it was not only this region we were interested in. Many people who call eastern Serbia home also live in Western Europe and other parts of the world. So in addition to wanting to celebrate the recipes of this region we wanted to investigate the ways in that these citizens' migrations and travels have influenced and changed traditional recipes.

Many Serbs claim that they continue to cook the same food wherever they go and insist that Serbian food never changes. But what defines Serbian food is actually its rich culinary influence from neighboring regions (Romania, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Turkey) and former political regimes (Ottoman, Austrian-Hungarian, Slavs, etc.). Further, today over 400,000 Serbs live and work abroad in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, North America, and elsewhere as guest workers (or “gastarbajteri”). Of these guest workers, a disproportionately large percentage originate from East Serbia, a region which has been historically economically disenfranchised. Given this already existing cultural patchwork, the notion of an immutable and essential “Serbian” cuisine is by definition impossible. A Dash of This & A Dash of That: Recipes from East Serbia and Beyond is a project that explores the influence of other traditions on the regional cuisine of Kucevo. Compiled through interviews with local residents of Kucevo, we found a rich and complex tapestry of culinary practices. For example, the strong presence of Vlahs (a minority living between Romania and Serbia who speak a Romance-derived language) is seen in the use of indigenous plants and animals such as curly dock, nettle, rabbit bush, snails, and more. We also found that one woman who works as a gastarbajter living half the year in Hanover, Germany, integrates German and Serbian palettes. As outsiders to the region of mixed cultural heritage (Jahn is Ecuadorian and Chinese, living in the Unites States; Treister is Israeli who lived in the Czech Republic and now Serbia) we are compelled by the truth in the adage about “Serbian cuisine”: the recipes are always shifting and changing with the influence of travelers, cultural exchange, and the improvisations of the cook.
Marisa Jahn & Steve Shada

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A DASH OF THIS & A DASH OF THAT
Recipes from Serbia & Beyond
by Marisa Jahn & Noa Treister
2007
media: book

venue:
currently being sold at the cultural center in Kucevo - proceeds benefit the town's local art club

you can also download it as a pdf here (recipes are in Serbian)

download here