Here at Undiscovered Balkans, we consider ourselves connoisseurs when it comes to Balkan food (see previous blog post), but Macedonian-British author and recipe developer Irina Janakievska's knowledge is unmatched. Since 2011, she's been on a culinary journey to discover the history, intricacies and origins of traditional foods found in the region for her debut cookbook, The Balkan Kitchen. Born in what's now North Macedonia (former Yugoslavia), Irina moved to Kuwait with her mother in the late 1980s to escape the violent breakup of Yugoslavia. In 2001, Irina moved to Britain to study at the London School of Economics, graduating with a Masters and securing a job as a solicitor. She left the corporate world in 2020 to pursue her passion for Balkan cuisine and train at the Leiths School of Food and Wine. Irina has since contributed her knowledge of Balkan food and culture to the likes of The Guardian, Foodnetwork US and Whetstone Magazine, among others and in 2023, The Balkan Kitchen was shortlisted for the Jane Grigson Trust Award. It landed on shelves in October 2024, so we caught up with Irina to find out more about the history behind the recipes and what dishes you should try when visiting the region. How would you sum up Balkan food in three words? Rich, vibrant, diverse. What inspired you to write The Balkan Kitchen? We can tell it was a labour of love with so many personal stories, anecdotes and photographs to accompany the recipes. After my grandmother tragically passed away in 2011, I was in her apartment in front of the bookshelf that held our family’s most treasured books and happened to pick up a copy of her 1956 edition of Veliki Narodni Kuvar (Great National Cookbook) by Spasenija Pata Markovic, with its fading olive-green cover, torn but lovingly
Here at Undiscovered Balkans, we consider ourselves connoisseurs when it comes to Balkan food (see previous blog post), but Macedonian-British author and recipe developer Irina Janakievska’s knowledge is unmatched. Since 2011, she’s been on a culinary journey to discover the history, intricacies and origins of traditional foods found in the region for her debut cookbook,
If you’re in search of some armchair travel or inspiration for your next trip, we’ve rounded up nine of our favourite books set in the western Balkans. Whether you’re looking to escape to the idyllic mountainscapes or understand the region’s complex past, these books will have you gripped - and perhaps even inspire you to visit the Balkans. Our carefully curated reading list will whisk you away to Mostar’s cobbled streets, Croatia’s turquoise lakes, and Albania’s timeless mountain villages. Meet Europe’s native Muslim communities in Tharik Hussain’s travelogue, follow ethnic Serb writer Mary Novakovich as she traces her family’s roots in Croatia, or watch four centuries of turbulent history play out on the Drina River in Nobel prize winner Ivo Andrić’s novel. Books set in Albania High Albania by Mary Edith Durham Follow intrepid Edwardian explorer Mary Edith Durham into the Balkans, a region few dared to cross at the turn of the 20th century when war and violence loomed over a collapsing Ottoman empire. Durham’s most famous book, High Albania, is a remarkable account of her adventures in the remote mountains of Albania and Montenegro where tribal communities lived untouched by modernity and foreign influence. You’ll be amazed by the stories and customs of the people she met. Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi Albanian writer Lea Ype gives an honest and insightful account of her life under the communist regime and after its collapse in her memoir Free. A fascinating read about one of the world’s most misunderstood countries, you will learn about the challenges and joys of living in Albania, which has long been overlooked by the rest of the world. Books set in Bosnia and Herzegovina Logavina street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood by Barbara Demick Pulitzer Prize-winning
If you’re in search of some armchair travel or inspiration for your next trip, we’ve rounded up nine of our favourite books set in the western Balkans. Whether you’re looking to escape to the idyllic mountainscapes or understand the region’s complex past, these books will have you gripped – and perhaps even inspire you to
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