The holidays are getting closer, so we prepared a bunch of new recipes and brought the most delicious of our recipes with ajvar together into one place. Everything from great delicacies to incredibly delicious ideas will give you a holiday that appeals to all senses, and with it gift recipes from some of our favourite cooking blogs together with surprises coming from our kitchen!

Festive days are coming! Days when we get together with our family and friends to celebrate love and joy that brings us all together. And is there a better and nicer way to do this than over a delicious snack with ajvar and favourite food that spreads warmth and never fails to bring smiles of contentment. We enjoyed making and tasting all these festive delicacies for you and we truly hope that you’ll find a new favourite recipe among our suggestions or inspiration to enrich your festive menu this year.

COLD APPETISERS

Cheese and ajvar balls
Our favourite appetisers to start a meal with are these mouth-watering cheese and ajvar balls, and it takes only a bit of decoration to make them stand out on your table just like the most beautiful Christmas balls on the tree. The recipe comes with our suggestions on how to decorate them, and all that is left for you to do is to let your imagination run wild and play! They’re wonderfully creamy and aromatic, and they have stuffed olives hidden within – a surprise in store for all foodies. If we add that they are incredibly easy and quick to make, we’re sure it’ll be love at first bite.

Shortcrust savoury cookies with ajvar
For all the fans of pastry, savoury cookies with ajvar filled with walnuts and scented with rosemary are the number one classic to lighten the atmosphere and increase the appetite for next courses.

Savoury vanilla cookies with ajvar
There’s one more aromatic, fragrant version of these cookies. We heartily recommend you try savoury vanilla cookies with ajvar and delicious parmesan cheese and lavish truffles, which come from the following blog as a gift recipe coolinarija.com

HOT APPETISERS
Strudel with ajvar
Is there anything better than rich rolls with ajvar tucked in fine sourdough of an authentic home-made strudel? We can’t think of a better way to start a festive meal! This elegant, classic beauty comes as a gift recipe from the following blog jekinkapric.blogspot.com

Polenta canapés with spices, rolled medallions and ajvar or ljutenica
Canapés are ones of those simple and quick ideas that become a real tasty tidbit with the help of just a bit imagination. We suggest you try these warm, aromatised polenta canapés with spices, rolled medallions, ajvar or ljutenica, as you prefer. If you’re looking for a lenten option, we recommend our polenta canapés with spices, chickpeas, and ajvar

Cups with ricotta and wild-fruit spread with honey
It’s not exactly ajvar but it’s as delicious. Our favourite for this season are these fine, crunchy cups with refreshing juicy filling made of gentle ricotta, almonds, and wonderful wild fruit with natural honey. A real holiday snack for all food fans!

MAIN DISHES

Shepherd’s pie with mushrooms, sweet potato, and ajvar (link)
This lenten and delicious pie is a great choice for a warm main dish, especially after an ample entrée. This recipe works every time and we’re always happy to try it out over and over again. It has a rich filling with mushrooms, lentils, ajvar, and vegetables with incredibly soft mashed sweet potatoes hidden within and we’re sure you’ll love it.

This time, for a special occasion, we prepared it in small separate refractory moulds, while you can make it in a single large dish.

Rolled pork with piquant ajvar filling
Here’s a real gourmet delicacy for all the meat fans to enjoy, coming in the form of rolled mushroom with fragrant spices, walnuts, and ajvar, which makes the meat extra soft and gives it incredibly rich flavour.

Sweet potato moussaka with spinach and ajvar
This moussaka, rich in colour and taste, has not one, but two wonderfully creamy fillings. One is made of spinach, while the other one is made of ajvar. These tasty layers are a perfect match with sweet potatoes and they give this dish an attractive appearance. Cut it into cubes and be prepared to be astonished by the speed at which they disappear from the table! Gift recipe from the spicesunshine.com blog.

BONUS RECIPES: FESTIVE DELICACIES

We all know that festive menus are incomplete without sweets, and we also know that the nicest and favourite sweets are those which fill us with joy and take us back to our childhood with every bite. This is why we chose the real classic for our festive menu – a lavish walnut cake coming straight from granny’s cookery book. Of course, we enriched granny’s recipe by adding fruit spreads with honey and we made it in two ways, and we’ll let you decide which one is better.

Festive walnut and blackcurrant cake

As all traditional cakes this one too requires a bit of time and patience for preparation, but, trust us, each bite will later make it worth it. Wonderful citrus aroma of orange peel and freshness of sweet blackcurrant are an ideal match adding a final touch to the flavour of this walnut-rich cake.

Ingredients:
450g butter
450g walnuts
600g sugar
150g flour
4 eggs
240ml milk
2 small jars of blackcurrant spread with honey
2 grated orange peels

Preparation:
Layer 1:
Beat 150g butter, 150g sugar, and 150g flour together thoroughly. Add 150g walnuts and 4 beaten egg whites. Spread the mixture in a baking tray coated with oil until it’s around 2 cm thick and bake at a lower temperature, around 160-170C for about 20 minutes.
Layer 2:
Beat 4 yolks and 150g sugar together, then coat the baked layer and bake it for a few minutes until the sugar melts.
Filling 1:
Heat 120ml milk and 150g sugar until they boil and use this to steam 150g butter and 150g ground walnuts and beat everything thoroughly. Coat the crust with a third of the filling in a thin layer, keep the remaining filling and put everything in the fridge and let it cool down.
Layer 2:
Heat 120ml milk and 150g sugar until they boil and use this to steam 150g butter and 150g ground walnuts and beat everything thoroughly. Add 2 small jars of blackcurrant spread with honey and two grated orange peels to the filling and mix everything together. Coat the cake with this filling and spread the rest of the first walnut filling over it.
Sprinkle the cake with ground walnuts and let it cool down and thicken well before you serve it.

Festive walnut, apricot and spice cake

This version of walnut cakes is full of wonderful aromatic spices, which, in combination with apricots, will spread that well-known warm smell of holiday around the house. Nutmeg, cinnamon, aniseed, wonderful juicy dried apricots, and exotic goji berries together with sweet apricot spread with honey make this cake absolutely irresistible.

Ingredients:
450g butter
450g walnuts
600g sugar
150g flour
4 eggs
240ml milk
2 small jars of apricot spread with honey
150g dried apricots
50g goji berries
a pinch of grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
a pinch of ground aniseed

Preparation:
Layer 1:
Beat 150g butter, 150g sugar, and 150g flour together thoroughly. Add 150g walnuts and 4 beaten egg whites. Spread the mixture in a baking tray coated with oil until it’s around 2 cm thick and bake at a lower temperature, around 160-170C for about 20 minutes.
Layer 2:
Beat 4 yolks and 150g sugar together, then coat the baked layer and bake it for a few minutes until sugar melts.
Filling 1:
Heat 120ml milk and 150g sugar until they boil and use this to steam 150g butter and 150g ground walnuts and beat everything thoroughly. Coat the crust with a third of the filling in a thin layer, keep the remaining filling and put everything in the fridge and let it cool down.
Layer 2:
Heat 120ml milk and 150g sugar until they boil and use this to steam 150g butter and 150g ground walnuts and beat everything thoroughly. Add 2 small jars of apricot spread with honey, chopped dried apricots, goji berries, and spices. Coat the cake with this filling and spread the rest of the first walnut filling over it.
Sprinkle the cake with ground walnuts and let it cool down and thicken well before you serve it.

We reached the very end of our holiday edition. We hope you’ll decide to try some of these tasty recipes but mostly we hope that you’ll enjoy all wonderful flavours, smells, colours, and aromas of a good home-made bite in the company of your nearest and dearest.

We wish you a lot of joy and happiness! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

While enquiring about the famous “Kurtovska kapija”, our favourite pepper for ajvar, we´ve met Verica Zivkovic, whose family has been nourishing and cultivating “Kurtovska kapija” for generations. The seeds for this old, traditional, domestic variety, Verica has inherited from her grandmother, and she can`t even remember whether they have ever actually been without the pepper, for her family´s been cultivating it for so long.
We have talked to Verica at Kalenic market in Belgrade, where for the past twenty two years she has a stand, and there one of the most beautiful peppers, “Kurtovska kapija”, a delight for her long-standing, satisfied customers, all lovers of good pepper and home-made ajvar.
“I have to do what I love, I couldn`t do anything else”, said Verica, and although she is a trade school graduate, she has nevertheless chosen to continue her family tradition of cultivating and selling peppers on the market. And that passion is obvious at first sight. Although the moments without a crowd over her stand are very rare, everybody`s in good mood and is waiting patiently for Verica to choose the best pieces of pepper. And for Verica, nothing is difficult. “What keeps me the most is that interaction with the people who always come back once they have tried my pepper or ajvar.” tells us Verica while looking for her phone to show us the numerous massages from those delighted people, and continues with a smile: “So, once a woman came to buy pepper from me, and said like: “You know, if I haven`t tried this pepper at my mother-in-law`s, I would have never ever thrown a glance on it”.”

Indeed, “Kurtovska kapija”, which seeds Verica keeps for her next year planting, looks modest in comparison to other species of pepper. Along with “Kurtovska kapija”, Verica has domestic “silja”, tiny “moravka”, dark red, hot pepper called “vezenka” or “puckava”, and many other varieties, and yet, as she emphasizes, “Kurtovska kapija” is far the best. In Verica’s interview, we are given a secret why this pepper is so popular, and also why it is the most favourite one for ajvar.
P. What is so special about “Kurtovska kapija”?
Verica: “It`s not about the size, but the composition of the pepper.”Kurtovska kapija” has small amount of water, thin skin and is easy to peel off. It is irreplaceable for making ajvar, but is also great to be eaten raw or to be used in cooked dishes.”
P. How can we recognize the real “Kurtovska kapija”?
Verica: “It is recognizable for thin pedicel, and her colour is somehow darker, might be even dark purple.”Kurtovska kapija” is mostly heart-shaped, and not bigger than a female palm. Of course, not all of them are the same, there are many curved ones, or those three-sided, but most of them are flat and heart-shaped.”

P. What is the best season for “Kurtovska kapija”?
Verica: “It needs a little longer to ripen. It is harvested when completely red, it begins to ripen at the end of August, and the best pepper is harvested three to four times per season. It could be found even later, but the best one for ajvar is the one which ripens between September 10 and 15.”
P. How to cultivate “Kurtovska kapija”, is it hard to cultivate it?
Verica: “It is not hard if you live your life with it. It needs regular watering, every third day. And sun. It is a gentle variety which can´t stand too much rain.”
P. Has anything changed nowadays in the way we treat this pepper, comparing to past?
Verica: “Not that much, the process is the same. It used to be criss-crossed planted into the beds, due to watering from the well, and now it’s planted in rows, and watered by “drop by drop” system. Even though we are still using machines, we continue walking through it, digging the soil, thus helping the peppers to grow. ”
. . . .
Verica makes ajvar every year, and of course, that ajvar is the one made only with pepper, oil, salt and vinegar. Ajvar is made according to family recipe, the one traditionally passed down from mother to daughters. Today, Verica has a help of her daughters for making ajvar, and the whole process takes two days.

Verica: “I make ajvar only with pepper. I wash each pepper by hand, dry it, and then roast on a wood cooker. The same afternoon the pepper is being peeled off, and that peeling can last up to late at night. Then, the peppers must rest overnight to let the water from them leak. The next day, peppers are chopped into tiny pieces, so the pepper is visible through ajvar, and that is, of course, done by hand, with a knife. Ajvar is then to be stewed for at least five hours at law heat, so it can gain the proper density and colour. At the middle of stewing, we taste our ajvar, to see if we have to add some ingredients or not. It is always better to begin with less oil, salt and vinegar, and add them later if needed.”
P. Do You have some special advise for making ajvar?
Verica: “I roast peppers after I clean them from seeds and pedicels. That way it is easier to peel them off, and I am also sure that not even one seed will be found in ajvar. Also, after roasting, peppers shouldn´t be washed with water, because while sitting overnight, much of their deliciousness would be gone along with the water.”
P. What is the most important thing for making a good ajvar?
Verica: “Pepper comes first. You have to have a good material. No matter what the proportion of the ingredients is, or how long you stew it, ajvar will come out that good as the pepper you have chosen. That`s why I believe my customers when they say that “Granny`s secret” ajvar is the best kind of ajvar that can be bought at stores. It is all about ingredients, not only for ajvar, but for every recipe. And when you have good pepper, it is important to stew it at low heat for a very long time.
P. How do you like to eat ajvar? Do You have any special recipe with ajvar?
Verica: “I use it in salt cakes, rolls, pizza, dishes with potato, but mostly, right out of the jar with homemade hot bread and some cheese. Is there anything better than that?”
P. We completely agree that there is nothing better then homemade bread and ajvar. What would You say, what is so special about ajvar?
Verica. You know, it is said that ajvar is a great gentleman. It´s because of the huge amount of time and energy you use while preparing this special dish. That`s why ajvar is so delicious.”

We have started our kitchen preparation for long and hot days that definitely demand less cooking, and more enjoyment in the form of refreshing snacks to go. Whether we go for a trip, to the beach, or an improvised picnic at an office desk, when we think about food to go, it’s important to us that it is made with ingredients that will keep the freshness and good taste for a long time, and of course prepared and packed simply, easily and quickly.

As a food with a rather compact texture, genuine home-made ajvar is extremely handy for take away. As it has just a few calories, it’s also our favorite during summer when we don’t want to overload our body with food. Nevertheless, its greatest trump card is a specific taste turning apparently ordinary, fresh, seasonal food into a real feast for all senses.

To begin with, we’d like to recommend that you try one of our trump cards, veggie burgers. Being increasingly popular all over the world, veggiee burgers are a light and highly nutritious meal, ideal for hot days. We prepared them in two ways. Burgers with beans and lentils with ajvar and mushroom burger with ajvar have definitely assured us that burgers don’t have to be exclusively meat-based in order to make us enjoy a delicious snack. The base of our veggie burgers is made up of different legumes, cereals, almonds and spices, to which we have added ajvar to emphasize all these wonderful tastes and make them particularly succulent. Ready in about twenty minutes, packed with fresh salads and vegetables and served with crunchy sweet potatoes, these colorful tiny packages, we can confirm, induce a widespread ovation and quickly gather loads of people. It’s up to you to make a little effort and ensure you have them prepared in sufficient quantity!

Sandwiches sound like the obvious food for on the go, and with properly chosen and combined ingredients that finely rest between two slices of bread, they can be a well-balanced, complete meal. And delicious, of course, but it somehow, for us, that goes without saying. Here we tried to break our sandwich routine, so we’ve prepared them in several new, refreshing ways, just as inspiration. Feel free to explore further and play with different tastes.

Chickpea and ajvar sandwich with olive oil is in fact a real gastronomic pleasure taking only about ten minutes to prepare. The secret of this seemingly ordinary sandwich lies in the combination of ingredients and the way of preparation making cooked chickpeas irresistibly crunchy and aromatic, and red onion sweet-sour-salty caramelized rings. And for all those moments when we just don’t feel like turning the stove on, just for the record, this sandwich is also super tasty if you simply arrange cooked chickpeas together with other ingredients between two slices of bread.

Ajvar and avocado and basil spread sandwich filled our kitchen even during the preparation with fresh, citrus scent of lime and intense scent of basil. As for avocado and ajvar, we have already confirmed so many times that they are a fantastic duo, so you should try them together, if you haven’t done it yet. Avocado spread, recipe for which we give you here, you can make in batches and store in the fridge in a glass container.

If you were wondering if ajvar can be combined with fish, we’ve tried that and can say that yes, it definitely can be paired with fish! Of course, it’s best to try it for yourself, and we recommend salmon and ajvar sandwiches with olive oil. With a little arrangement and some fine pastry, you can easily convert this combination into an elegant canapé for evening gatherings.

Aromatic cheese, ajvar and crispy green vegetables sandwich is already a classic, so we’ve enriched it with fresh, scented spices. We used basil and oregano, and you can make your favorite combination of this sandwich.

In addition to new recipes, in our section Recipes there are many more suggestions perfectly convenient to pack and to go, such as aromatic ajvar salad, grilled eggplant with ajvar, colorful vegetable bowls or lent pastries and many others that we invite you to explore, try and adjust to your taste. Most important of all, we invite you to have a good time in the kitchen and enjoy summer days to the fullest!

In this article we introduce you to five new recipes for some of the famous Mediterranean snack dishes you can now prepare even faster and more easily. Of course with our genuine homemade ajvar.
The main features of Mediterranean cuisine are simple dishes made with just a few ingredients. Their richness of taste comes from mandatorily fresh, finest vegetables and foods grown in a natural way under the hot Mediterranean sun. Well known as one of the most delicious and healthiest kitchens, not only because of how and with which ingredients food is prepared along the Mediterranean coast, but also the way in which it is enjoyed. This is most often in a large and joyful group of friends gathered around a number of large and small full of colorful, fresh delicacies with a long and vibrant conversation that often ends up in song and even dance.

If in reading this you already thought to yourself that ajvar and Mediterranean cuisine are more similar than one would’ve thought at first glance, let us ask you this: did you know that the main ingredient of some of the most popular Mediterranean spreads is none other than the red roasted pepper? Just like in our genuine homemade ajvar. And our ajvar with olive oil is an ideal, light, quick and irresistibly delicious substitute for roasted peppers in these Mediterranean snack spreads that simply invite you to share them with pleasure and leisurely with the dear people this summer.

HTIPITI, TYROKAVTERI OR GREEK SPREAD WITH ROASTED PEPPERS AND FETA CHEESE

Refreshing creamy spread or dip, depending on what kind of texture you prefer. Perfect for some hot pie bread to finish in it or maybe some crispy fresh or roasted vegetables.

Recipe
Creamily whip 500g of feta cheese and 100g of cream cheese, add 5 tablespoons of ajvar with olive oil, juice of one lemon, salt and pepper. If you like, you can add a crushed clove of garlic, a few dried tomatoes or some chili peppers sauce, and if you want to make a dip, add 150ml of Greek yoghurt.

ROMESKO DIP, SPAIN

Although originally from Italy, as its name suggests, Romesko is an essential part of famous Spanish tapas. The rich sauce of spicy sweet smoked aromas with visible pieces of roasted peppers and other ingredients, it goes perfectly with fresh or grilled vegetables, olives, cheese, meat, in fact, on second thought, it’s astonishing in every combination.

Recipe
In a food processor, in pulse mode, chop 100 g of baked almonds, 100 g of baked hazelnuts, 1 clove of garlic, 70 g of tomato purée, 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley, dried chili peppers to taste, 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and pepper to taste.

MUHAMARA, EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

This traditional baked peppers and walnuts spread is popular throughout eastern Mediterranean. Masters of cuisine say that, although it can be made in the blender, for the best results, peppers need to be finely chopped and crushed together with walnuts in a mortar with pestle. Unless you have the main trump card for this recipe – already chopped peppers spiced with the finest olive from the jar of genuine homemade ajvar.

Recipe
Mix 50 grams of finely chopped or ground walnuts with 3-4 tablespoons of ajvar with olive oil. Add 50 grams of bread crumbs, half a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of pomegranate molasses, a pinch of caraway, a pinch of crushed dried chili peppers and salt to taste. Combine well and serve sprinkled with olive oil and pomegranate seeds.

HUMMUS, EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

Since we’re already on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, we must try hummus, agreed? The famous chickpeas and sesame paste spread is made in many varieties of flavor, and one of them that we especially love is the one with baked red peppers. Or, in our case, ajvar with olive oil for humus work is ready in no time at all.

Recipe
In the processor, thoroughly grind 150g of cooked chickpeas or those from the can. Add 2-3 tablespoons of tahini, 1-2 teaspoons of dried sweet or chili peppers to taste and a couple of teaspoons of water, as needed. Chop everything thoroughly into a creamy mixture, mix 4 full tablespoons of ajvar with olive oil, and combine well. Serve hummus topped with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkled with finely chopped parsley or fresh mint.

ROASTED PEPPERS AND WHITE BEANS SPREAD, WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN

Fantastically light and almost foamy, this spread or dip is another true representative of Mediterranean cuisine in which legumes are an indispensable ingredient. Serve it with meat, vegetables, risotto, pasta or simply spread it on a slice of fresh bread, it’s wonderful anyway.
Recipe
In the processor, chop 200 g of white beans, or use canned beans, with a fist of fresh basil, a large clove of garlic, a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and 3 to 4 tablespoons of ajvar with olive oil. Mix everything thoroughly into a uniform paste; add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste and serve with chopped parsley or a few leaves of fresh basil.

AJVAR WITH OLIVE OIL

And there’s of course our main star for all gatherings and hanging outs with friends when we want to have some irresistible summer bites! Ajvar with the finest roasted peppers made according to the homemade production method, enriched with the tastes of cold-fried extra virgin olive oil, a little vinegar and a pinch of Himalayan salt.

With such soft, full and fresh taste given to carefully prepared peppers just by olive oil, our ajvar proved to be an extraordinary ingredient not only in local cuisine but in Mediterranean one, as well. And more than a practical assistant, too! Instead of baking, peeling, squeezing and chopping peppers for one of our Mediterranean spreads, we’ve simply opened a jar of our ajvar with olive oil.

In addition to Mediterranean spreads, we recommend that you try it as an ingredient in juicy burger, light, stunningly fragrant quiche, any of aromatic sandwiches or simply serve it with fresh ciabatta, chilled salad and olives, as a favorite summer spread for everyone.

What could a tropical fruit and home-made ajvar possibly have in common? Although they originate from distant continents and it seems at first sight that they aren’t related in any way, avocados and ajvar brought together in a single bite make an absolutely irresistible combination. Mildly creamy flavour of a fresh avocado helps perfectly accentuate rich, lightly smoked, and sweet taste of authentic home-made ajvar. In fact, we were so fascinated by this combination of flavours that we continued to experiment through our recipes with numerous gastronomic options that avocado and ajvar can jointly offer. All this in order to enjoy fine, home cuisine, of course.
Before we move on to gastronomy, we’d like to share some information and advice on avocado:

Healthy fast food brought to you by nature

Avocados, which originally come from Central America, took the world by storm owing to both their full, creamy, and mild flavour, which adjusts equally well to various savoury and sweet dishes, and to their nutritional values. Avocados are an extremely nutritionally rich food. They’re a great source of good fats, vitamin E, soluble fibres, and they also contain numerous valuable minerals, such as iron, copper, and potassium, as well as vitamin B, and folic acid. Although good, the fats are present in high concentration, which is why avocados are pretty high in calories, around 160 cal per 100 g of fruit, so all those who are watching their figure are advised to be careful with the intake.

There are more than 500 types of avocado in the world

It is said that there are more than five hundred types of avocado in the world, which actually belongs to the fruit family or, more precisely, berries. So, this gigantic green berry contains only one, also gigantic, pit, which can be used to grow an avocado plant with little effort and even in indoor conditions. Nevertheless, we stick to buying previously cultivated fruits, of which you can usually find two types in our region: Fuerte avocado, which is shaped like a pear and whose skin is smooth and bright green, and Hass avocado with thicker, bumpy skin, whose fruit is somewhat softer and creamier, and therefore perfect for making avocado sauces and spreads.

How to choose the best avocado?

An avocado should always be fully ripe, not more or less than it’s supposed to be, and we are sure that we’re not the only ones who were so many times yearningly waiting for that avocado moment when you can finally cut the fruit. This is because an avocado doesn’t get fully ripe on the tree, but only after it’s picked, which is why in a shop you can rarely find an avocado that can be eaten right away.
As an avocado gets riper, the colour of its skin gets darker, but this can vary according to the type, so the best way to choose one is by touching it. Place an avocado on your palm, and using your palm, rather than your fingers, press it gently. A ripe avocado which can be used right away should be slightly soft, and never too much soft. An avocado which is at this stage of ripeness should be eaten in no more than a day or two.

How to store an avocado?

If you don’t intend to eat it straight away, we suggest that you buy an unripe avocado that should be stored at ambient temperature. In this way, your avocado will ripen in four to five days. If you want to step up the ripening process, put the avocado in a paper bag together with a banana or an apple, close the bag, and wait for a day or two. However, if you want to slow the process, keep the avocado in the fridge. A perfectly ripe fruit has a uniform bright green soft flesh, which can be separated from the skin by simply using a spoon.

Avocado preparation

And we’re slowly getting closer to find out all the similarities between our fine, home-made ajvar and avocados. Although avocados are nowadays used in numerous different ways, it still remains an indispensable master of guacamole sauce. Guacamole originates from Mexico since the Aztec age, and it was originally made as a simple combination of mashed avocado and salt. Preserved by families and passed on from generation to generation, over time, the recipe was added more ingredients and new flavours of guacamole sauce were made exactly by grandmas from remote Mexico, as we like to think. So, a traditional recipe for guacamole sauce also includes onion or garlic, tomato, lime or lemon, coriander or basil, chilli peppers or small jalapeño peppers, and spices. Good guacamole requires, of course, ingredients that are fresh and of good quality, and if you make it in large quantities, keep it in a hermetically sealed container so that it doesn’t change in colour, because, when exposed to air, avocados oxidise quickly.

Avocado and ajvar

All in all, it is clear where this perfect match of avocado and ajvar comes from. The key is all those exquisite flavours of pepper which naturally goes well with a creamy avocado. Also, both avocado and ajvar form part of a long tradition, which was passed on through generations with a lot of love. Easy preparation, whose secret lies in top, fresh ingredients, and a careful process, is what these two have in common, as is the fact that, owing to their long tradition, both avocado and ajvar found their place in modern cuisines all over the world and that they enrich them with their flavours.

We tried avocado with our ajvar, pinđur, and ljutenica, and each of these combinations was spot on. We made guacamole sauce with ljutenica, our famous rainbow vegetable dishes with grilled avocados, sandwiches with ajvar and avocado and basil spread or we simply placed slices of avocado on a slice of bread spread with ajvar, added a pinch of salt and lime juice.

We encourage you to also explore these amazing flavours and make your very own combination of avocado and ajvar. And don’t be shy to share your ideas with us!

Kebabs, in one way or another seem to be part of all world cuisines that prepare juicy minced grilled meat. Nevertheless, kebabs, ajvar and other local cuisine delicacies, stand out as specialties typical of the cuisines of our region. Nobody knows exactly by whom or when they were first made, however, this information isn’t important.. The glory and universal acceptance of kebabs, ajvar, as well as kaymak and proja, for example, was spread by these foods themselves, via their irresistible tastes.

The secret of the famous tastes of all these dishes is hidden in simple local ingredients prepared in a special way. Because what is well known to any experienced gastronomic traveler who goes on a voyage through tastes and smells of world cuisines, is that the most popular specialties each such cuisine is especially proud of usually come from a mother’s or grandmother’s stove. All those dishes we love and remember today were made with just a few, exclusively fresh, the best of foods these women could find,

Such foods have always been gathering, connecting, warming and embracing people through their taste, but also by smells, colors, the way they’re served. They would often move from mother’s and grandma’s kitchen to the streets where they’d become an inseparable piece of social life, the one in which all those well-known scents and tastes can be easily taken through. It’s therefore no wonder that exactly such dishes have got their place among the top gastronomic specialties worldwide. One can find them on the menu of fancy restaurants, fast food restaurants or family lunches. People talk, write and sing about them. They are affectionately named “comfort food” and “soul food”. No matter how far we wander looking for new exciting tastes, again and again – we come back to them.

Kebabs

By the twentieth century and the invention of the meat grinding machine, the meat for kebabs was finely chopped most often using a cleaver, on a wooden log specially prepared for that occasion. Many connoisseurs will say that even today, if prepared this way, kebabs retain their special, juicy taste compared to those made of minced meat. Gastronomes further say that original kebabs are made of pure beef, a bit more greasy and left to rest for a little, although mixing with mutton is also allowed, as well as being exclusively grilled. But we don’t intend to go into the best recipe for kebabs, because even though they are made from only a few ingredients, there are so many recipes for this specialty that we can’t list them all. What is far more attractive to us when kebabs are concerned is their taste that goes so far beyond the other meat specialties, at least in our humble opinion. “Cevapi” or as they are affectionately called – “cevapcici” are most delicious when traditionally served with pita, finely chopped onions, kaymak and ajvar, while they’ve been recently more and more often found combined with mayonnaise, sour cream or tzatziki. No matter which way you try them – and we do strongly recommend that you start from the traditional version – you’ll see why they’ve got the status of the legendary dish of the Balkan cuisine.

This juicy meat bite is baked in its own juices on the scented charcoal fire; it’s a meal for all occasions. Kebabs are also a light snack between meals tasted easily at a table during a conversation; warm fast food in pita soaked with flavors and scents of the grill; a boldly served specialty of a modern fine dining restaurant; mandatory sizzling snack at summer picnics, home celebrations, parties and receptions. Nothing can spoil them so, being so unbelievably adaptable, they rule all those menus precisely because of their unique, unforgettable taste that has brought them far beyond the borders of the Balkans, and because of which even foreigners are willing to try the tongue twister “cevapcicem ces me, cevapcicem cu te”.

Kaymak(Kajmak)

Different variations of this dairy specialty are made in the countries of the Middle East, Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Mongolia, the countries of the former Soviet Union, and in England the product is similar to our young kaymak, called Devonshire cream. Still, we’re always a bit caught by surprise when we’re supposed to describe the taste of kaymak to someone who’s never tried it.

It’s not cream but it’s creamy, it’s neither sour cream nor butter but is made from the fat separated from milk. It can be salty but also sweet. In fact, history says that it was created as a candy and served with honey, as it’s traditionally eaten for breakfast in Turkey nowadays. It has a whole range of tastes – from light and gentle to the one just properly sharp, slightly too curdled. In fact, we aren’t at all sure that we can accurately explain the taste of kaymak in plain words. Kaymak is simply kaymak. It works just as well as a side dish, salad or a main dish. What we know for sure is it goes perfectly with ajvar and hot pita or fine pastry

Proja

The original, traditional proja is made with only four ingredients: white or yellow corn flour, but definitely a coarse one, milled between two rocks in a mill; a pinch of salt, lard and hot water. Poured into a baking pan, it’s baked until it gets that beautiful golden yellow color. Proja prepared this way is thin, crispy and irresistibly delicious.

As the true product of the national cuisine, proja was and still is an extremely important dish. For a long time it represented the basis of nutrition in these areas, it was used as a cheap substitute for bread or even a whole meal. We used to abandon it in periods of abundance and return to it in the years of scarcity, until we recognized in it the thing that had brought the Italian “cucina povera” or “folk cuisine” to the very top of the world’s gastronomy: a piece of warm, delicious proja carries in it much more than is needed to satisfy one’s hunger. All those fragrances and tastes are involved, the memories of warm and familiar places, pictures of massive black stoves and hard-working hands, dining tables gathering the whole family.
That’s how proja took the honorary culinary place it deserves, after having fed us for centuries. In the meantime, many of its varieties a bit richer with ingredients, called “projanice” or “projare“, were created, but only one of them, the one from the beginning of the story, is named proja.

Ajvar

At the very end of this gastronomic journey through tastes that our souls, the icing on the cake if you will, we’ll speak about ajvar, of course. A unique local delicacy celebrating the cuisine of our mothers and grandmothers. For before it was conceived in Belgrade’s taverns as “Serbian caviar” at the end of the 19th century, the story says it had been long cooked on stoves of housewives throughout the Balkans. Made with only four ingredients – baked red peppers, salt, oil and vinegar – at first glance, one may consider ajvar to be an ordinary pepper spread. But it’s enough to try it just once to convince you of just the opposite.
A luxurious, full-flavored and delicate, almost creamy texture, inspires every gastronomic traveler to search for all of its mildly smoky, sweet-sour, rich aromas and nuances. As a spread or dip, salad and side dish, ingredient and whole meal, ajvar highlights and completes other tastes without losing any of its aromas. It goes phenomenally with kebabs, kaymak, proja as well as with eggs and cheese; in fact, there’s almost no food ajvar doesn’t pair well with.

The secret of this timeless ajvar flavor lies in the process of preparation and, you guessed it – freshness of the finest ingredients. As every master of ajvar knows very well, behind each jar there is the entire ajvar preparation ritual. There’s a selection of the best peppers, which have to be fleshy and dry, grown especially for ajvar, so they’re usually flattened so that they can be evenly heated and peeled as easy as possible. Baking on the stove with glowing charcoal below follows. After that, peeling and seeding peppers, squeezing, chopping, and then cooking for a long time on low heat, with constant mixing and finally – careful pouring into prepared jars and gradual cooling.

So the whole process of preparing ajvar takes a few days. During that time, from well-known stoves and huge pots intended exclusively for the preparation of ajvar, all those well-known flavors are spread wide, undoubtedly proving to any gastro-traveler that they have finally arrived home, no matter the latitude or the longitude.

Nikola Jankovic, a development engineer at Bakina Tajna, reveals how factory-made ajvar may be called homemade at all, whether it’s a marketing trick or a truth, what the entire production process of Bakina Tajna’s ajvar looks like and what makes it so special.

Ajvar is one of those specialties cooked exclusively in family kitchens for ages, and this tradition has been retained in many households to date. Not without reason. If you ask fans which ajvar is the best, they will say to you at once – homemade, mom or grandma’s one. Indeed, it is just ajvar made according to the traditional recipe also implying dedicate and long preparation that has this characteristic, irresistible taste, smell, flavor and texture that we all love so much. It is therefore not unusual for the controversy to arise as to how ajvar coming from the factory man can be called homemade.

Luckily for all of us, from the sovereign rule of grandma’s kitchen ajvar has in the meantime moved to shelves in stores. So all of us who do not have enough time or possibilities to cook it at home or just want to supplement annual stock of these delicious jars now have the opportunity to enjoy the unique taste of our favorite ajvar. Of course, provided that ajvar from the store fits completely with its taste, smell, flavor and texture with the homemade ajvar, the one from grandma’s kitchen. Because genuine ajvar fans know very well how to distinguish the diverse offer of ajvar from the store. This is precisely why the production of large quantities of ajvar in factory conditions that would preserve all the characteristics of the homemade one was a great, but not an impossible challenge, as explained to us at Bakina Tajna.

How is it that the factory-produced ajvar may be called homemade at all?

Producing genuine homemade ajvar, with taste, structure and aroma we remember from grandma’s kitchen, was a great challenge. Nevertheless, with the traditional recipe and the highest quality ingredients, as well as with the help of hi-tech solutions, we managed to pass these well-known childhood tastes to factory-produced ajvar.

What is the difference between Bakina Tajna ajvar and the one made at home?

The difference is in cooking conditions. At Bakina Tajna, we strictly control the conditions during production, and every stage of the process is paid a great attention. All of our kinds of ajvar are cooked slowly, at moderate temperatures and in vacuum conditions, in order to fully preserve aromas and nutrients, and obtain a superior-quality product. At home, for example, ajvar is cooked in an open pot, which may result in loss of aroma and nutrients.

How does the process of making a jar of ajvar look like?

For every kilogram of ajvar, we need 4 kilograms of the best red pepper, and we use the best local variety grown especially for ajvar. Peppers go through all stages of processing, as at home: washing, grilling, cleaning, cooking, packaging, pasteurization, with all stages of the process being strictly controlled.

What is the most important thing for quality ajvar?

First of all, the best variety of red peppers, known as “Kurtovska Kapija”. After careful selection, peppers are baked to get a recognizable smoke flavor and prepare for further processing. It is very important that peppers are well-cleaned from burnt parts and seeds before cooking. The next important item is the recipe inherited from our grandmas.

What gets the greatest attention during the production and why?

We pay the greatest attention primarily to the selection of raw materials and to the proper management of all processes, and, last but not least, to safety. In this way, we can offer all ajvar fans a natural, tasty and safe product.
Is it important whether peppers are chopped or milled for ajvar, grilled or treated in some way, for example, baked in the oven; and to which extent?
It is very important that peppers are partly chopped, and partly milled, in order to achieve the best ratio and develop all the richness of taste. These visible pepper pieces are the favorite of the buyers of our ajvar, and they are the ones that distinguish us from the other varieties of ajvar on the market. When it comes to baking the pepper, we prefer grilling because in this way the best taste of the ajvar is achieved.

What can we do at home to make ajvar we cooked ourselves last longer and not get spoiled once we open the jar?

After opening, it is important to keep the contents of the jar from contamination. For example, don’t let crumbs of bread or cheese, or water into the jar, use only dry and clean kitchen utensils.
Of course, the best way to make sure Bakina Tajna ajvar has just the right and well-known aroma of home-made ajvar is to taste it. As a side dish or an ingredient to a delicious meal, or simply, as we prefer more often, with a piece of fine home-made bread for complete enjoyment.

Nikola Jankovic is a graduate engineer of food technology employed at Bakina Tajna as a Development Engineer. Having a persistent desire for improvement and innovation, continuous learning process, aspiration to find the best quality product, Nikola is the person we can rely on when it comes to the process of development of our products.

We welcomed spring days with excitement and with them a handful of beautiful young, colorful and especially delicious vegetables that have inspired us to cook, as well as some new recipes that we bring here.

Our various kinds of ajvar have assisted fresh seasonal foods in highlighting on all these wonderful tastes of dishes which may be either a complete daily meal, or part of the holiday Easter table, whatever you choose.

Let’s start with one of the most famous classics of French cuisine, which has quickly become extremely popular all over the world due to its good taste and easy preparation. Quiche with baby vegetables, almonds and ajvar with its juicy flavor and seductive odor has thus occupied a central place on our spring table.

Another colorful pastry bite we recommend this spring is stuffed pastries made of ajvar, ajvar with tomato or ajvar with tomato and chili we made in several different flavors so everyone can choose their favorite pastry bundle. We made them with laminated dough but you can make them with any type of dough you like. This spring pastry is a great idea for all those occasions when we need a quick, delicious dish of effective appearance or for all those situations when there are food surpluses out of holiday menus.

Since it’s good for all of us to please our body with a more natural, complete diet based on powerful vegetables, cereals, legumes, nuts and seeds especially in the spring, here are some proposals for our spring bowls which together with ajvar, ajvar with tomato or ajvar with tomato and chili make a complete and nutritious meal. They are cooked quickly and easily, and may be simply packed for lunch outside your home. We’ve prepared them here as an inspiration in two different forms, and we let you continue to play with flavors, scents and colors.

For all meat lovers, there are also delicious bundles of delicate and fragrant rolled turkey flavored by the enticing taste of smoked pancetta and rich ajvar aroma. Served with a mix of fresh crispy green salads or baby vegetables, this juicy turkey fillet with ajvar is a great idea for lunch or dinner, even for the finest gourmet palate.

To make use of the season of zucchini, we have prepared a <a “https://www.ajvar.com/en/recipe/light-risotto-zucchini-ajvar-with-tomato-chili/”>creamy risotto with gentle zucchini and ajvar with tomato and chili. Light and easy to prepare, this meal is rich in good nutrients and flavors, and it’s done in no time at all whenever you desire warm lunch or dinner. On this occasion we used the Indian “scenty” basmati rice which is prepared very quickly and is one of the lightest rice varieties that goes perfectly with the rich aroma of ajvar with tomato and chili.

Another genuine springtime vegetable, baby asparagus, is becoming more and more popular in recent years in our country, too. They can be prepared in different ways, and we prefer simple grilled asparagus with ajvar. All they need is a just little bit of coarse sea salt and lemon juice, which especially highlights their juicy taste. Baby asparagus is very easy to prepare. They are baked fast and ready in no time. Serve them as light lunch, dinner or a side dish with meat or baked vegetables. In addition to grilled asparagus, we served ajvar as a sauce that has perfectly complemented the juicy taste of baby green asparagus.

We hope that this time either you’ll find some ideas and inspiration in our kitchen for some new meals bringing a smile to your face. All these recipes are made simply, easily and quickly, so we can spend as little time as possible in the kitchen; and many of them are also convenient to take, so besides good food we can take pleasure in the long-awaited sun and days spent in the fresh air.

We wish you joyful cooking and a lot of enjoyment in delicious aromas and ajvar!