Welcome to Sarajevo

I was in Bosnia in 1998 to shoot series of reports on U.S. troops, three years after security forces entered the country. The military, under terms of the the Dayton Accords, were scheduled to begin withdrawl in July of that year, but their stay was ultimately extended.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the countries that make up what is known as the Balkans, is a beautiful country, with rolling hills and tile roofed buildings. Although the three years of intense war, between 1992 and 1995, ravaged the countryside, the cities and the people, the people were warm, inviting and most of all, glad for the presence of NATO forces. Although the threat of overt violence had been largley stemmed when I was there, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina lived with the daily threat of death and dismemberment because of the hundreds of thousands of undetonated and undocumented land mines.





According to the Electronic Mine Information Network, there are still "1,631 identified communities’ impacted by mines and/or unexploded ordnance. These threats directly affect the safety of approximately 921,513 people, out of whom 154,538 live in high-impact communities, 342,550 in medium-impact communities and 424,425 in low-impact communities." If you would like to learn more about mine action around the world, go to the Electronic Mine Information Network.

To see the reports that came out of that trip, click on the clips below.

During the times when I wasn't shooting, we were able to get out into the surrounding communities and I was able to sample some of the local fare. One day, in Tuzla, we stopped at a little cafe and had a dish called cevapi (pronounced cheh-vah-pee). Actually, what we had was a sandwich; but, oh, what a sandwich. The Food Network has a show called The Best Thing I Ever Ate, and one of the recent episodes was about sandwiches. If I was on that episode, I would definitely cite cevapi as one of the great things to eat between two pieces of bread.

Cevapi is a dish made of grilled minced meat, usually a combination of beef and lamb. It is considered the national dish of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro; but, it can be found (in various forms) throughout the Balkans. The word cevapi is the serbo-croatian form of the arabic word, kebab, which we all know and love. In the Balkans, cevapi is served on a kind of bread called lepinja, with sliced onions, and that's it. Simple and delicious. Here's how you can make cevapi at home.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground beef and lamb (I like to use a 50/50 mix, but let your taste be your guide)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, minced
2 tbsp mineral water
1 tbsp oil
pepper to taste
Vegeta* or salt to taste

*Vegeta is a powdered seasoning made in Croatia and used throughout the Balkans and eastern Europe. It contains salt, dehydrated vegetables, spices, sugar, cornstarch and MSG. You can get it in most supermarkets that have an international aisle, or on the web. Just look for the happy chef on the bright blue bag.

TO COOK
Mix all the ingredients by hand.

Refrigerate mixture for at least two hours, or overnight.

Wet hands with water and shape the mixture into uniform rolls about the size of breakfast sausages (you know, like Parks Sausages you find in the freezer case).

Cook the cevapi on a hot charcoal, or wood, grill for 6-10 minutes, turning frequently (oil the grate first). You can also cook these in a lightly oiled frypan, but try to use a grill, if you can.

Cevapi can be served between slices of lepinja, or on its own, with sliced onion and tomato.

I have looked, and looked, for a recipe for lepinja, with little luck. There is one recipe on the internet that you can try, but my attempts didn't match what I had in Tuzla. It may be the recipe, it may be me. But, unless you live near a serbian or balkan community, your best bet will be to use ciabatta rolls. They're pretty close to lepinja.

And what should you have to drink with your cevapi? Pivo, of course. That's serbo-croation for beer. Try this recipe in place of hamburgers some time. You won't be disappointed.

Until next time, do vidjenja, and keep eating.