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From the community’s kitchens

Macedonian Cuisine

A central collection of Macedonian recipes — begun by the home cooks of the Macedonian community in Ontario, and widened to the dishes cooked across Macedonia itself.

140 recipes

10 home cooks

48 fasting

6 courses

  • Beetroot salad Salad Fasting

    Beetroot salad

    Туѓино Јабано

    1 hr 25 min 10 ingredients

  • Potato salad Salad Fasting

    Potato salad

    Туѓино Јабано

    1 hr 5 min 10 ingredients

  • Green salad Salad Fasting

    Green salad

    Туѓино Јабано

    15 min 10 ingredients

  • Sauerkraut salad Salad Fasting

    Sauerkraut salad

    Туѓино Јабано

    10 min 7 ingredients

  • Tomato and onion salad Salad Fasting

    Tomato and onion salad

    Туѓино Јабано

    15 min 9 ingredients

  • Lentil salad Salad Fasting

    Lentil salad

    Туѓино Јабано

    50 min 11 ingredients

  • Vegetable chorba Soups & chorba Fasting

    Vegetable chorba

    Туѓино Јабано

    1 hr 14 ingredients

  • Nettle chorba Soups & chorba Fasting

    Nettle chorba

    Туѓино Јабано

    55 min 11 ingredients

  • Spinach chorba Soups & chorba Fasting

    Spinach chorba

    Туѓино Јабано

    45 min 11 ingredients

  • Potato chorba Soups & chorba Fasting

    Potato chorba

    Туѓино Јабано

    1 hr 14 ingredients

  • Pea chorba Soups & chorba Fasting

    Pea chorba

    Туѓино Јабано

    1 hr 5 min 12 ingredients

  • Fish chorba Soups & chorba Fasting

    Fish chorba

    Туѓино Јабано

    1 hr 10 min 13 ingredients

  • Susamčinja Sweet Fasting

    Susamčinja

    Горица Јовчевска

    35 min 3 ingredients

  • Mushroom chorba Soups & chorba Fasting

    Mushroom chorba

    Туѓино Јабано

    55 min 13 ingredients

  • Leek pie Pastry & pies Fasting

    Leek pie

    Туѓино Јабано

    1 hr 45 min 11 ingredients

  • Nettle pie Pastry & pies Fasting

    Nettle pie

    Туѓино Јабано

    1 hr 20 min 10 ingredients

  • Simit Pastry & pies Fasting

    Simit

    Туѓино Јабано

    2 hr 5 min 9 ingredients

  • Lepinja Pastry & pies Fasting

    Lepinja

    Туѓино Јабано

    1 hr 55 min 7 ingredients

  • Pumpkin zelnik Pastry & pies Fasting

    Pumpkin zelnik

    Туѓино Јабано

    2 hr 10 ingredients

  • Somun flatbread Pastry & pies Fasting

    Somun flatbread

    Туѓино Јабано

    1 hr 52 min 8 ingredients

  • Kruševo lokum Sweet Fasting

    Kruševo lokum

    Туѓино Јабано

    26 hr 10 min 10 ingredients

  • Oshav (dried fruit compote) Sweet Fasting

    Oshav (dried fruit compote)

    Туѓино Јабано

    12 hr 50 min 10 ingredients

  • Green fig preserve Sweet Fasting

    Green fig preserve

    Туѓино Јабано

    14 hr 5 ingredients

  • Cherry preserve Sweet Fasting

    Cherry preserve

    Туѓино Јабано

    1 hr 25 min 5 ingredients

48 recipes
Photograph Recipe Course Contributor Time Ingredients
Beetroot salad Beetroot salad Sharp, sweet beetroot salad with garlic and walnuts, eaten through the winter and during fasts. Salad Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 25 min 10
Potato salad Potato salad Plain potato and onion salad, the standard fasting-day salad, most often served with fish. Salad Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 5 min 10
Green salad Green salad The first salad of the Macedonian spring: lettuce, spring onions and whatever green has come up. Salad Fasting Туѓино Јабано 15 min 10
Sauerkraut salad Sauerkraut salad Winter salad of soured cabbage dressed with oil and red paprika, eaten from the barrel until spring. Salad Fasting Туѓино Јабано 10 min 7
Tomato and onion salad Tomato and onion salad The summer salad that stands beside the grill: ripe tomatoes, raw onion and nothing in their way. Salad Fasting Туѓино Јабано 15 min 9
Lentil salad Lentil salad A fasting-season salad of cooked lentils, dressed while still warm and eaten cold with bread. Salad Fasting Туѓино Јабано 50 min 11
Vegetable chorba Vegetable chorba A thin, sharply seasoned vegetable soup finished with a paprika roux and lemon, eaten through Lent. Soups & chorba Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 14
Nettle chorba Nettle chorba The first soup of spring, made from young nettle tops picked before the plant has flowered. Soups & chorba Fasting Туѓино Јабано 55 min 11
Spinach chorba Spinach chorba A green, brothy soup of spinach and rice, cooked all through Lent and eaten with bread. Soups & chorba Fasting Туѓино Јабано 45 min 11
Potato chorba Potato chorba A thick fasting soup of potatoes and peppers, thickened by crushing some of the potato into the broth. Soups & chorba Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 14
Pea chorba Pea chorba A summer soup of peas, carrot and potato in a light tomato broth, eaten warm with bread. Soups & chorba Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 5 min 12
Fish chorba Fish chorba A lake-fisherman's soup: the fish is poached, boned and returned to its own broth thickened with a carrot roux. Soups & chorba Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 10 min 13
Susamčinja Susamčinja Three ingredients and no baking: sesame, lokum and jelly sweets, rolled up and sliced. The shortest recipe in the archive. Sweet Fasting Горица Јовчевска 35 min 3
Mushroom chorba Mushroom chorba An autumn soup of wild mushrooms and potato, cooked when the porcini come down from the hills. Soups & chorba Fasting Туѓино Јабано 55 min 13
Leek pie Leek pie A coiled lenten pie of stewed leek and rice, made through the fasts and all winter long. Pastry & pies Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 45 min 11
Nettle pie Nettle pie A spring pie of blanched young nettles and rice, made in the weeks before the nettles flower. Pastry & pies Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 20 min 10
Simit Simit The sesame ring of the old Ottoman towns, known across Macedonia as gjevrek and eaten from the bag. Pastry & pies Fasting Туѓино Јабано 2 hr 5 min 9
Lepinja Lepinja A soft, airy bakery flatbread, split for kebapi or torn alongside beans and ajvar. Pastry & pies Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 55 min 7
Pumpkin zelnik Pumpkin zelnik A layered pumpkin pie made through the autumn and during the fasts, when eggs and butter are set aside. Pastry & pies Fasting Туѓино Јабано 2 hr 10
Somun flatbread Somun flatbread A round bakery flatbread the size of a plate, torn warm at iftar or alongside grilled meat. Pastry & pies Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 52 min 8
Kruševo lokum Kruševo lokum The starch-set sweet Kruševo has made for a century, served in cubes beside coffee at weddings and christenings. Sweet Fasting Туѓино Јабано 26 hr 10 min 10
Oshav (dried fruit compote) Oshav (dried fruit compote) Dried fruit stewed in its own soaking water, drunk through the winter and set out on the Badnik table. Sweet Fasting Туѓино Јабано 12 hr 50 min 10
Green fig preserve Green fig preserve Small green figs boiled through nine changes of water, then set in syrup and offered to guests by the spoonful. Sweet Fasting Туѓино Јабано 14 hr 5
Cherry preserve Cherry preserve Whole cherries in a clear syrup, served by the spoonful with a glass of water — the way a guest is welcomed. Sweet Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 25 min 5

Cook something that is not here?

Send us the recipe as you make it at home. We read every one.

Send us a recipe

Send us a recipe

Write it as you would tell a friend. Somebody will read it and write back before anything is published.

Used only to ask you about the recipe. It is never published and never shared.

Every recipe on this site is published in all three languages. Write yours in whichever one you cook in — we will take care of the other two.

Is it fasting food?

Fasting means no meat, no dairy and no eggs. Fish is treated as permitted.

One per line, with the quantity.

Leave a blank line between steps.

Optional. One per line, like “Ajvar — roasted red pepper paste”.

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About the collection A cookbook written by a community

At the core of this collection are 32 recipes gathered from readers of Tugjino Jabano, a newspaper of the Macedonian community in Ontario. Each was written out by the cook herself, measured in cups and spoons, the way a dish is made at home.

The collection has been widened with dishes cooked across Macedonia.

The archive recipes keep their original substance; where the instructions were too brief to follow, clarifications have been added. The untouched 2005 text is preserved in the society’s archive. The photographs on these pages are modern illustrations made for the collection — the contributors’ own photographs stay in the archive beside their words.

The Fasting mark means the recipe as written contains no meat, dairy or eggs. This collection treats fish as permitted throughout the fasting periods; for the stricter days, check the ingredients yourself.

The cooks

The original page tugjinojabano.com/cuisine.php was created by Aco Lukaroski and donated to the Canadian Macedonian Heritage Society.