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
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Tutmanik
Туѓино Јабано
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Simit
Туѓино Јабано
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Proja (cornbread)
Туѓино Јабано
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Pitulici
Туѓино Јабано
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Lepinja
Туѓино Јабано
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Spinach burek
Туѓино Јабано
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Pumpkin zelnik
Туѓино Јабано
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Somun flatbread
Туѓино Јабано
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Kruševo lokum
Туѓино Јабано
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Oshav (dried fruit compote)
Туѓино Јабано
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Green fig preserve
Туѓино Јабано
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Vanilici
Туѓино Јабано
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Kjelufki (Kruševo kisses)
Туѓино Јабано
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Tatlija
Туѓино Јабано
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Mlečnik
Туѓино Јабано
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Krem pita
Туѓино Јабано
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Palačinki
Туѓино Јабано
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Eclairs
Туѓино Јабано
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Bombici
Туѓино Јабано
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Cherry preserve
Туѓино Јабано
| Photograph | Recipe | Course | Contributor | Time | Ingredients |
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Tutmanik A yeasted bread rolled around white cheese and eaten warm for breakfast; Prilep calls it kopishmide. | Pastry & pies | Туѓино Јабано | 2 hr 15 min | 12 |
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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 |
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Proja (cornbread) A cornmeal bread baked in a tin, eaten warm with ajvar, soured milk or white cheese. | Pastry & pies | Туѓино Јабано | 50 min | 9 |
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Pitulici Rounds of yeasted dough fried in oil, eaten hot for breakfast with white cheese and soured milk. | Pastry & pies | Туѓино Јабано | 1 hr 55 min | 8 |
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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 |
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Spinach burek A coiled pastry of spinach and white cheese, bought hot from the bakery for breakfast. | Pastry & pies | Туѓино Јабано | 1 hr 10 min | 9 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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Vanilici Small lard-and-butter biscuits turned hot in vanilla icing sugar, baked in every house at Christmas. | Sweet | Туѓино Јабано | 55 min | 11 |
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Kjelufki (Kruševo kisses) Kruševo’s meringue kisses, egg white and sugar dried slowly in a low oven until crisp and still white. | Sweet | Туѓино Јабано | 55 min | 5 |
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Tatlija A tray of baked semolina dough cut into diamonds and drenched in syrup once it has cooled. | Sweet | Туѓино Јабано | 5 hr 15 min | 12 |
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Mlečnik Pastry sheets soaked in milk and eggs that set in the oven into something between a pie and a custard. | Sweet | Туѓино Јабано | 1 hr 15 min | 9 |
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Krem pita Two sheets of puff pastry with a thick layer of cooked custard between them — the cake of every Macedonian pastry shop. | Sweet | Туѓино Јабано | 1 hr 5 min | 10 |
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Palačinki Thin pancakes with jam, walnuts or chocolate — the childhood dessert everyone learns to make for themselves first. | Sweet | Туѓино Јабано | 1 hr | 9 |
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Eclairs Baked choux filled with custard and coated in chocolate — a guest cake that looks harder than it is. | Sweet | Туѓино Јабано | 1 hr 20 min | 7 |
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Bombici Balls of crushed biscuit, cocoa and dried fruit rolled in coconut — a cake that needs no oven. | Sweet | Туѓино Јабано | 40 min | 9 |
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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 |
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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
- Весна Огњанова Ajax, ON 1 recipes
- Гордана Мишковска-Колева Brampton, ON 4 recipes
- Горица Јовчевска Markham, ON 3 recipes
- Дијана Веселиновска Etobicoke, ON 7 recipes
- Донка Цапова Mississauga, ON 3 recipes
- Каролина Петковска Brampton, ON 1 recipes
- Кире Банишки Toronto, ON 1 recipes
- Марија Банишка Toronto, ON 1 recipes
- Марија Дика Toronto, ON 1 recipes
- Мими Toronto, ON 2 recipes
The original page tugjinojabano.com/cuisine.php was created by Aco Lukaroski and donated to the Canadian Macedonian Heritage Society.