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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

40 recipes
Photograph Recipe Course Contributor Time Ingredients
It’s Friday — tavče gravče day! It’s Friday — tavče gravče day! The national dish: Tetovo beans, a great deal of paprika, and an earthenware pan. It is fasting food by nature, which is why it is on every... Main course Fasting Туѓино Јабано 2 hr 50 min 10
Master, a ten — with onion! Master, a ten — with onion! Kebapi from two meats, minced at home and worked by hand — the way a grill cook who knows his trade makes them. Main course Туѓино Јабано 45 min 7
Sarma Sarma Sarma made rich with bacon on top, but with instructions for the fasting version too — walnuts in place of the meat. Main course Весна Огњанова 1 hr 50 min 8
Musaka with minced meat Musaka with minced meat Layers of thinly sliced potato and minced meat under a set custard of egg and yoghurt. Main course Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 35 min 11
Pastrmajlija (Štip meat bread) Pastrmajlija (Štip meat bread) Štip's oval bread, baked under cubes of marinated pork and finished with an egg broken over the top. Main course Туѓино Јабано 3 hr 12
Stuffed peppers Stuffed peppers Sweet peppers filled with minced meat and rice, baked slowly in a light tomato sauce. Main course Туѓино Јабано 2 hr 15 min 12
Selsko meso Selsko meso Pork with mushrooms and kashkaval baked in an earthenware dish — the thing every Macedonian tavern is remembered for. Main course Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 40 min 10
Turli tava (fasting) Turli tava (fasting) Mixed summer vegetables baked slowly in an earthenware dish; the name is the Turkish *turli*, meaning mixed. Main course Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 40 min 12
Chicken gjuveč Chicken gjuveč Chicken and rice baked together with summer vegetables in a single dish, without a single stir. Main course Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 45 min 12
Kompir mandža Kompir mandža Potatoes braised in onion and paprika — the plainest of the fasting dishes and the one most often cooked through Lent. Main course Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 10
Stuffed Ohrid trout Stuffed Ohrid trout Lake trout stuffed with spinach, cheese and soured cream — a special-occasion dish from Ohrid and Struga. Main course Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 10 min 11
Anyone fasting? Come and have fish gjuveč! Anyone fasting? Come and have fish gjuveč! River fish under an enormous quantity of onion, cooked until the onion disappears into the sauce entirely. Fasting food, written for the fas... Main course Fasting Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 30 min 13
Podvarok Podvarok Sauerkraut baked slowly with pork ribs and smoked meat — a winter dish that asks for nothing but patience. Main course Туѓино Јабано 2 hr 25 min 9
Kjoftinja (meatballs) Kjoftinja (meatballs) Fried minced-meat patties, the ordinary weeknight supper in most Macedonian households, eaten with bread and salad. Main course Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 40 min 15
Pleskavica Pleskavica A flat grilled meat patty eaten across the Balkans; the Macedonian favourite is stuffed with kashkaval. Main course Туѓино Јабано 4 hr 32 min 14
Vegetarian musaka Vegetarian musaka Musaka without meat, where mushrooms take on the job of the mince. It is not fasting food — the sour cream and yolks see to that. Main course Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 15 min 9
Mixed grill Mixed grill A grill plate of kebapi, pleskavica and pork, shared across the Balkans and ordered for the whole table. Main course Туѓино Јабано 5 hr 5 min 13
Chicken pan Chicken pan Layers of poached chicken, mushrooms and kashkaval in an earthenware pan. It looks involved at first glance, but it is only stacking. Main course Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 45 min 12
Roast veal Roast veal A whole piece of veal with potatoes, celery and rosemary, roasted slowly for two and a half hours with butter and red wine. Main course Гордана Мишковска-Колева 2 hr 55 min 13
Ražnjići (skewers) Ražnjići (skewers) Cubes of pork threaded onto short skewers and grilled over coals, the simplest thing on any grill. Main course Туѓино Јабано 2 hr 45 min 12
Stuffed courgettes Stuffed courgettes Courgettes hollowed out, filled with minced meat and rice, and baked in their own tomato sauce. Main course Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 50 min 14
Shketo with lamb Shketo with lamb Lamb braised in a great deal of onion and parsley, thickened with a spoonful of flour at the end. A spring dish. Main course Марија Дика 1 hr 15 min 9
Vine leaf sarma Vine leaf sarma The summer sarma: small tight rolls in vine leaves, sharpened with lemon instead of soured cabbage. Main course Туѓино Јабано 2 hr 11
Pork with cabbage Pork with cabbage Fresh cabbage braised with pork and paprika — the milder, quicker relative of podvarok. Main course Туѓино Јабано 1 hr 50 min 9

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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.

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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.