How to Read a (Salad) Menu in Niš, Serbia
A Serbian kafana, or traditional restaurant, should have an interior so smoky it makes your eyes water, tables laden with platters, shot glasses full of rakija (the local brandy), and on weekends, musicians with cash sticking out of their accordion ribs. Even Serbs from other regions are forced to admit that the hedonistic, gourmand city of Niš in the southeast has the best kafane.
While meat is usually the centerpiece, it doesn’t have to be. All kafane in the predominantly Orthodox country have posno options that meet vegan fasting rules, including a lengthy list of salads.
Serbian salads are simply dressed with oil, salt, and pepper, letting the variety of vegetables shine through. Here are a few favorites (names are in Latin and Cyrillic; Serbians use both scripts).
The Favorites
If you only have time for one kafana meal, order one of these.
Šopska/Шопска
A barbecue staple, šopska salad is a mix of chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, and crumbly white cheese. Many different countries claim to have invented it, making it a nice introduction to both Serbian cuisine and Balkan culinary politics (for the record, Bulgaria’s claim is the most likely, although southern Serbia, also home to the Šops minority, has a very strong claim).
Moravska/Моравска
Šopska is a great salad, but you can order it anywhere from Zagreb to Varna. Moravska, named after Serbia’s largest river, is the better introduction to southern Serbia’s locavore cuisine. Most kafana waiters will only sell you this salad in summer, since it relies heavily on the taste of fresh chopped tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and garlic (they’ll also beg you not to order it in Belgrade, whose attempts they consider inferior).
Vitaminska/Витаминска
Vitaminska, or vitamin salad, is a mix of shredded cabbage, carrots, and other vegetables such as radishes, lettuce, or beets. The refreshing salad is a get-out-of-jail-free card for tomato haters who want to keep the limitations of their palate discreet in this tomato-crazed country.
Trljanica/Трљаница
You won’t find this on every kafana menu, but it’s my favorite. Trljanica is made by crushing dried, roasted red peppers, then mixing them with finely chopped leeks, creating an aromatic, smokey dish that is a cross between a salad and a spread. It’s one of the finest creations of the pepper-heavy cuisine of this region, where you will find salt and red pepper flakes on kafana tables rather than salt and black pepper shakers.
Winter Salads
Salad menus in Serbian kafane are seasonal, and this commitment is taken seriously by the staff: I once offended a waiter for ordering a winter salad in the summer, implying that they serve out-of-season food. Winter salads are usually pickled or preserved, with heavier, stronger flavors than summer salads.
Turšija/Туршија
Turšija is a mixture of pickled vegetables found throughout the former Ottoman Empire. In the Serbian version, roasted peppers, cauliflower stems, carrots, pickles, and green tomatoes are pickled whole or roughly chopped.
Kiseli kupus/Кисели купус
The most popular winter salad, this pickled cabbage salad is served as a giant, stinking wedge sprinkled with flakes of red pepper. Fragrant, sour, and hearty, it goes best with a shot of rakija.
Stretching the Definition of Salads
Some of the things on the salad menu seem to stretch the definition of salads—there doesn’t seem to be a vegetable in sight. Spreads, sides, whatever you want to call them: They’re delicious anyway.
Ajvar/Ајвар
Ajvar is a pantry staple throughout the Balkans, especially in the pepper-growing regions of Serbia and Macedonia. Red peppers are roasted until they reach a smokey char, then they’re cooked down into a smooth relish that pairs beautifully with flatbread or cheese. Visit Niš in early fall and you’ll catch a whiff of roasted peppers on nearly every corner.
Urnebes/урнебес
Urnebes translates to pandemonium, which accurately describes how well this spread pairs with smokey barbecue. Different restaurants have their own recipes, but usually it’s made with soft white cheese, kajmak (clotted cream), garlic, and crushed red pepper.
Albanska/Албанска
Albanska salata, or “Albanian salad,” is cubes of toasted stale bread dipped in olive oil and red pepper. If this sounds like a struggle meal, it is; according to legend, it was a common meal among Serbian soldiers during their terrible retreat over the Albanian mountains during World War I.
Most kafana meals are eaten family style, and a group will get a meat platter and two or three salads to share. It’s also common to skip the meat altogether and just order a spread of different salads and appetizers, to accommodate those who don’t eat meat, or to enjoy a night out as the rakija keeps flowing.
Rebecca Duras is a freelance writer born in New York City, to parents of Croatian origin. She currently lives in Niš, Serbia, with her fiancé while pursuing a PhD in English literature.
