When winter is coming…

Volunteer Life - Comfort food

by Alex Humbert

A selection of typical dishes from our volunteers’ countries

Beyond the cliché of hot chocolate with a blanket in front of the chimney, we all have typical foods or dishes which we eat, especially in winter. So let’s take a look at which ones!

All United Societies of Balkans’ volunteers come from different countries with other cultures, traditions and of course, food. Whether it is soups, starters, main courses, desserts or drinks with more specific products, here is a non-exhaustive list of the dishes they eat at home. Sometimes you might be surprised at how similar your meals and theirs can be.

Austria - Eintopf

An Eintopf is like a stew with vegetables: potatoes, carrots, lentils, beans, peas and also cereals like bread, pasta, pearl barley. But in fact, it depends on the recipe because sometimes you have more ingredients as meat or sausage and sometimes you have fewer ingredients, it’s up to you.

Eintopf

Source: Pixabay

Egypt - فتة

This Egyptian dish, called fattah/fatteh in the Latin alphabet, is composed of pieces of bread, rice, meat (lamb or beef), and garlic. Sometimes people use vegetables when they boil/ poach the meat to add some flavours, it depends on the recipe.

Fattah

Source: our volunteer

France - Fondue Savoyarde

Cheese, cheese and cheese! That’s why we French people love this dish. But I forgot to write about another essential ingredient: bread. Otherwise, how will you be able to eat the cheese? And no, with a fork or a spoon, it doesn’t work, or if it does, it’s not the same, and above all, you can’t do the challenge game and guess when the piece of bread will fall into the pan.

Fondue savoyarde

Source: Pixabay

Germany - Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut wasn’t created in Germany, but now, this dish composed of fermented cabbage is very famous in Europe and keeps its German name. But with many different recipes, like Kapusniak, Pierogi with sauerkraut, or even Choucroute Garnie.

Sauerkraut

Source: Flickr/Marco Vech

Greece - Φασολάδα

Φασολάδα, or fasoláda in the Latin alphabet, is a soup made with beans or white beans, some vegetables and of course, olive oil. This dish has a long history, its creation dates back several centuries and unlike other recipes around the world, there is no meat in it.

Fasoláda

Source: Flickr

Italia - Pancotto

This soup is prepared with pieces of stale bread boiled in broth or water and seasoned with some vegetables and herbs, but sometimes with hot pepper or different vegetables, depending on the recipe.

Pan Cotto

Source: Shutterstock

North-Macedonia - Zelnik

This dish is a traditional salty pie in North Macedonia and Bulgaria. It is made with filo pastry, cheese (sirene or feta), eggs, sorrel, browned meat, leeks and sometimes rice.

Zelnik

Source: Dobrica Nasevikj

Slovakia - Goulash

Goulash is a famous dish in Europe. In Slovakia, it is made with meat (beef, Burgundian or pork), onions, tomato, peppers and seasoning. Also sometimes carrot, potato and leek.

Goulash

Source: Flickr

Spain - Cocido

This dish, composed of chickpeas, is very long to cook because it must simmer for several hours. In addition to chickpeas, it can be composed of meats such as chicken or beef but also chorizo and vegetables (potato, carrot, onion).

Cocido

Source: Flickr

Turkey - Salep

For the last country, it’s not a dish but a beverage. This Turkish drink is composed of salep powder from an orchid, the powder is mixed with sugar and milk and the mixture is sprinkled with cinnamon.

Salep

Source: Wikimedia

There is only one choice per country, but of course, there were multiple responses. Especially for some countries because the regions have their own typical dish. Like in Italy, they eat fried pizza on Christmas in the area where one of our volunteers lives or the hometown of another one, Veles, which have their own traditional dish called « veleška pita pastrmajlija ».

As I mentioned above, this list is incomplete. All around the world, we all have our own traditional winter food or dish. By the way, I said « winter foods », but it is possible to eat them whenever you want in the year.

“Don’t repress yourself! You are free to eat what you want when you want since you are happy!”