The
Melting Pot: A look at the evolution of food in Southwestern Pa. Part 7 - 3 SOUTHCENTRAL EUROPEANS: Serbs
The greatest numbers of Serbs arrived during the peak period
of immigration to America between 1880 and 1914 from Austro-Hungarian Croatia,
Slavonia, and other parts of Yugoslavia, Vojvodina, Turkey and Montenegro. The
overwhelming majority of Serbian immigrants were uneducated, unskilled peasants
from the countryside so they turned to the mining areas of Pennsylvania, Ohio,
West Virginia, etc. and to the big industrial cities of Pittsburgh and Cleveland
in the east, working in steel mills and related industries. They did not plan
to stay long, just long enough to make money and return home to their families
with earned money. There was another
mass immigration after World War II.
The number of Serbian Americans is supposedly over 440,000,
however, it is difficult to determine the exact number who came to America in
the early waves of immigration because immigration records often did not
distinguish between various Slavic and, especially, South Slavic groups. The term
Slavonic was used in recording immigrants from various parts of Eastern Europe.
Census statistics compiled before World War I had further confused the issue by
listing immigrants by their country of origin. Thus, the Serbs could be
included in with the Croats, Slovenians, Austro-Hungarians, Turks, Bulgarians,
or Romanians, or simply listed as Yugoslavs after 1929. (This paragraph cites information from Everyculture.com.)
Centuries of
Austrian and Austro-Hungarian rule richly influenced Serbian cuisine, especially
Serbian desserts and confections with a unique mix of various traditions: Kolijivo
(wheat pudding with religious significance), Baklava, Nut Rolls and Sachertorte
(Austrian chocolate cake or torte).
Srpska Kuhinja
(Serbian cuisine) is a mixture of cuisines, sharing characteristics of
the Balkans (especially the former Yugoslavia) and and The Mediterranean (Greek,
Turkish, Austrian and Hungarian). The national dishes include Pljeskavica (a
ground beef patty), Cevapi (grilled minced meat), and Sarma (grape, cabbage or Swiss chard leaves rolled around a
filling usually based on minced meat, or a sweet dish of filo dough wrapped
around a filling often of various kinds of chopped nuts).
Most people
in Serbia will have three meals daily, breakfast, lunch and dinner
as do we. Breakfast in Serbia can be
large and can consist of a choice of: tea, milk, milk coffee or cocoa milk,
pastries or bread served with butter, jam, yogurt, sour cream and cheese along
with bacon, sausages, salami, scrambled eggs and kajmak (a non-aged cheese similar to clotted cream).
The national
drink is the plum brandy Slijivovica (slivovitz). Other
distilled beverages are Komovica, Pelinkovac, Rakia (plum brandy) and
Vinjak. They drink fruit juices, mineral waters and Turkish coffee.
A number of
foods which are simply bought in the West, are often made at home and include Rakija (fruit
brandy), Slatko jam (Slatko is a thin fruit preserve made of fruit or rose petals) and various pickled foods.
The Serbian population is
alive and well in southwestern PA: the American Serbian Club of Pittsburgh (https://www.facebook.com/americanserbianclubPittsburgh/)(which has food and
music on some Friday and Saturday nights & is located in the South Side) and many other Serbian organizations. There are multiple churches in Allegheny
County. There are a few restaurants and a deli (in Dormont) serving/selling
Serbian/Yugoslavian food. http://www.fredosdeli.com/market.php
BELOW PHOTOS ARE LINKS AND INFORMATION
FOOD PHOTOS
END OF PHOTOS
