Cuisine
The Montenegrin cuisine takes stand on cereals, fish and olives, in inland the dairy products and cheeses play a significant role. A side-dish specific for this country is white bread. The most popular fish are goatfish, wolffish, sparus caruelosticus, mugil labrosus, piichards, mackerels and so on. They are prepared on the grill, cooked, baked or prepared as "brodette". The fish on "gradela" is prepared on the grill. Before the cooking, the fish is spread by aromatic spices and herbs, especially by rosemary. It is accompanied by garlic marinade, parsley tops and olive oil with vegetable and salad. The fish "lešo" is cooked in the water, oil, wine vinegar, onion, laurel and other spices are added into the water. The fish is served with the cooked mangold. "Brodette" is a fish soup which is prepared from three kinds of fish. Fish and sell fish are prepared a la "buzara" what means that they are intensively roasted with wine, oil, spice and vegetable, served with polenta and mush.
The carps and small bleaks are angled on Skadar Lake and are dried then. Lake cuisine specialities in the interior of the country are: carps and prunes, apples and quince; baked on the onion; eel with rice or grilled eel. A smoked carp is also highly appreciated. You will remember the taste of the dried bleaks gently stewed or cooked with a salad for a long time.
The soups are the "musts" and the choice is really wide. It is worth to mention chowders (brodette), shepherd cream soup with mushrooms or nettle chowder. "Čorba" is a tasty soup which is very thick and is prepared from the vegetable and meat. There is a wide choice of the main courses in Montenegro.
The poulp goulash is a delicious food and it is served as a main course. Various risottos, for example, with seafood are very popular. "Pašticada" is a popular meat food made from high-quality beef with bacon and garlic in it. It is put and baked with vegetablepickle and wine. It resembles our sirloin.
"Japraci" similar to our cabbage fillets is made in the inland and the Montenegrins prepare it in large stone pots and stew it during 4 hours. Under the name "pljeskavica" is hidden a delicious fried tortilla from mincemeat, which is served with powdered sheep cheese. If tourists wish to know how their food is prepared, they are recommended to visit The Black Lake Restaurant at the beginning of NP Durmitor, where mainly meat specialties are on the menu offer. Cevapi is another speciality, and it's actually our "čevapčiči", but it is much delicious, because it is made from quality meat and without breadcrumbs here. The side-dish is up to you, be it chips or bread. "Džigerica" is an exceptional and juicy grilled roast meat. Lamb is also very popular and is prepared in different ways, for example stewed in milk, prepared in flaming ashes or cooked.
The side-dishes might be somehow rare for us. "Polenta" (corn mush) or "cecvara" (we add melted cheese and "kajmak"(sour cream) into the water and we cook the corn mush there), or "kačamak krtolovi" (corn mush with mashed potatoes).
Each meal includes a salad.
Balkan salad, which is known and popular not only in the Balkans, but also in our country consist of sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. It is served with a lot of grated cheese which is the Balkan cheese of high quality.
As a dessert they usually offer fruit of wide choice. The Cakes that are offered are very sweet and rich in honey, sugar, nuts and candy fruit.
Black coffee (Crna kafa) is of great importance in the restaurants of Montenegro and it is boiled and given in "džezve" a typical small metal jug, which is a legacy from the Turkish times. It is sweetened during the preparation, but when ordering coffee you can ask a waiter for unsweetened, without sugar. This coffee is automatically served with a cup of water or mineral water. But the classic espresso is also found in the offer of the restaurants.
The Montenegrin cuisine is healthy using ecologically clean food of high quality that is grown without artificial fertilizers and pesticides. The oil used in this country is the olive oil.
Traditional meals
There are also meals popular at the coast as well as in the inland in Montenegro.
Prsuta
The first among the popular dishes is prsuta which is a pork ham dried and smoked in the old manner under the specific conditions. It is made from special bred pigs fed up only with the corn. It is dried in the height of 900 metres above sea level in the mountain range of Lovcen. The legs have to be left in a salt fusion for two weeks and then they are dried and hung in the dry and cool place for 5 to 8 months. The best of prsutas is Njeguška pršuta which comes from the mountain range Njeguši above Bay of Kotor. Prsuta does not have to be made only from pork but also from beef and then has a dark red colour.
Cheese
Another typical Balkan speciality is a cheese with a typical cottage consistency mostly accompanying prsuta. It is served with prsuta to receive a distinguished guest or for a supper. The cheese is made from cow's, sheep's or goat's milk. "Prevreli sir" is a delicious accomplished cheese or so-called "mladi sir" which is similar to our cottage cheese. The best cheese is made in Montenegro, it is the most delicious and of the highest quality. The most unusual cheese for us is so-called "Durmitor skorup" which is kajmak or ripe milk shell which is being collected from the whole milk. It is an essential cheese for Yugoslavian cuisines.
Traditional drinks
Wine
The Montenegrin wines have an old and long tradition and thanks to good conditions and climate their growing is very successful at the seaside as well as in the inland. At the first place it is the wine "vío vranac"- one of the best known Montenegrin wines. It has a specific taste and a dark ruby colour. This wine is also recognized in abroad. The best "vranac" is from the regions of Boljeviči, Sutoniči and Reljiči. "Vranac Pro Corde" is a new product which stimulates the cardiac activity and blood circulation, it has a curative effect. As for white wines the first place belongs to "krstač" which is a dry wine with minimum residual sugar. It is grown in Lješske polje.
Brandies
The most popular brandy is "lozova rakija" which is well-known and very strong brandy burnt from any kind of fruit. It is mostly grape, cereals or any other fruit. The Montenegrins burn it at home quite often and "rakija" is said to have curative effects. It cures a cold, artrodynia or eczemas. The most appreciated brandies among the Montenegrins are "prvijenas" and "kruna". Plum and pear brandies are also very popular. The spirits go well with so-called "meze" which are special desserts to accompany a wine like, for example, pršut and cheese or dried figs or nuts.
Beer
The only brewery in Montenegro is in Nikšič. Nikšičko beer is only sold in the bottles and or in the tins, there is no draught beer at all. Moreover, the Serbian beers are sold here.
Buttermilk
A traditional non-alcoholic drink is buttermilk. Its consistency is similar to white yoghurt, it has acidulated and slightly salty taste with refreshing effect, it smells very well.
