Sunday, March 3, 2024
Today was sunny and beautiful
plus I got to sleep in (8:00 am is sleeping in).
The temperatures were in the low 60s. Ganimete had a large
breakfast/brunch. I had an egg with cucumbers and tomatoes.
Ganimete served it with ajvar which
is a Serbian dish most often made with eggplant and peppers. Ganimete
makes hers with several types of peppers and I believe tomatoes. It is
very good. Most meals are accompanied by peppers and/or tomato
sauces. Thom had breaded calf and sausage. She serves huge chunks
of bread with every meal. We have heard that some host families do not
use utensils, but instead use bread to sop up juices and their figures to eat
the food. Some of KOS 09 have said their
meals are family style with every eating from the same serving bowls.
After breakfast, we met our group at 11:00 am at the Sip Bar Coffee Shop and Restaurant. KOS 09 is great and very supportive. We studied outside in the beautiful weather. We only bought coffee and tea, but sat there for hours. The Sip manager sent us out a free round of drinks and most people in our group had hot chocolate. It looked so good. The hot chocolate is very thick and comes with whipped cream on top. Yesterday, when we had lunch, we were also served free tea or coffee at the end of the meal. Everyone is really nice to us.
After sitting for a while, some of our group went to another restaurant for lunch. About half of us, had big breakfasts and are not having lunch (Thom and me included). We worked together on flashcards and talked about how little progress we thought we had made. Later, the lunch goers came back and we took a walk along the small river. This is closer to our house, so eventually we made our way home before flia time at 4 pm. We met two boys: Xhon (John) and Rion on our way back. They live on the same street as we do. Xhon was 13 years old a spoke English well. We talked a bit as we walked back. The kids talk to us a lot and always in English. They enjoy using their English and are willing to teach and correct our Albanian. It seems that Kamenice often has Peace Corps Trainees and the kids know who we are. People here are very welcoming and helpful. The kids are especially wonderful and friendly. They always seem to want to use their English with us.
When I got back, Ganimete and I
went to the outside kitchen to make the flia. The kitchen is a small room
with a wood oven. There is a small sink, a refrigerator, a cabinet for
storing flour, and table to make the flia. To make the flia batter,
Ganimete filled a bowl about half full of water and sprinkle salt into the
water (she didn't really measure it). She then added 4 large scoops of
flour. She used a drill fitted with a special tool to mix the
batter. After making the batter, she made a mixture of yogurt, cream, and
oil which is brush between the thin layers of heated dough.
Ganimete started the fire in
the oven with sticks and cardboard paper. She used thin pieces of
wood in the fire. While the oven is getting warm, she started making the first layer of the flia in the saç.
To prepare the pan, she poured
a little bit of cream and oil on the pan and spread it to coat the entire
bottom of the pan. Then Ganimete used a spoon to create a pattern of spoke-like
strips of batter starting at the edge going to about 10 cm (5 inches) from the center.
Once the of batter went all around the pan, she filled in the center with three
stripes of batter. There are spaces between the batter after the first
layers is poured. She then puts it in to the oven to bake until the
top is brown and bubbly. Ganimete
watched the saç and turns it often until all sides are bubbling and starting to brown.
She then pulled it out with her hooked tool and hot pads to bring it to the
table to start the next layer.
She scooped two large spoonsful
of the yogurt, cream, and oil mixture on to the layer of baked batter and then
she spread it over the entire surface. The next layer of batter is poured
in strips by spoon filling in the gaps left by the previous layer. And
then it is back in the oven to start the baking process again. Each layer
takes several minutes to cook and as the oven gets hotter, it takes less time to
cook a layer. The process of cooking, spreading the yogurt mixture. and
then pouring the batter in spokes between previous layer is repeated 45 more
times for a total of about 47 layers. The finished flia will fill the
whole pan, which is about 5 cm (2 inches) deep. The last baking is
a little longer and during the final few minutes a saq (special lid) is put
over top of the saç while it is still in the oven.
After the lid is removed, the flia is removed from the oven. Ganimete using a special tool to lift an edge
of the flia to check that it is cooked through.
At this point, the flia is a beautiful
golden brown with spoke design giving it a unique design.
Flia was the star of the dinner tonight. It was
served with a cabbage salad, pepper and tomato sauces, and pickled
peppers. It is eaten with your fingers and dipped in sauces.
After dinner, there is always teatime in the garage, as
adult members of the family smoke.
Tonight, I did not fill like tea or sitting in the smoke, so I stayed in
the salon, while all the rest went down for tea.
Selver’s brother and his brother’s family often come to the
garage after dinner for a smoke and some tea.
I have included a link to another blog, that explains a different technique for creating flia: https://anoregoncottage.com/making-flia-a-national-dish-of-kosovo/
Love the at home details
ReplyDeleteThe house and food look wonderful 😊
ReplyDeleteLove hearing about your adventures!
ReplyDelete