Red Ajah: Cultural Exchange Week; Cultural Corner 1: Serbia

[Marta Sedai]

Hello everyone, and welcome to our Culture Exchange Week!

 

We will start today, on Monday the 10th, and end this wonderful Event on Sunday the 16th!

We will have a couple of Cultural Corners (a.k.a. threads) for each country we will talk about, and each will be fun to read and post in!

 

We will also have a quiz starting on Friday so you can all see what you have learned so far about WONDERFUL cultures we will represent!

 

So, lets start!!!

 

Cultural Corner 1

 

Serbia

by Marta Sedai

 

 

Serbia is a country that has changed so much over the past few hundred years. Its people have been through thick and thin and it made them very strong. We have a very strong temperament and we are proud as well. We’ve been through 2 wars, many political changes, an attack on our own country, and practically stealing a big part of our territory. But we survived it all, and grown much stronger!

 

One big element of Serbian culture, the one that is wrapped around most things we do, is our religion, Serbian Orthodox. The young in my country are not always that much religious, but there are things we respect and admire. No matter whether we go to church every Sunday or not, there are some things that we always respect and those things are the very elements which make our culture the way it is.

 

There are no words which would define Serbian culture, so I will just name things every Serb praises, starting from the food we eat, to the holidays we celebrate.

 

A part of Serbian culture is the food we eat. There are so many dishes that are served in every Serbian family, but one of all, is the most loved Gibanica (pronounced GEE-ba-nee-tsa).

Gibanica is a traditional pastry dish. I love it, my whole family loves it. Every person I know loves it.

 

Recipe:

 

There exist many variations of gibanica recipes - probably one per household. This one is mine :D

 

Ingredients:

• 7-8 or 9 eggs

• A couple of pieces ( at least 3 bigger pieces) of cottage cheese or feta cheese. Or both

• 1 pound thawed filo dough

• sunflower oil (or butter but we don’t use butter much)

 

Preparation:

 

1. In a large bowl put eggs, cheese and oil and beat all until it is mixed well.

2. Heat oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Fold 2 sheets filo dough in half and place in a lightly oiled/buttered pan. Spread filo with about 1/2 cup filling. Continue in this manner until all but 3 sheets of filo are left. Top with last 3 sheets filo and brush with remaining butter/oil. Place on a sheet pan to catch any drips and bake about 1 hour or until golden. Let sit 10 to 15 minutes before cutting into squares and serving warm.

 

Trust me, make it and you won’t regret it!

 

 

Serbian people celebrate many holidays. There is Christmas, Easter, just like in every Christian country, but there is something more that not many others have. It a celebration of specific saints, which every family celebrates, and that is what we call Slava. That is one day in the year, when family from children to every single cousin you haven’t seen for a year is gathered in the house of the family who is celebrating, and we all eat, drink, have fun. It is a holiday that every family celebrates and every family has a different date for its saint. My Slava is on the 16th of November, and my family’s saint is called Djurdjica.

 

What is also very important for Serbian people is it’s traditional lets call it… instruments. It is actually an orchestra containing trumpets and similar instruments and we call them Trubachi. They are a MUST for every Serbian wedding, baptism or a celebration. Some even call them to play at Slavas, which are not that big celebrations compared to weddings. What is also especially interesting about Serbian’s Trubachi is The Guca Festival, which is organized every summer in a village named Guca and for a few days everyone who loves that kind of music is there and is having so much fun, as you can see in pictures below.

 

 

 

There are so many things more interesting about Serbian culture, its folklore, nature and people’s habits, but no space for all of them to be written, but hopefully this tiny part of our culture will make it closer to you, and interesting enough for you to find out more about it.

 

So, now, lets discuss… Questions?! :D

 

 

 

 

 

[Millon]

What's the history behind your Slava saint? Is there anything in particular that Djurdjica represents? Icannot WAIT to try that pastry. I love Filo dough! Marta, thank you so much for this event. It is spectacular!

[Bela_theDo]

I knew that Serbia had own folklore in religion and kind.And,yep I will give a try to this gibanica if I dont mess it up,too  :P

[Marta Sedai]

Oh, Millon, I know it is great, and I so very excited myself! Let me know who did pastry turn out :D

 

As for Sava is concerned, there is a story behind Slava as a celebration itself, and every Saint has its story.

 

Slava itself started being a family holiday centuries ago, while Serbia was under otoman Empire occupancy, and national heroes, Hajduci, needed a place to get together and discuss how to free Serbia. That is why some families started organizing those celebrations, and almost every family had a saint to celebrate. Which saint they choose then, stayed in the family until now. And Slava is transfered from father to sun. (In my case from father to 2 daughters, cause I plan on maintaining that celebration in my house when I get married, even if I have to celebrate 2 Slavas)

 

My saint is actually Saint George (I think he is called like that in English). He had suffered a lot because of being Christian when Christian were not very much loved. He also did wonders and made many people believe in Christianity.

 

That is all that I know... If you want more, I’ll try to find out.. Any more questions? :D  Ask, ask, ask, ask!!!

 

[Amadine]

I am going to try your recipe Marta!!! Later in the week when i go shopping :)

[Marta Sedai]

Oh GREAT! You can post pictures and let me see how it looks :D  And I hope you enjoy it! There are actually many variations of it. You can add ham, bacon, meat, some green veggies. Whatever you like. And it never fails!

[Millon]

As soon as I get my hands on some filo it is a done deal. DOn't know when I am shopping next. I'll post pics when I do.

[Karasayl]

I'm with Millon...I'm a SUCKER for filo dough pastries....I'm itching to try this soon!

 

Since there are traditional instruments apart of so much festivities, Its sounds like music is very important in Serbian culture. What are some types of music popular in Serbia. is there any particular songs important to be played in special events?

[Marta Sedai]

Well, on every wedding you can hear music for playing "Kolo" which is a country dance, and a BIG part of our culture. It is our folklore dancing, and we have many types. "Moravac", named after river Morava is the most popular and every single Serb knows how to dance that one. There are others of course, such as "Sa sa", "Uzicko Kolo", "Čacak"... Most of them are actually danced rather similarly, but the music and rhythm is different. My favorite is "Sa sa", and I love dancing that one, but it is the one not everyone knows how to dance... I think it has a Gypsy origin, and here is a youtube link for you to see how it looks if you want to:

It is not a very video, but the best I found... It is a fun dance. Very popular at weddings.

 

BUT, don't think we dance like that ALL the time! When I look at how girls dance when clubbing... I think it is not different than anywhere in the world...

 

We don't have many songs played at special events apart from Kolo dancing music, and our national anthem...

[Karasayl]

Hmm, it sounds like to me that all Serbian guys must know how to dance, otherwise they'd likely be lonely bachelors  ;)

[Marta Sedai]

Oh, trust me, they don't! They just sit and watch girls dance... And then get drunk and do the weird dance with their hands and moving their body left and right...

[Millon]

Marta? Did you just say you know how to dance the Sa'Sara? Funny how similar they are. If that is the dance you do at weddings I must be invited to yours lol ;)

[Marta Sedai]

Oh, I'll be honored to have you as my guest... But I do plan on getting married in 3-4ish years... So, start saving money, cause I only accept super cool expensive presents! And I am not sure what is Sa'sara... *goes to check*

[Marta Sedai]

*comes back*

 

Oh, no Millon, not Sa'sara.... Sa sa (watch the video I gave the link for it is only 30 second long)

 

But if you want to know about Sa'Sara, go to Bels thread. They have that in Turkey :D

[Millon]

Better with you ;)

[Marta Sedai]

I love you too <3

[Bela_theDo]

...

But if you want to know about Sa'Sara, go to Bels thread. They have that in Turkey :D

 

Felt like I should give some info about that  :D I believe you mean oriental dance, cause I only heard about sa'sara in books  :) From what I know, oriental dance is more like tiganza, you can dance in public,at weddings,etc. but sa’sara was forbidden in Saldaea,and I think...it is not a public dance. In Turkey,we have professional dancers for it and it is kind of a way to have fun.  ;)

 

 

[Millon]

Just makin a joke about the closeness in spelling of the dances. Didn't really associate the book dances with anything real. That'd be something if they were real though. I think I'd like to see it.