There is а Bulgarian version only with pork meat and cumin, in addition to the salt and the black pepper. Honestly I think this is the best version, as I do not like beef meat. But Croatian and Serbian - they are identical, are not bad, Bosnian and Turkish - they are also the same, are less good to me, and Romanian is the worst. If I liked beef - then Bosnian and Turkish would be the best and probably Bulgarian and Romanian the worst, soda inflates the size, but deflates the flavor. Just as flavor, Bulgarian has the most, because of the cumin, but the overall taste is less meaty.
@@nick3175 well no Bosnian and Turkish are absolutly not the same, yeah they have some similar thing, but in Bosnia they improved the recepee 😊 I did not liked the Turkish ćevap look a likes when I was there oj vacation
@@tedhadley62 You're not wrong. I'm from Macedonia, and I can proudly say that the town of Strumica, which is in the far south-east corner of Macedonia, has by far the best Cevapi (Kebapi in Macedonian) I've tasted.
I live on south of Hungary, close to Serbia. If you know where to look, you can find Balkan dishes here, like burek, pljeskavica, and cevapi. I had the chance to taste cevap in Croatia, Serbia, and mic in Romania, and of course here in my coutry. I like to dip it in ajvar. Let me tell you, they all taste fantastic, all has their uniqe taste, and they're wonderful. Food should unite the Balkans, all of you guys are awesome. ✌️😁
It's translated as beef in the video although it's not quite "beef" as we know it in the West technically. "Juneće meso"/"junetina" is meat from a cow aged 1-2 years, that weighs no more than 450kg, and hasn't given birth yet. It fits between veal and beef, and this distinction is more common in the Balkans... But the point is, if you make ćevapćići at home using regular ground beef, they'll still be good but won't be quite the same.
There you have a typical comparison: the Bosnians are gentle and take great care to stay friendly: the Serbs need to tell you they are the best: the Romanians don’t care what you think because they are loving life their way.
@@harbinger200Serbs always claiming everything... We Bosnians are our own, not Serbs, not Croats. The main reason we converted is because nobody liked us. Not the orthodox nor the catholics because of Bosnian church. The Ottomans came showed us a beautiful and clean religion and we accepted. Plus we didn't have to pay jizya tax. Win-win. Now you can keep claiming us. If we are Serbs why did you genocide your own people in Srebrenica them? What's your answer? No answer right?
Romanian cuisine doesn't have cevapcici, it has mici, and that is mostly a different dish. Comparing the two dishes is like comparing weisswurten with bratwurst. They are cooked similarly but have different spices, different meat cuts and different taste; mici are known to have been around for some 150 years at least but nowadays are traditionally eaten with mustard; cevapcici are morea meaty and mici have a more spicy and garligy taste (those made according to tradition have lots of spices). Anyhow, real traditional Serbian street food is plejskavitza, not cevapcici (and that one is really goid).
The recipe for the romanians Mici is way more complex and looks like a real recipe since is not only one type of meat with salt on grill.The romanians are using baking soda for their mix of beef and mutton or beef and pork just like the turkish are doing on some types of kofte so that makes the meat to be bouncy and juicy .Mici have 4 sides,they are not round and this shape allows you to cook it on 4 sides.Another key ingredient which make them stand out is a garlic bone broth beef .Mustard and fresh bread are the cherry on the cake.
I agree with you! As a bosnian i also think the Romanians make the best Mici. But thats not Cevapi. Thats a different dish. We are proud that our bosnian cevapi are made with only meat and salt, NOTHING else. Thats how we like it. Our food is simple with few ingridients, but high quality. We believe that if you use a lot of ingredients in cevapi its because you need to hide low quality (or bad) meat. For us thats a sign of bad cevapi. Cheers!
@harry.flashman beef-mutton mix is really good; 19 century receips use only beef, with shank and shoulder, if I remember, and tallow; a lot of spices, though.
@@mirzaQ3It is the same, every country has different ingredients, it is the same product only the name is different, you are using Serbian language and we are using Romanian ofcourse. 😂
@@do.ro99 No, its not the same! Different ingredients and preparation. Or you think ingredients and preparation dont matter? They dont change the dish? Why do we then have recipe? I have honestly never heard of Mici before, but i know Cevapi very well, i have been making them for 35+ yrs, and i can see that Mici in this video are not the same as our Cevapi. You see the difference just by looking at them. And all the ingredients are a big NO in Bosnia. Try serving your Mici in Bosnia and call them "Cevapi". What do you think the reaction would be? They would all say "What is this? I didnt order this! Where are my Cevapi?". Maybe if you find a blind man he would take a bite, but immediately spit it out. Not because its bad, but because the taste is different and unexpected with all the ingredients. You can not trick us that easy with our own food! It would probably be the same reaction if I served Cevapi in Romania as Mici, dont you think? So its not about the name/language. They are different dishes! They look different and taste different. Try serving pizza with pineapple in Italy! What would happen? And thats only 1 ingredient (the pineapple) wrong. I think you should be more proud of your Mici. Im sure its not that bad?
@@ProjectExMachinajeo sam u Sarajevu, onako nisu losi, cuo sam da je Travnicki cevap najbolji. Takodje sam cuo i za Banjalucki da je mnogo dobar, tj da su oba pomenuta bolji nego Sarajevski.
@@HarryH187 I meni se travnički više sviđa od sarajevskog. Banjalučki mi je ništa posebno (a živim 12 godina u BL) a najbolji banjalučki je u Novom Sadu u Flamingu. Tuzlanski (Limenka ili Sarajka je k'o Zvezda vs Partizan) je vrh ali obavezno pre ćevapa naruči poljev jer to samo u Tuzli možeš probat. Mof favorit je Orhideja u Donjem Vakufu i njihovi ćevapu u kajmaju i saftu - znači nirvana i valhala u isto vreme.
Thank you ! They have very beautifully illustrated the differences in balkan cousine and summed up the geopolitical tensions in the balkans. "We are here, they are there" also "we stir it, they mix" very simple.
I lived in Niš for decades, and I think that there are no places there that mostly serve ćevapčići as the primary business strategy, unlike the shops from Sarajevo, Bosnia, Novi Pazar. In Niš, the number one street food is pljeskavica, a type of hamburger. Still, if you sit in kafana, most likely you will be served with the first class ćevapčići.
If it looks the same it doesn't mean it is the same thing. The Romanians started to eat pork more since the Ottoman invasions. The Ottomans would steal all the halal food and, as you might know, they do not eat pork. That is why the most dishes in the Romanian cuisine are based on pork meat: ciorba, sarmale, mici, grilled. In comparison with cevapi or cevapcici, mici has beef/veal, sheep/lamb and pork in it. The fat and the seasoning makes the end result a lot different. One thing is for sure: every East-Europan nation has its roots and individual tradition. We are all proud of our home lands and welcoming whoever wants to enjoy life with us. I am 100% sure that we won't start a war over cevapcici any time soon. :))
Congrats on all the countries for their food. I will now tell you my personal Romanian recipe: 60% Lamb 40% Beef, Beef Bone Stock, Garlic Puree, Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Cumin, Coriander and a small tea spoon of baking soda. Shape them and freeze. Only put on grill directly from frozen. When you hit them with a fork and they bounce they are done.
As Macedonian can confirm so far the best I’ve tried are from Saraevo, Bosnia. I am sure all countries in their balkans make them with their own unique way.
To be honest, as long as the meat is fresh and the cevap is not overcooked and left pink in the middle it will be delicious. The more important thing is the bread. To make a perfect Somun is masterful work, getting it crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. You judge a good 'cevabdzinica' by their bread.
That’s actually relatively common in Slovenia too. Although it must be noted that we don’t have our own style of Čevapi, but they are usually either Leskovac style or Sarajevo style, depending on the place
@@AlenCTID no no we add beer in the grilled meat before shaping the meat. Then we also splash beer on them but I usually do that to stop flames as it's better than splashing water on the meat
I love ćevapčići and spend a whole roadtrip through the Balkans because of them. This is my top 5: - Banjalučki - Leskovacki - Travnik - Sarajevski - Tuzla The Romanian mici are okay, but not so good in comparison with Bosnian or Serbian. But still better than the Croatian version 😅 Those are bad 😂
There's another purpose for the addition of baking soda which the Romanian chef neglected to mention, which is that it tenderizes the meat as well. That's the key ingredient that tenderizes those thin strips of meat in Chinese recipes. But be careful, you gotta add it sparingly. Too much and it'll foul the taste
Kafana Marjan in the small town of Draževac near Niš is my favourite which I’ve had anywhere. Not to mention I’m glad they picked Niš in the video too. My home town.
Oh, I grew up in South Australia and we used to be able to buy uncooked cevapcici in the supermarket, and they were super delicious.I've never seen them anywhere else.
Since the soccer Euro there is a Romanian street food stall here (maybe because the Romanian national team was based here) in Wuerzburg/Germany. Since I found it, I have fallen in love with their Mici. Outside brown and crispy, inside juicy, slightly smoky aroma. Since this video I am waiting for the Serbian and Bosnian & Herzogovian stalls to open, so I can compare 😋.
@@darkomiceski3755 you should not disrespect each other cavapi/cici/mici but find a street that starts east of Vienna and ends at the beaches of the Black Sea or maybe because of köfte/kofta even in Turkey or beyond, call it „Street of cevap* culture“ and lure as many of us foodie tourists down there as possible 😂
One of my happiest memories was when I had a Croatian girlfriend, and with her friends we would go to the mountains for a picnic and make our own cepavcici. cevapcici in Croatia is great too.
@@Dosadniste2000come on, you use croatian language because you lost your own under turks, you appropriated croatian medieval and rennaissance writers because you don't have any as you all spoke turkish, and that's the pattern of behaviour, we couldn't appropriate cevapi from the serbs, because cevapi aren't serbian at all, you appropriated it from bosnians, btw you have no culture of your own, opanci and kolo aren't culture, and aren't intrensigly serbian either. Your culuture is being stabbed in the streets of belgrade, or during the traffic dispute or a line in the grocery store, that's your culture, and raw sewage pouring into sava in downtown belgrade.
@@Dosadniste2000 The Serbs from the Krajina were expelled though, not massacred. Besides, you might want to ask yourself why the Serbs tried to ethnically cleanse the Krajina first.
Mici are not the same as cevapi,mici contain sodium bicarbonate in their composition and are made with pork minced meat and garlic while cevapi don't contain sodium bicarbonate,are made from beef,sheep or a beef and sheep minced meat and they lack the garlic that mici have in their composition!
Mici or Mititei do not belong in this video. They might look similar, but thats where that comparison ends. Making mititei is a lot harder than mixing ground beef with salt.
In Greece we call it κεμπάπ /cebáp/ and we mix either beef & lamb minced meat , or chicken & pork, or beef, pork and lamb. Seasoning plays a significant role, cumin, paprika, allspice, sumac, are essential
@@sup3rman355 we just also have it, he didnt say it's only greek, we all share the same foods, it doesnt only belong to one country and thats the beauty of it
I think when you talk about čevapčiči you also need to go to North Macedonia, Albania, Croatia, Bulgaria. I love my čevapčiči with kajmak, ajvar, bela čebula (white onion) and lepinja. I am from Slovenia where they are also super popular. I cannot imagine a BBQ without them. ❤❤❤
I just came back home from a small trip of Slovenia, your country is absolutely stunning, I went to Ljubljana, Piran and Bled (+Vintgar Gorge). The Piran was one of the most beautiful towns I have ever visited, Na zdravje!
@@kuplung22 silver onion then, "srebrni luk/čebula" if you want, the official slovenian is "bela čebula" for "white onion", but I used a dialect word "luk" for "čebula", garlic is "česen" in slovenian, I hope this clears up now how it was used :)
@@stefanstojance14 It is not for making them bigger but more tender and juicy, it also contains ground onion , garlic thyme pepper and water. The Romanian Mici is an affordable meal eaten with bread and mustard, on hot days you drink a cool beer with it. The soda in the Mici is not bad for you as it balances the ph in your body and it is also used as a filler in medicine pills.
The ones in Romania are very savory and juicy, the recipe differs from place to place but the best are made of beef and sheep meat mixed with bones soup and garlic and extra other spices, thyme etc... I assure you that are extremly tasty and addictive. They are usually served with mustard or mujdei which is garlic paste with sour cream..
This should not be even debated,Romania owns the best ones because we use pork fat,baking soda to give the taste and texture, where in other countrys they don't eat pork and theys is dry,ruber,small.
@@brrrburberry2554 to use baking soda in cevapcici its not good idea, he will double sized shortly and after few minutes will look like grandmother wrinkles 😂
Beef, as Westerners knows it, is almost never eaten in Balkans (pretty much for Gulas only), it is a beef "teenager" meat, "Brisket" only, for Cevap. Original recipe is valued starting from 200.000 Euros onwards. Meat preparation takes 72 hours for fermentation and some spices added at the right time during the fermentation period. Most beef used in Balkans is actually a babe beef "Veal". Unfortunately there is no name for beef "teenager" in English language. Suggestion for the name might be Boris Johns (on)
I've been to Serbia, Romania and Moldova. The best mici or Cevapcic I ever had was at Cotmeana, Romania. The greatest sausages I ever had was at Taiwan.
that is just stupid what you just said. you basically said that you prefer Chinese food to Balkans food. what does that have to do with ćevapi and their variety? it like commenting on hamburger types by saying you like spaghetti bolognaise better.
@@mxweng ćevapi are not sausages. Sausages are, by definition meat products inside a skin or artificial tube of some sort. ćevapi are specialy shaped pieces of minced meat. I come from culture of sausages and ćevapi and for us it it not even similar, let alone the same.
as a bosnian who tried all of these and more, i can confidently say, the best cevapi come from Travnik (bosnia). Theyre just a bit different from Sarajevski cevapi but you can taste the difference, its just better.
I’d say Bonita out of my personal experience and even in the opinion of all of my friends from Serbia. Friends born and raised in Serbia, just to clarify.
It depends on the restaurant. You can find bad and good ones in any country. You have to go to places that are known for making them. And they can be very different depending on the place.
In Iran We Have Same and Called " Lol Kebab " And mostly it is cooked on the roof plates which have a wavy shape and Eat with lavash bread Herbs Pickles and sour orange juice !!!
In Iran we have something called "Looleh Kabab" or "Kabab Loghmeh" it's the exact same thing just without the Sauces and with Onion and Parsley on Lavash
It really doesn’t matter from where are they from if the meat is really good and some spices (to your preference) and grilled on charcoal. I ate all sorts of them beef, lamb, pork, mixed and then the most important addition ajvar. They can be phenomenal and phenomenally bad.
I wanna try at "Petica Ferhatović" "Mrkva", "Željio" and "Zmaj Hrasno" and "Beg" in Sarajevo also in Ćevapćići goes originaly 70% Beef (From neck) and 30% Sheep meat (10% belly and 20% from Shoulder or this 20% same tipe of meat but from goat meat) on 1 kg meat mix you put 50ml water, tsp salt, 1/3 teaspoon of black peppercorn and 3 cloves of garlic in water you boil garlic, peppercorn and salt and when cooldown this water you pour on meat (meat need to be cut in cubes for beef stew) then leave in bowl covered with linen cloth overnight in fridge then tomorrow then you mince meat first on big diameter hole then second time on smaller then knead for 30 min. then put in the bowl and cover again with linen cloth and leave outside of fridge 3-4 hours on some cool place in kitchen. then you shape it using as this man use machine but 1/2 size of that (2 fingers ) one portion should have 200 grams.
Leskovački roštilj 016 In banja Luka gets the gold medal. Been traveling the balkans extensively, … northern Makedonia and Albania also make them great.
You skipped over the Romanian way of doing mici. It’s part of the culture and different because it contains cheep/pork which is very different from the Bosnian version.
Not a single Serb will tell you Serbian cevap is of any quality. It is well known among the population that nothing comes close to the authenticity of a Bosnian cevap, and some travel hours to get to the real deal
as someone that watching from the side these are all great people that are in some way one nation from my perspective, And they all have CRAZY TESTY FOOD
That's like saying, english, scots and irish are one nation, or turks and azeri are one nation, or tunisians and libyans are one nation, that's just dumb and uneducated.
@@hungryest8643 i don't care for your point at all, i'm trying to explain that saying stuff like that there can get you really hurt. When you are a foreigner and don't understand relations on any level, you don't mention war, don't mention politics, don't mention nationalities, don't mention borders etc, and you don't need a lot of education for that, just some commpn sense, it's the same in every conflict region.
The Bulgarian version is really good. We are putting a small amount of sparkling water in the mix. That way they are turning out fluffy and juicy. But there are a lot of scammers who are making them out of low-quality meat and a lot of fat so people must be aware.
I have tried cevapcici from all countries with tradition in cevapcici food, and i can say that the best definitely are the Bosnian cevapcici and their bread called lepinja! I don't understand why Romania is included here, where there are places like Kosovo (Prizren), Macedonia (Tetovo, Skopje), or even Montenegro (Ulcinj) with tradition in cevapcici!
@@Dosadniste2000 probao sam cevape i pljeskavicu i u Srbiji, u Beogradu i original i u Leskovcu, ali treba priznati da su bosanski cevapi i lepinja mnogo bolji i ukusniji!
These places have similar ones to bosnian and serbian versions though. Romanian lands were not included in the Ottoman Empire nor the Soviet Russia, just had to pay tribute to protect the population. So this is also visible in the food variation, more porc, extra ingredients etc.
@@jack-w1c ...more lying to cope. Hello canal digger. Your ideas about Ottoman empire stem form your backwardness and need to better than THEM. Romanian territory and Molodvan were always backward and poor, packed with Roma people.
Having tried all 3 types of Cevapcici/Cevapi when I travelled through the Balkans back in pre-Covid days, I've gotta say the Romanian and Serbian ones are a very close tie, maybe the Romanian slightly larger and better value. Bosnians Cevapi still pretty good though.
Well first of all its ćevapi not ćevapćići. Word ćevapćići is a diminutive of ćevapi, meaning small ćevapi. In slavic languages diminutives are often used to "cutify" something or to express endearment. Even in your video all native speakers actually said ćevapi, not ćevapćići, and honestly to us it just sounds kinda dumb to call them ćevapćići. I believe it comes from Austrians misunderstanding Bosnian locals during Austro Hungarian Empire days. Say it right, don't be disrespectful.
