Philip Evans

Winter is coming. The Balkans are getting ready. 🇷🇸 🇲🇰 🇧🇦 🇭🇷 🇲🇪 🇸🇮 Autumn means sacks of red peppers, blackened skins and big pots of ajvar. This roasted pepper spread is made across the Balkans, especially in Serbia and North Macedonia, with recipes changing between countries and households. Some include eggplant, others use only peppers, with enough chilli to suit whoever’s filling the jars. The peppers are roasted, peeled and ground, then slowly cooked with oil as part of zimnica, the food preserved for winter. That usually means hours at the pot with a wooden paddle, but some cooks now put homemade motorised stirrers to work, like the one in this video. The motor takes over the repetitive stirring while the ajvar cooks down, ready to be jarred and eaten over the colder months with bread, cheese or grilled meat. Video by: @domaca_prica_by_daca