Learn Serbian & Može kafa podcast: Episode 6 - Prava Srbija

Hello, Nicola. Hello.

Hello, Are you ready for our next episode, which is about

Krava Srbija? Yes, Spremen.

Yes. I wanted to have this title because, Nicola, you mentioned one of

your goals, life goals, is to show the real Serbian to people, part of

your profession. So that's why I did not forget that part.

And I said, let's do it with you.

Okay, let's try.

So I wanted to have some subtitles about Serbian culture.

And we have so many of them.

So that's why we're going to do two episodes.

One on Masya Kafa and one on Learn Serbian Podcast.

So this one is about coffee, kafana, Balkan humor, slavas, traditional cuisine

and family dynamics and some fun unique expressions from serbia okay as i love

the coffee culture in serbia let's start with coffee culture but

normally serbians do not

drink their coffee alone right well uh we like to drink them together

but sure at work or before work you can drink them alone yeah usually

it's it's with someone exactly and when you have coffee you need to chit

chat like there is always a theme or topic to discuss some news to

discuss right Yes, it's a whole process.

It's an event of sorts.

Yeah. And do you say like chaskati is to chit chat yeah let's

chat hide the chest come on who's coffee is interesting because it's

from kaffa so yeah cafe means to chit chat and drink coffee exactly it's

a bit irregular though uh But does it mean like having

coffee or meeting in a cafe?

I'm not sure about that.

It can mean to drink coffee together.

So it doesn't matter where.

I see. It can be at home as well.

Okay, nice. And what I heard a lot when I first moved to Serbia,

they are always together.

in the context.

Yeah. So, glass of water.

You can do that with everything.

Exactly.

And why kafu and čashu is like, there is also želim hidden here, right?

Or ja ču.

Aha. You can say, so ja ču means I will, literally, but I think

we mentioned this before.

We used it to say I will have so just to be more economic

to shorten the sentence you can just say kafu chashua exactly that's how I

hear and at the end always I heard keshe likhatsitza

that's a common question from a waiter keshe likhatsitza sometimes

you don't even say you just show either money or you just show a

card and they will come.

Prepared. So I like coffee culture because what is different in Turkey,

my country, is breakfast is always before coffee.

The name of breakfast is like before coffee, literally in Turkey.

But in Serbian culture, it's the opposite.

First, you have your coffee, right, in the morning.

And then, which I also do now, interestingly.

I change my old habits.

And I also have coffee first when I'm breakfast.

Exactly. It's not good, probably, for health.

But we drink coffee on an empty stomach a lot.

We had students that were confused because here we drink coffee at 9 p.m.

even sometimes. Exactly.

Yeah. yeah doable and in the morning they can have coffee kaffa

uz rakia like they might have a little shot of rakia exactly kaffa rakia

and a lot of people smoke so a cigarette with that also yeah doesn't

matter if you are a student a teacher like doctor low we are like

all sorts of people i've seen uh doing that i mean it's not like

in turkey if someone did this mostly students would be the option you know

but here i see all walks of life can do it exactly and when

it comes to traditional cuisine it's also a lot of things inside but i

just picked some words i think the first thing about traditional cuisine is cevapi

right yes cevapi you have like this type of dish all over balkan right

in bosnia and serbia we call with cevapi, Croatia probably as well.

Macedonia for sure.

Macedonia, yeah. So similarly everywhere, but cevapi, kaimak, and

somun are the best combination.

You definitely have to try.

Exactly.

And cevapi is always eaten in a restaurant, right?

I mean, would people prepare cevapi at home?

Is it necessary?

Actually, yeah, not that often.

You won't prepare it at home because it's a process and the

meat can produce a lot of smoke when fried or baked.

Yeah. So you probably order it.

Mostly you order it.

But Sarma can easily.

I mean, I've seen so many people preparing Sarma at home.

It's a hard process, but it's not that messy, maybe.

Yes. We call it a winter dish because kiseli kupus, like a sour cabbage,

you do it over winter and then you prepare sarma from it.

And you don't do it often because it's a long process.

You do it for special occasions or once a month or twice a month.

Exactly. And Zimnitsa is something that I learned quite late when I was living

there. I did not know that they had a specific name, like the winter

food. Right? Zimnica.

Yeah, Zimnica, yep.

So preserved food like soured, cucumbers, pickles, bell

peppers. Yeah. Even ajvar could be Zimnica, right?

Exactly. Ajvar, slatko is Zimnica as well.

Jam also Zimnica.

Jam, kompot. Yeah.

Kompot is cooked fruit in like a sugary water.

Slatko is also the same, but I think denser, like lighter.

I am not sure about the differences.

Slatko is like a jam, but more dense and a lot more sweet.

You take just a little bit.

And it's a tradition when you have a guest, you offer them kapha, slatko,

rakia. And there's a process there with slatko.

A couple of steps you have to do.

I see. There is even a peck mess.

And I like that.

Peck mess.

and um gibanitsa proya these are uh bakery products i would say right yes

gibanitsa is my favorite it's um let's say yeah let's say a pie cheese

pie uh with eggs and cheese layered very good for breakfast exactly and proya

is my favorite because i like everything with corn with kukurus.

Corn flour. Yes.

So that's why it's very delicious.

And kachamak, I think, is also very Balkan.

I mean, Proya, Gibanitsa, I think these are also very common in other Balkan

countries, but the names might change a little bit.

But kachamak is kachamak, I think, everywhere.

Right? I think it's the same everywhere, yeah.

I don't know how I would translate it to English, to be honest.

So hot. it's a part of breakfast for me kacamak right it's a corn

flour with like cheese in it cheese some people can actually eat it like

sweet with milk as well but usually it's with cheese yeah and what i

like i mean if you put me somewhere in the world and randomly put

this plate in front of me i would definitely say balkan is pecan and

paprika in turkey we don't have it i I haven't seen this in Greece.

I mean, in different forms, yes, but i think in greece as well a

little bit but not as it is in the balkans in the other balkan

countries here i think pecen and paprika is kind of a symbol of appetizers

yes so i usually eat it at the beginning of the meal lunch uh

there's a good salad with it uh like it's with um

roasted peppers peccane paprika oil and garlic yes and a little bit of parsley

i think it's a very good salad that's what i mean i'm when you

say peccane paprika that salad comes to my mind as well it's very nice

uh hleb which should be be hleb and lepinia right two major types

of bread here yeah we eat bread with everything yeah which is not good

again but uh people also make their own bed at home i think that's

at least healthier than you know yes and palacinka is the dessert that is

definitely unique to you to me i mean yeah well we do love palacinka

i think we eat them very frequently in serbia um you can see shops

selling them not shops but a special place or just for palacinke um selling

them and of course with uh krem and plasma mix plasma is a biscuit

yeah iconic biscuit here in serbia yes definitely which by the way i'm sorry

to hear that there was the fire in the factory and you can yeah

we have a shortage now yeah in in the where i live now scopia

we have small packages of plasma like the original plasma that they are going

to be over soon as well.

Okay. So everyone should know these names and should try all these foods if

they come to, you know, Serbia one day or any other Balkan country.

And I want to move to family dynamics.

I know that family is the most important thing in Serbia.

I mean, what I observed.

Yeah. and what I love is like the love of baba like everyone talks

about their baba baba is like the I don't know in our culture is

deda like baba is also important but deda is like a little bit more

important at least in my region but here baba runs everything right which is

grandmother

grandmother baba yes I noticed in some parts of Serbia baba has and women

generally have a

more respected more you know they have the first word in the house in

some regions at least that's what i noticed but bob is very loved because

a lot of families or children grew up with bob and dada taking care

of them at the times where people couldn't afford their own home and

stuff like that they live with their parents and then children live in the

same house with their parents and grandfather and grandmother and they took care of

them they made food for them and that's why it's such a close relation

and they are of course they spoiled the grandkids yeah they bob and dad

are there to spoil their children and to protect them every time from when

they make a mess, Bob is there to protect you and so you do

not get into trouble.

Yeah. And this is really cute.

But also what I found interesting, in some families in Turkey also this happens,

but the cousins are like aunts, uncles and cousins.

They are not like distant.

They are most of the time very close.

And they call them brother and sister.

So Rojak is cousin.

Rojak is plural.

Yes. and but they call them brat brat yeah so for example

if your mom has a sister which would be an aunt right if they

her children would be your brother and sister or whatever we call it brat

sestra um we don't have distinctly like like my cousin but if you want

to say sibling specify you can say rogyni brat rogyna sestra that means sibling

I see so born yeah born brother that's

the meaning but does it also prove that your uncles and aunts Tricevi, Itetke

are also very close to you

well depends from family to family but again it's usually a close relation

in Serbian family everybody tries to be close Slava is something which keeps us

close. Exactly. That's the time that gathers the family around.

Very fun. And we will go to kumov, which is also sometimes family, sometimes

someone from your parents' friends, right?

But we will come to that in Slavos.

And I wanted to ask, just out of curiosity, about sve krva i nevesta,

which are mother and father-in-law, right?

Nevesta, so

Svekarva i svekar is mother and father-in-law.

And then you have tašta and tašta, which is also mother and father-in-law.

It depends if you're a groom or if you're a husband or a wife

in that relationship.

Yeah, I see.

So this is mother-in-law and the bride, let's say.

Nemest is a bride.

Svekar would be father-in-law to the bride, if that makes sense.

Yeah. It's so confusing.

We get lost in these family relations often.

I know, I know.

you have so many names but is there a common uh stereotype like a

tension in between of course of course like everybody would say um

between tashta and the husband and the wife

of course yeah that's sweet i see on the comedians um content especially from

serbia themes a lot i'm like oh this is very common all right slava

i think the first question like if you're a bit familiar with the serbian

culture and you're speaking with a serbian they are like okay you you know

you seem to know a little bit but how about slava slava is the

hardcore question they will definitely ask you if you are familiar with slava and

luckily i am now and i've been to some slavas oh good good yes

so there are two times of slava is like a name day we can

say right or religion day for the family i would describe it as like

a patron saint day every family has their own um saint which is like

patron of the your family and a protector of your family let's say and

most people massively celebrate that day, of course.

Yeah, exactly. There's some families I know that stopped celebrating slava.

Yeah, I mean, a lot of people living abroad, when they get integrated in

the different culture, they stop celebrating.

But in Serbia, usually people celebrate.

Maybe in Belgrade and bigger cultures, it's not as intense you know with

all the guests and everything but still at least Slavski kolac is the centerpiece

of Slava which is like a brown bread Sveća žito which is like how

would you translate žito?

wheat I would say yeah

like a bowl of wheat I guess and red wine are the center of

Slava. And guests are not that important.

It's good to have someone to celebrate with, but that's the most important part.

If guests come, I know that Srečna Slava Domacine is the phrase when you

enter. Srečna Slava Domacine.

Domacine is the host.

Yeah. Domacine is the host.

It also has a meaning like the head of the house.

Domačica is the female version of that.

So, yeah. Yeah.

And I know that there are two types of Slava, Posna or Mrzna, which

is meatless and meatful.

Yeah.

For Posna Slava, there's no meat, eggs, milk.

But there's fish.

So I was expecting it to be completely vegan, but I was like, oh,

there are lots of fish here.

Fish for some reason.

Yeah, there's fish.

I know. So as we do not have much time, but I want to

move to unique expressions a little bit.

Kod Nase Karja is the name of the book and I promoted it before

on our podcast, on our Instagram.

So can you read them for me?

and tell me when we use them.

Okay. The first one, da mi dupe vidi puta.

Yeah.

That is used when you want to talk about someone, you want to make

fun of someone for traveling somewhere just because they want to travel.

It kind of sounds bad, but it's a funny, it's a joking way to

say. So let me tell you the literal translation.

like let me let my back or ass see the road.

Rear. Yes.

Rear. So that means like I don't want to explain to you.

I'm just going to travel, right?

Yeah. And I love this.

You can spread it on bread.

This is interesting because we use bread to compare as something good.

Bread is something we very love.

And this means that someone is very good as a person.

And we also say, which also means good as a bread.

Yes. That's the origin.

Yeah, when you really like someone's character, you can use this phrase, I like

the next one too.

We're talking, let's say, about wolf, and Wolf is at the door.

I think this is like widely known as...

I mean, it explains itself.

Someone who you're talking about.

Yeah, when you're gossiping about someone, that person comes and somehow finds you.

And the other one is about money.

Yeah, kolko para tolko muzike.

much you tip that's how much you get some songs are more expensive than

the other of course and

the next one is let's talk about I think it's very similar with Kolko

no it's not maybe well it means you can get um gold

and money it means you can get both of you know you can only

get one you can get everything you want exactly either you buy the gold

with your money or you keep your money yes exactly okay another one about

again rear yeah my ear hurts or my rear all uh this

is means this is very frequent means like i don't give a damn i

don't give a yeah this this was a little bit strange to me when

you say boli met uvo like i i really didn't understand this first i

was like what do they mean like i'm tired of this topic it means

makes sense like i'm sick of this but my ear is sick or my

back is sick it's quite funny yeah i'm not sure what's the original yeah

but it's a funny one

meaning of it.

And let's talk about Balkan humor a couple of minutes.

I think whenever I say Pramaya, people smile.

Like, oh, Ima Pramaya of the Idemo.

That's kind of a joke that I use a lot.

But it's not funny normally.

Pramaya kills. They believe it, right?

Yeah.

That's one of the things we learn from our Baba and Deda, usually.

Pramaya is draft.

when you are in a draft you are easy to get sick sick yeah

or to get like a sore neck yeah or stuff like that but if

you have it the recipe or the medicine for that is rakia is

used as a medicine as well out like you can drink it and you

can also do it outside like on on your skin you can some people

rub it in for treat yeah sore neck or treat cuts yeah or stuff

like that yeah it works otherwise they wouldn't still use it yeah and one

of the phrases that i found a little bit strange in the beginning was

malostra. Because malo means little, stra means tomorrow, little tomorrow.

I was like, what is it?

What does it mean?

So we use it to say, this means never, or I don't believe that

it will happen.

So, for example, doći će malo sutra.

They will come never.

something like that yeah but when you say it doesn't have like literal never

meaning it's like hopeful when you hear it malo sutra like sutra like yeah

it's gonna you hope as it will happen but not really yeah that shows

how that balkan humor is a little bit black humor i would say sounds

like positive but actually it's negative exactly yeah yeah a little bit of darker