Salas

Last Saturday we joined other Embassy families on a trip out of Belgrade to a salas--a countryside restaurant/guesthouse in Vojvodina, the northern region of Serbia. It was our first road trip here, and we fell in love with the place.

It seemed as though this salas, which has been run by the same family since the late 19th century, had been perfectly preserved as it would have been 100 years ago. The owners--an old married couple helped by their children--closed to their doors to all other guests for the day in order to host us and they went to great lengths to welcome us. The husband greeted us in his traditional peasant attire with a loaf of delicious bread. The house was decorated with traditional handcrafts, tools, and old family photos. Everything was so beautiful in it's simplicity.

 

The grounds were as picturesque as the house. After a leisurely breakfast, the husband walked us through the plum orchard and corn field, treating us along the way to more than we could eat. He gathered beautiful blue plums into a 100-year-old basket his family has used for generations. The kids had a blast getting lost in the corn, picking grapes, and, especially, tackling the dogs and snuggling with a new litter of puppies that were nestled away in a haystack. The only thing that would have made it more beautiful would have been some sun--it was quite overcast, but thankfully never rained.

 

The wife taught us to make ajvar, a local delicacy that Serbs make in the fall. They roast red peppers over an open fire, then peel and grind them, mix them with onion and oil (and sometimes eggplant), and use it as a spread or garnish throughout the winter. It's really tasty, but a lot of work. The whole process takes no less than three days. Luckily, they had made enough jars in advance for everyone to take home plenty.

 

After the ajvar demonstration, the husband led us to two nearby monasteries. Serbia is famous for its historic Orthodox monasteries--I have the feeling we'll see many more over the next couple of years. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the older one, though Andrew snuck a grainy shot of the hundreds-years-old icons on the upper dome.

After the monastery tours, we returned to the salas for a hardy lunch and a long afternoon soaking in the pastoral atmosphere. The kids are already begging to go back.