North Macedonia
Ajdučka Pleskavica
Ајдучка плескавица
A flat minced-meat patty stuffed with smoked ham, cheese and hot peppers, grilled until the filling runs.
southern-europe
North Macedonia
Explore 70 foods connected to North Macedonia, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
70 foods12 leading categories1 Essentials guides
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North Macedonia Essentials
12 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
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Traditional foods from North Macedonia.
70 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
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Serbia
Ajvar
Ајвар
Relish made from roasted peppers and eggplants, a popular condiment throughout the Balkans, traditionally prepared in autumn, versatile and savory.
Turkey
Ayran
Ajran
Ayran is a cold drink of yogurt, water and salt, whisked until lightly foamy. In Bulgaria it is a summer fountain and meal drink, never a sweet yogurt.
Lebanon
Baklava
بقلاوة
Layers of paper-thin phyllo brushed with butter and filled with chopped walnuts or pistachios, baked crisp then drenched in lemon- or rose-scented sugar syrup. One square, cut diamond-small, is the shared Ottoman dessert of the whole eastern Mediterranean.
North Macedonia
Bieno Sirenje
Биено сирење
Bieno sirenje is Mariovo cheese made by beating curd in hot whey until stringy, then pressing and brining it.
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnian Burek
Burek
The Bosnian burek, layers of thin phyllo dough spiralled around a filling of minced beef and onions, baked until golden and crisp. In Bosnia, only the meat version is called burek.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnian Sarma
Sarma
A Bosnian dish of pickled cabbage leaves stuffed with minced beef or lamb, rice, onion and paprika, slow-simmered in a flavourful broth, often with smoked meat.
Prizren, Albania
Boza
Боза
A thick, tangy, and slightly sweet fermented drink made from millet, wheat, or bulgur. With ancient roots in Central Asia, boza is traditionally consumed in winter, sold by street vendors whose calls echo through neighborhoods at night. It is topped with cinnamon and roasted chickpeas (leblebi) and has a low alcohol content of about one percent.
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Musaka
Мусака
Diced potato — not aubergine — layered with minced pork, onion and paprika, then covered with a yogurt-and-egg topping that bakes into a pale golden crust.
Serbia
Bulgarian Popara
Попара
A Bulgarian breakfast of stale bread or kozunak soaked in hot milk, tea or yogurt, with crumbled sirene cheese and a knob of butter.
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Yogurt
Кисело мляко
Yogurt set with Lactobacillus bulgaricus, the bacterium named for the country — thick, sharply sour and eaten plain rather than sweetened.
Bulgaria
Chomlek
Чомлек
Beef and whole small onions stewed slowly in red wine and bay until the onions collapse into the sauce.
Ohrid, North Macedonia
Cironka
Циронка
Small lake fish from Ohrid and Prespa salted and dried in the sun into stiff, intensely savoury strips.
Serbia
Filled Pancakes
Палачинке
Thin pancakes rolled around walnut and sugar, jam, or chocolate spread, and sold from dedicated street windows late into the night.
North Macedonia
Jogurtlija
Јогуртлија
Kebapchinja or minced meat laid over torn flatbread and covered in warm garlicky yoghurt and paprika butter.
Albania
Kadaif
Кадаиф
Shredded filo dough wrapped around walnut filling, baked until golden, then soaked in sweet syrup, crispy shredded texture with generous nut filling and good syrup absorption, a beloved dessert.
Serbia
Kajmak
Кајмак
Kajmak is a thick, lightly cultured cream skimmed from warm milk, eaten fresh with bread and grilled meats. In Montenegro the same dairy tradition is called skorup.
North Macedonia
Kashkaval
Кашкавал
Kashkaval is a firm, pale-yellow Balkan cheese, usually made from sheep’s milk or a sheep-and-cow blend and eaten sliced or melted.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Kačamak
Качамак
Coarse cornmeal beaten with water and salt into a thick porridge, then loaded with kajmak, young cheese or cracklings.
North Macedonia
Kebapchinja
Ќебапчиња
Small fingers of minced beef and lamb grilled over charcoal and served ten at a time with raw onion and flatbread.
North Macedonia
Kompir Mandža
Компир манџа
Potatoes stewed with pork or beef, onion and paprika into a thick, brick-red everyday stew.
North Macedonia
Kozinjak
Козинак
Sweet enriched Easter bread plaited from strands of egg-and-butter dough and glazed to a deep brown.
Kruševo, North Macedonia
Kruševo Lokum
Крушевски локум
Small, soft, slightly chewy Turkish-delight squares made in Kruševo and dusted heavily with icing sugar.
Kruševo, North Macedonia
Kruševo Pot
Крушевско грне
Pork, mushrooms, peppers, vegetables and cheese sealed in an individual clay pot and baked until the contents fuse.
Albania
Kukurec
Кукурец
Traditional southern Albanian dish of lamb offal (sweetbreads, heart, liver) wrapped in cleaned lamb intestines, seasoned with herbs, and slow-roasted until crispy, a holiday specialty.
North Macedonia
Lapa
Лапа
Cornmeal or flour cooked to a loose porridge with cheese and butter stirred through, eaten in the mountains for breakfast.
North Macedonia
Leblebija
Леблебија
Roasted chickpeas sold by the paper cone from street vendors, plain, salted or sugar-coated.
North Macedonia
Lutenica
Лутеница
Hot pepper relish cooked down with tomato, garlic and chilli until dark and thick, jarred for the winter.
North Macedonia
Macedonian Jufki
Јуфки
Macedonian jufki are small flat squares of dried dough, boiled like pasta and served with butter, cheese or a meat sauce.
North Macedonia
Macedonian Potato Moussaka
Мусака со компири
Macedonian potato moussaka layers sliced potatoes with minced meat and onion, finished with a baked yogurt-and-egg topping.
North Macedonia
Macedonian Pršuta
Пршута
Pork leg or beef salted and air-dried in the mountain villages, sliced thin as a meze with rakija.
North Macedonia
Makalo
Макало
Garlic pounded with salt, walnut and a little water or oil into a sharp sauce served with fried or roast meat.
North Macedonia
Malidžano
Малиџано
Roasted aubergine chopped fine with walnut, garlic, cheese and oil into a coarse spread eaten with bread.
North Macedonia
Mastika
Мастика
Anise and mastic-flavoured spirit distilled mainly around Strumica, drunk cold as an aperitif and clouding with water.
North Macedonia
Maznik
Мазник
Coiled hand-stretched pastry filled with cheese and egg or with minced meat, wound into a spiral and baked.
Bulgaria
Mekitsi
Мекици
Yogurt-slackened dough torn by hand and deep-fried into irregular puffed discs, eaten hot with icing sugar, jam or white cheese crumbled over.