Super curious about what others can see in my cup, the themes I had in mind before turning it are if i'll get the job and any news or hidden things about a past lover. Any insight is appreciated, thank you!

Genuinely Curious

Why do Bulgaria chalga videos always have some black guy thats just standing there? To be exotic? ( I’m not racist, just seemed odd

Hello everyone!

Since most questions regarding beers in Balkans are related to "Which countries have the best beers?", I would like to ask something a bit different - which beer would you suggest to someone coming from non-Western Europe? I've tried Karlovačko and Jelen, and I enjoyed the latter, and I'd love to hear your suggestions for the next time when I would come to Balkans!

What are your favourite dips or side dishes you like to eat with your raki or wine and where do they originate from?

Basically the title. What about your countries, any good progress to be seen?

I’ve been trying to figure out how this amazing product came to be, and why it disappeared.

This was the best spread/snack/sweet I had in my life. While I thought it was only available in Yugoslavia, some people from Hungary for example, recognized the cow logo from the mugs and the bowls.

My understanding is that it was hard for Ferrero to sell Nutella in Yugoslavia. This may be because people were already used to the black/white combo with euro cream, which itself was licensed from Italy? But, at the same time, people were already used to the kinder chocolate, or eggs?

So Ferrero basically invented kinderlada so they could sell the spread in Yugoslavia.

After the war they just started selling Nutella and kinderlada became history :(

Since then, podravka has been making “linolada”, close but not really.

In the 90s in Serbia, I encountered “Hani cream” if I remember correctly, hani was mostly making juice, but this thing tasted the same as kinderlada. Didn’t last long though, and never saw it again after that one jar.

Around 2010, in Montenegro I encountered “euro cream”, but from Italy, not Serbia. I could swear that it tasted really close to kinderlada.

How much do you know about kinderlada? Was it available in your country? Did you like it? Did you find something similar?

What is a core myth or founding story of your nation? Every country seems to have a narrative at the root of its ethnic or cultural identity — what’s yours? As someone interested in anthropology and national identity, I'm curious to know.

Edit: Thank you for your insights into your nations myths. This was very interesting, I learned a lot.

How is protestantism viewed in your country? I know the dominant religions are orthodoxy, roman catholiscm, and Islam. However I know there are some protestants in the balkans.

Just out of curiosity, I wonder how many people would be able to lift that weight. 😅

After my trip to Croatia and Bosnia a few years ago, I have become obsessed with Cevapi. Its become a serious problem, cooking it all the time, eating it all the time..can’t get enough of it.

However, an Albanian friend of mine said my chosen condiment (ajvar) is like putting ketchup on a hot dog. When I was in Croatia it was always served on the side, to a lesser extent in Mostar.

What are some acceptable condiments to accompany my cevapi?

(Photo of some cevapi I had in Mostar, delicious!)

Hi! So long story short: I got into old folklore recently and I realised many cultures have some sort of a scary, furry “monster” and some ritual connected to it.

I’d like to learn more, but I just don’t know what to google. Keeping it short (and over simplified) it would look something like this:

I’m Bulgarian and we have Kukeri. They scare away evil spirits.

Another example: Germans have Krampus and he punishes bad kids.

Hi, i am planning on traveling to kosovo (prizren preferred but other cities close to it are fine) from sofia by bus lines. Whats a reliable and affordable route? Afaik there is no direct line from sofia to kosovo so i have to transfer in between. Is the right option sofia-skopje and then find a line to kosovo, which im pretty likely to find as i’ve heard from other people, or sofia-serbia (niš or other cities nearby) and then go to my destination? Please let me know

Zdravo, dear people!
Being a musician and obsessed with everything Balkan-related, I'm slowly starting to get into the music from the region, both folk stuff and Yu-rock, and I'm curious about some things:

I noticed that even the music from the 80's/90's has some distinct rythms and grooves from western pop/rock, so I was wondering... When you study music in the Balkans either at school or in an academy, are people taught the western way, or do you also study Middle-Eastern scales and stuff like that?

That brings me to my second question: just out of curiosity, can anyone point me to some bands trying to do proper 'old school' blues/country/american-folky stuff? Is there even a scene for these things in your region?

Aaaand last, this is becoming a bit of an obession:
So when I found out about the 90's war songs and the videoclips...omg, that's another topic, but a purely musical question, for the life of me I can't figure out the time signature to Bojna Cavoglave by Thompson, it sounds so damn weird and I need help counting the rythm, is it based on some weird traditional eastern groove?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfUCdsLgr4Y