New challenging times for Serbia

 I think that nobody have missed out on the election being held in Serbia yesterday, a lot of build up for weeks resulted in a victory for the opposition side against Vukcic, it is what it is BUT

now the new side have to do something with the victory, no plans, no program and no politicly knowable people to run this show, I can honestly tell you that all will go to shit and in 6 months we will have a revolution there.

the opposing side is in my personal opinion work from EU Ursula and the Croat government that are taking a swing against Serbia because Vukcic told them to Fuck off when they were demanding Serbia to accept Kosovo as own country and territory, this guy is Serb and would never ever do this, so they found another way to take him down. and they managed by uprising the students.

Yes, I do agree that not everything was working perfect and that corruption was occurring on high positions that affect normal people but tell me a country where this is not happening!? we do need to be realistic here and also admit the economic progress that Vukcic have done in the past 6 years compared to the rest of Europe, check de facts.

So let take a deep breath and embrace for very hard times in Serbia

Zivela Srbija

Culinary medals for what?

 Dear all, my friend Alan was writing a post on culinary medals, and I want to ad my view on this topic

So let's start with this for me absolute ridiculous way of how some private associations and guilds are giving out medals for nothing or some you need to pay for like the world MasterChef society that charges you a couple of hundred quid for a medal worth absolutely nothing and you don't need to prove any skills.

This phenomena is mostly common in culinary handicapped regions like middle east, eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America where some chefs looks like Christmas trees and can't cook a decent risotto for shit, unfortunately this is what the public things and I think throughout my travels I have meet the worst kind, totally without basic knowledge and call themself master chef, what a joke.

I do have some of these medals somewhere but all without value for nothing, but what I do have is the honorary lifetime worldchefs Avard medal that I trolly appreciate and feel humble to have received for my work as a board member.

If you look at the certificate below you will not find a name of any of the world president or chairman, what kind of joke is this?  what is this worth?  this is just an example and there is hundred of suspicious groups like this, what is your take on this? 

All these obscure countries have food traditions for sure and should be taken care of but please, don't call yourself MasterChef if you don't even know the basic skills.

Below is a photo of me taken from internet and they never asked och provide any explanation, even the country of origin is wrong, this kind is circulating around just to give this people some culinary weight that they cannot provide themself, do I care, yes, I do but can't do much about it, people who know they know.

 

Bright future and junior culinary brightness

 You know when you sometimes meet people that you instantly like and find ambitious, creative, humble and bad-ass talented? all thin imbedded in this young talented Serbian pastry chef that I had the pleasure to judge last week, I could pay for these desserts over again in any high-end restaurant in the world, fantastic!!

I can't wait to see what she and her National Serbian junior team will accomplish in the upcoming culinary world cup end of November, I will be there supporting and more from this event later.

Bravo Sef!!

Open Balkan 2026

 I am back from another amazing adventure in my home country of Serbia and the 2026 edition of Wine vision and Open Balkan culinary competition for the 5 th year in a row.

First thing is that I love the opportunity to invite judges to explore Serbian culture, rakija, history and food and this year's lineup was fantastic with Daren from Malaysia/London, Danny from Wales, Daniel from Germany, Jimmi from Sweden, Alan from France, Justinus from Lithuania and Gianluca from Italy, how lucky and fortunate I am to have chef friends like this from the global culinary scene and I feel humble that they took the time to come to Serbia.

The whole idea here is to not only compete but also to mentor young local chefs and give them feedback so they can raise the bar and become the best they can in the region and the world, many competitors have been competing several years now and you can clearly see that the feedback is paying off and they raise to the occasion this year again, excellent work and I cannot be more proud of the young Serbian chefs.

To spent time with chefs is always different on another strange level, we can talk about food, analyze, adapt and also enjoy with ease, chefs are really easy to satisfy even if people think differently and that's the power of the white jacket, like the 3 musketeers but many more. 

This would not be possible to organize without my brother Nikola from Junior chefs club Serbia who without his passion and determination non of this could happen and a big shout out to him.

Brate ti si najbolji!!

And to my lovely wife, thank you for being with me in Belgrade, love you.

Culinary team of Singapore at IKA

 I was just daydreaming and start to think of my time in Singapore and the decision we made to send a team to compete at the culinary Olympics in Stuttgart in 2020, what a fun time this was and all the preparation around it with trainings and tryouts, what a great team it was with talented chefs from my unit that put so much time on their own to stay top of things, I will always cherish this adventure and sweet memories.

Yes the team ended up with a silver medal

Majulah Singapura

My military days

Many of you don't know that I was in the Swedish military for more than 20 years, I started at 16 with the FBU young junior academy until I did my military service at T4 1984 as medic for 15 months focusing on PJ missions and trauma battle wounds, I learns so much that I still today have this in my backbone.

After my conscript time I went to do my officer training to be a lieutenant with specialty in CQC and did this for like 10 years + my ambition was never to be a high rank officer sitting behind a desk, I always enjoyed much more to be a member of the gang out in the real world, I miss this a lot.

To be part of a strong brotherhood is hard to describe but you who knows, knows what I'm talking about

Here with my beautiful wife

Vis Et Honor

Gibanica or cheese pie from Balkan

Gibanica is one of the most recognizable pastry dishes from the Balkans, whether served on festive occasions or as a comforting family snack. In Serbia, the dish is eaten as breakfast, dinner, appetizer and snack, and is often consumed at traditional events such as Christmas, easter and Slava.

Gibanica is a traditional Serbian cheese pie made with delicate layers of filo pastry and a rich filling of white cheese, eggs, and dairy products such as sour cream or yogurt. Baked until golden brown and beautifully crisp on top, this beloved Balkan pastry is known for its flaky texture, creamy interior, and comforting homemade flavor.

The name Gibanica is believed to come from the Serbian verb gibati, meaning “to fold,” “to shake,” or “to move.” The name reflects the traditional method of layering and arranging thin sheets of dough to create the pastry’s signature texture.

At its core, Gibanica is made from simple ingredients that come together to create a remarkably satisfying dish. The filling typically combines crumbled white cheese, eggs, sour cream or yogurt, and a small amount of oil or butter. Many traditional recipes also include sparkling water, which helps create a lighter filling and contributes to the pie’s soft, airy texture.

I do mine as called guzvara which means that I don't layer mine, I dip the pastry in to the egg-cheese mix and just layer and fill up the tray, faster and much easier to make.

Traditionally its made in a round large pie form but I do make mine in square, the shape doesn't matter really, take whatever you have and here is a simple recipe that I use.

4 egg

500 gram white cheese of any kind

200 gram of yogurt or sour cream

100 gram of sparkling water

1 teaspoon baking powder

salt to taste

1 pack of filo pastry

mix everything in a large bowl

Dipp 1 filo sheet at a time and arrange in the baking dish that you have

the last sheet should go on top as a cover and brush some oil on it

bake at 180 degrees for 35-40 minutes until nice color