It’s time to go to Kosovo: Recovering from the horrors of war through ajvar, leek pie and polyphonic singing
And so I find myself in the ancient Dardanian (literally pear) Kingdom now known as Kosovo (literally blackbird field). Having recently seen the “Kosovo is Serbia” graffiti in Belgrade, I am aware that some still challenge its right to exist, but as this week’s film and book both tackle the horrors of the Kosovan war, I am glad that peace reigns and that 114 UN states recognise its independence. The most recent deaths happened in 2023 and was apparently about recognition of number plates…
..this may seem trivial, but war traumas get buried so deep that seemingly small things can bring a heap of PTSD to the fore. This is one of the subject tackled by this week’s must-see film Hive, the true story of Kosovan war widows trying to restore their lives during a fragile peace. They are faced with barrier after barrier, not least of which is that they still hope their husbands will return as their bodies have never been found. Our heroine, Fahrije is trying to support her two children and disabled father-in-law with her few remaining bee hives, when a local NGO encourages her to go beyond societal expectations and take up their offer of teaching her to drive. Insanely, such a simple thing rankles the patriarchal society, back but she keeps on keeping on and sets up a cooperative making Ajvar (we will come to this later) which in the end brings in a decent income, not just for her, but the whole community of widows. I urge you to watch it and then to smash the patriarchy and end all wars (not necessarily in that order).
The feel good joy of Hive was a welcome counter-balance to the feel bad hell of this week’s book, Bolla. This time the action takes place before, during and after the war and, having thought I’d bought a story of homosexual love across the divides, what I actually forked out for was much darker. An Albanian wannabe writer and a Serbian doctor fall in love before being split up by the war. While the wannabe writer escapes with his wife, the doctor stays and experiences enough horrors to lead him to a psychiatric ward… both characters respond to their situation by becoming unlikeable anti-heroes and then when you think a joyous denouement is upon us… it turns out the deus ex machina is dead. I guess it is realistic, but it sure ain’t satisfying… they don’t walk off into the sunset together, in fact they don’t walk, they’re not together… and there isn’t a sunset.
Luckily, this week’s music and food brought the mood right back up, starting with the playlist which I kept on repeat — Music of the Albanian Kosovars. If you like Balkan music and polyphonic singing, this is one for you! It was the perfect accompaniment for cooking and eating Lakror me Pras, a dish that I hoped would be like toad in the hole, but with leeks taking the place of sausages! Unfortunately, my veganised version came out cloggy. It tasted fine, but instead of light fluffy Yorkshire Pud batter, I got something more akin to lardy cake (I apologise to non-Brits who may have lost understanding of what I am talking about!) Luckily I paired it with Jani Me Fasule, a delicious white bean soup which we all loved it, though in future I’d probably blend the beans. Finally I baked Pitalke, a soft, delicious roll-type affair which went perfectly with the Ajvar I found in a local shop. The jar claimed it as Macedonian, but hopefully all Ajvars are pretty similar. For those who haven’t googled it yet, Ajvar is a vegan kind of dip, relish or pasta sauce made of roasted peppers, aubergine and spices. Try it, you may love it!
And finally I shall leave you with the Kosovan drink, or drinks. Apparently Kosovans love coffee, tea (rosehip, black and mint), beer, energy drinks, brandy, wine and rakia… pretty much everything then! So I drank them all alongside the very un-vegan ayran (a kind of salty yoghurt), and even rasoj, the juice left after pickling cabbage. What a world!
Farewell until next week when we will be in Kurdistan!
