expressed their disappointment those visitors who neglected to secure their slice of the Slovenian baklava before it was gone. And it was gone in a jiffy, not even its huge size was enough to appease all the visitors of the 10th festival of Bosnian food which took place at the Stritar square in Ljubljana.
In order to mark the round number anniversary of the traditional festival annually organized in Ljubljana in April, the organizers of the festival, the ZemZem Women’s Association, set themselves a special challenge. Since the beginning of the Festival baklava has been the most sought-after specialty, therefore the skilled hands of the best cooks made a Slovenian baklava for the Guinness record, 50 cm wide and 18.75 m long!
"We were not afraid of this challenge, and we broke the previously set record, baklava of 200 kg," Ela Porić, a member of the ZemZem Association, explained to the gathered crowd. "We are happy to announce that the Slovenian baklava for the Guinness record exceeds that weight – it weights precisely 309 kg and 839 grams. We sincerely hope that the jury (for the Guinness Book of Records) will in future weeks confirm this data, and thus confirm that the Slovenian baklava was the heaviest baklava in the world. And another record was set, as the Slovenian baklava was the longest baklava ever made.”
Walnuts are the most important ingredient in baklava; for this giant baklava more than 60 kilograms of walnuts were used, and more than 60 kilograms of sugar… Porić explained that a secret ingredient had been used, which made it less caloric – and she encouraged everybody to indulge in an extra piece … But the encouragement came too soon – in the end those who had waited until the end of the official programme, the speech by the mayor Zoran Janković and Mufti Nedžad Grabus, followed by the folklore dance group Ljiljan, remained without their slice of baklava. The visitors kept asking the cooks whether all the slices were really gone, but not even 40 metres of baklava would have been enough for all the visitors.
The price of a slice was not defined – the cooks kept saying “give from your heart”, and “good deeds are repaid”. The profit from the sale is intended for the Islamic cultural centre in Ljubljana. "Everybody is thus contributing to the construction of the new Islamic Cultural Centre, which will become a space for multicultural dialogue, and cooperation," Porić explained.
"’Bujrum’, coffee"
The visitors had also the opportunity to taste real Bosnian coffee, prepared in the biggest ‘džezva’ (Turkish coffee pot) in the world, as certified by the Guinness Book or Records. The coffee pot was brought to Ljubljana by the Vispak company. It was made in Visoko in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004, and ever since then the coffee pot has been travelling all over the world. This time it came to Ljubljana, to please the visitors of the Festival of Bosnian Food. At this occasion 300 litres of coffee were prepared, while the pot allows preparation of as much as 630 l of coffee, the owner of the coffee pot proudly explained. "Bujrum (Please help yourself – T. N.), taste it, it is not every day you have the opportunity to taste real Bosnian coffee," the ladies serving coffee encouraged people waiting in queues.
Not every pie is a ‘burek’
Warm and sincere hospitality is one of the characteristics of the Bosnian cuisine, and it was shown this time as well. The festival organizers said that the purpose of such festivals is to present the best known specialties, both salty and sweet: "When the Bosnian cuisine is mentioned, to most of Slovenians burek, chevapchics, and baklava come to mind. We offer many more dishes at our festivals, and we sincerely hope to correct the misconception that every pie is a ‘burek’. And as repetition is the mother of wisdom, we must say it again: ‘burek’ is made with meat filling, while pies with different fillings, be it cheese, potatoes, or cabbage, have different names."
Dolores Subotić, foto: Žiga Živulović jr./BoBo, MMC RTV SLO
Translated by G. K.
