What to Eat in North Macedonia: Typical Macedonian Food and Specialties | Page 3 of 3
Bieno Sirenje: The Macedonian Beaten Cheese from Mariovo
Bieno sirenje is the "beaten cheese" of North Macedonia: the curd is kneaded and beaten by hand, the rounds dry in the sun and then ripen in a strong brine. It comes from Mariovo, the mountain region near Prilep, and legend says it was invented as a cheese the tax collectors wouldn't want. These days it's made from cow's milk too. It's sold vacuum-packed, so you can bring some home.
Tetovski Grav: Large White Beans from Polog
Tetovski grav are large white beans from the Polog region below the Šar Mountains, the variety the Macedonian national dish tavče gravče is built on. They hold their shape once cooked and the skins stay on, but the growers are disappearing and cheap imports sell under the Tetovo name at the markets. Why Macedonians talk about them so much, and how to buy them as a souvenir without carrying Egyptian beans home.
Zelen Pazar: Skopje's Market for an Ordinary Day
Zelen pazar is where Skopje shops for an ordinary day: the market on Kočo Racin Boulevard feeds the neighborhoods around the center and only sees the occasional tourist. Under the roofs they sell vegetables, fruit, kajmak, beans and sweets by weight, and on the sidewalk around them sit the herb sellers with mountain tea and elderflower laid out on cardboard. The name simply means green market. You find the same kind of market all over the Balkans.
Macedonian Beer: Skopsko and Zlaten Dab in a Land of Wine and Rakija
In practice, Macedonian beer means two brands: Skopsko from the capital and Zlaten Dab from Prilep, pale lagers at around 4.5% ABV. Skopsko holds two thirds of the market; the company that brews it was founded by Czechs in 1922 and now belongs to Heineken and Coca-Cola. Statistics say beer is actually the number one alcoholic drink in this land of wine and rakija.
Gazoza: The Legendary Macedonian Pear Soda
Gazoza is a sweet sparkling soda with a pear flavor and a golden color, bottled by Prilepska pivarnica, a brewery founded in 1924. In Italy, Greece and Turkey the word simply means carbonated water; only the Macedonians added the pear. It's the best-selling domestic soft drink in North Macedonia, drunk ice cold, straight from the bottle.
Cockta: The Rosehip Soda From the Former Yugoslavia
Cockta is a caffeine-free fizzy drink made from rosehips, lemon and eleven herbs, created in the fifties as the Yugoslav answer to the Coca-Cola nobody could get. The color says cola, the taste says anything but. Today it's drunk all over the former Yugoslavia, and in North Macedonia you'll find it in every larger supermarket next to the local gazoza.
Pelisterka: The Macedonian Mineral Water from the Foot of Pelister
Pelisterka is the best-known Macedonian mineral water: naturally sparkling, low in minerals, bottled from boreholes beneath the Pelister mountains near Bitola. Its name was picked by a public poll, the label boasts the year 1953 even though the water itself didn't come along until fifteen years later, and Macedonians call it kisela voda. A still version in a clear bottle has been around since 2009.
Cedevita: The Balkan Vitamin Drink Powder
Cedevita is an instant vitamin drink powder that fizzes gently as you stir it into cold water. It was created in 1969 at the Zagreb pharmaceutical company Pliva, and what started as a pharmacy remedy became the soft drink of the whole former Yugoslavia. In North Macedonia you find it in every shop, even though it has a local rival there - Cevitana from Prilep.