Bosnian Pita and specifically the Burek is something you cannot leave the country without trying. This post is a big one. A true Bosnian icon. We’re trying out Burek! Sac in the old town of Sarajevo is a charming restaurant that does a variety of pita. What is pita? Pita are Bosnian pies with a variety of different fillings. You can get cheese, potato, spinach and cheese, and meat. They each have their own individual names with the meat one being Burek. It’s a no frill restaurant with some seats inside and quite a lot outside. You go in or take a seat and order what you want. We had to go for the Burek of course. We did what the locals did and asked the nice lady to pour sour cream all over the Burek and boy were we grateful of making that decision. It complimented the meat and pastry oh so well. We saw others drink yoghurt (ayran) on the side too, which sounds good right now and maybe an alternative if you don’t want to pour sour cream over your Burek.
Don’t miss this!
How does it taste?
I have a soft spot for the pastry and meat combination, so my review of this dish was always going to be clouded and biased. I was always going to LOVE it. The pastry is flaky, slightly crispy, but more on the softer and soggier side (maybe due to the sour cream). The meat is cooked to perfection and thankfully there was no meaty taste (something we found to be the case with all meat dishes in the country – very impressed with how they cooked their meat and the quality of it). And the sour cream (even if some hated on us online) was a game changer. It complimented the pastry and the meat so well. It played the part of a gravy or sauce in a meat and rice dish. Genius and we loved it. Some people online said it isn’t authentic, but hey everyone there was getting it and the lady serving us even offered it to us without us asking.
What’s in the name?
This is another extremely sensitive topic for Bosnians. Never call this dish Burek unless you are specifically referring to the meat one. This is a sensitive point and it triggers both Bosnians and Turks. Turks have a similar dish and for them the name of the dish is Burek regardless of the filling. And I guess that is the root cause of the trigger. For Bosnians the general name for the dish is Pita, which means pie. And then each Pita has a different name depending on the filling. More on that below. However, the name Pita is a reason for another controversy. Other nationalities like the Greeks come and claim the term Pita and this opens up another can of unnecessary worms.
Bosnian pita has different name for different ingredients, Burek is only with meat, Sirnica is with cheese (cottage cheese), Krompiruša is with potatoes, Zeljanica is a mix of cheese and spinach, but the spinach can be substituted with common nettle which gives it a different taste but it’s still good. During the war, people were making pita with rice as it was the only thing available to them at the time.
Where to try it: Sac
The old town of Sarajevo is full of charm, character and wonderful restaurants. This is right up there as being one of the best. They do one thing and one thing only. Pita. And as mentioned Pita can come in a variety of fillings. You’ll get women dressed in traditional attire serving you and men at the back working hard cooking. Inside the shop feels like an old school canteen kind of vibe. Tight, food displayed on the window and you’re rushed to choose what you want. It is quick, so be prepared to order. There were a few seats inside, but you want to be sitting outside to be honest (if the weather is good of course). They have plenty of seating outside to cater for the large number of visitors they get. Make sure you visit this Sac though and not another one that will pop up on Google maps, which is nearby, so it can be confusing. I’ll link the one you need to visit below.
Is it just Turkish food??
Most of my Bosnian food series posts on Instagram and TikTok went viral and so this attracted numerous people from numerous parts of the world to comment and engage with my posts. Unfortunately, this meant that a lot of haters have come through to spread hate and, in all honesty, expose their own insecurity. To simplify Bosnian food and just call it Turkish, is naive, silly and just straight up culturally ignorant. Firstly, you need to educate yourself about the history of the ottomans and Islam in Bosnia. It will surprise you and hopefully make you realise a little more about the country, its history, its religion and even its food influences. Secondly, you need to educate yourself about how food works. Wherever you go in the world, you’ll find dishes (a few to many) that have been derived from or influenced by dishes from other parts of the world. I come from England and so I’ll use my country as an example – I implore you to look up the national dish of England. And I’ll leave it there…
Getting there
Google Maps link
