Imagine yourself in a country far away from yours, far away not just in kilometers, but also language, culture and tradition wise. Imagine there are no bonds between the two countries, and that finding anything connected to your homeland would be a huge surprise. Such was my case.
Bosnia and Bolivia don't have any special ties between them, which is a shame, and something that we certainly hope will change in the future. So, imagine my surprise, after being away from everything Bosnian for two years, when I had, by pure chance, discovered that a certain restaurant was serving a meal typical for my country. I was over the moon. The food in question is called Ćevapi, sometimes referred to as Ćevapčići, a somewhat sausage shaped mixture of minced meat (typically 80 % beef and 20 % lamb), grilled and served on a special type of flatbread called lepinja or somun, served with chopped onions and sour cream called kajmak.
I was sceptical to say the least, but hopeful, I'm not going to lie. The restaurant which supposedly served the dish wasn't specialized, so to say, in those type of meals, or for any type of meals, to be honest. And a place which serves good ćevapi, has to have some background knowledge about that specific meal. We decided to go, of course. We came there at lunch time, the place was half full, we took our seats and anxiously looked through the menu. And all of a sudden, a moment which not surprisingly brought a smile to my face, standing amidst the names of meals I really didn't care about at the time, Cevapcici, without the "Č" or "Ć", but I couldn't care less.
We ordered one portion, to see the size and the quality of the meal, we were still careful not to get ahead of ourselves and end up paying the double for something which could disappoint us. So, we sat there and waited, talking about the possibilities of how it may look, joking around, laughing and giggling at the variety of options we discussed. Some 15 minutes later, it happened. There it was, in front of us. We didn't know what to think.
Not in our wildest dreams did we thought we would be introduced to a meal so different than the one we expected.
The meat mince was very different to the original. It was clearly a beef mince only, very soft and fragile to the touch, unlike the ćevap (individual piece of meat), which is firm and chewy, due to the meat mixture. But for a place not familiar with the background of the dish, it was a mistake which could be forgiven. But the biggest difference came in the fact that there was no bread. Not that it was served with a different type of bread, or that the bread was served differently, no. There was no bread at all. The meat, or I should say meatballs, because it resembled exactly that, was served with some fries and a salad, which consisted of some lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. Rare thing from the original recipe were onions.
It's safe to say that we were disappointed, me especially, because the difference was enormous. There was a chance of experiencing a familiar taste of home so far away with someone I love, knowing that she would love the meal if it came in its originality. But then again, the reality was that it was always a long shot, and that we expected to be different, and that the difference between Bosnia and Bolivia is big, and that certain recipes, from distant and unfamiliar countries, will be altered and adjusted to the people of the country in which it's served. So, we tried to leave our disappointment behind and finish the meal which was in front of us, and truth be told, once we officially declared that we are not eating ćevapi, but rather meatballs, we enjoyed it.
So, if you find yourself in a similar position, and the disappointment gets the better of you, try to see it from a different
perspective. It's not about lamenting over something we don't have, but rather rejoicing about something that's ours to enjoy.