Eating Locally

One of my favorite things about spending time outside of the US is experiencing how other cultures relate to food. In that respect, visiting the Balkans is a real treat. Small vegetable stands selling locally sourced produce are a common sight in Tirana and also in the rural areas of Albania.

Most of the fruits and vegetables seem to be grown without pesticides and fertilizers (or at least with less of them) because they are smaller than what I'm used to seeing in US stores. Also, not every piece of fruit or vegetable is unblemished and uniform. They are all different shapes and sizes. And best of all, I've discovered that everything is so much more flavorful than what North American grocery stores offer.


These photos are from the farmer's market in Kotor, Montenegro.
















And let's not forget the local meats and cheeses! On our recent trip to Montenegro, we returned via a scenic road through the mountains. A little ways outside of Kotor we came to a small village that smelled like bacon. Intrigued, we soon noticed several smoke houses in use.

Smoke houses

Soon we came upon a sign advertising ham for sale. Further investigation revealed that the people of this hamlet make an amazing ham - like proscuitto but smoky. And as it turns out, we had eaten and admired the flavor of that ham the evening before at a restaurant where the chef was using small pieces of it to add a smoky element to his Alfredo sauce.







I also noted that the locals were promoting their product for hikers with this "ham trail". Very clever.

So we knocked on the door and the nice woman who lived there showed us her ham and cheese storage room.

Not sure what this is going to be made into

We loaded up. My hunk is sitting in my fridge now and I'm thinking of split pea soup with ham....