Gibanica

Gibanica(Serbian Cyrillic:гибаница,pronounced[ˈɡibanit͡sa]) is a traditional pastry dish popular all over theBalkans. It is usually made with cottage cheese and eggs. Recipes can range from sweet to savoury, and from simple to festive and elaboratemulti-layered cakes.
A derivative of theSerbo-Croatianverbgibati/гибати meaning "to fold; sway, swing, rock", the pastry was mentioned inVuk Stefanović Karadžić'sSerbian Dictionaryin 1818 and by a Slovenian priest Jožef Kosič in 1828, where it was described as a special Slovenian cake which is "a must at wedding festivities and is also served to workers after finishing a big project".It is a type of layeredstrudel, a combination of Turkish and Austrian influences in different cuisines of the formerYugoslavia. Today the versions of this cake can be found inSlovenia,Croatia,Serbia,Bosnia,North Macedoniaand other regions of the former Yugoslavia. Variants of this rich layered strudel are found inHungary,Bulgaria,Greece,Turkey, andSyria.
Gibanica may sometimes also refer to awalnut roll, which is a sweet bread with a spiral of walnut paste rolled up inside.
In the vocabulary of the Yugoslav Academy, as well as in the etymological dictionary ofSlavic languages, the wordgibanicais a derivative of theSerbo-Croatianverbgíbati/гибати, which means "to fold; sway, swing, rock". There are also derivatives like the wordgibaničar/гибаничар – one who makes gibanica, one who loves to eat gibanica, and one who always imposes as a guest and at someone else's expense.Some believe that the wordgibanicaactually comes from the Egyptian Arabicgebna(جبنة), a type of soft white salty cheese used in making gibanica.
The original recipe for gibanica included traditionally homemadephyllodough and cow's milk cheese. Homemade cheese can befetaorsirene. The pie is usually made asgužvara(crumpled pie), so the phyllo dough in the middle is crumpled and filled. Besides cheese, the filling contains eggs, milk,kaymak,lard, salt and water. Also, stuffing may includespinach, meat,nettle, potato and onion. To speed up preparation, purchased phyllo dough can be used andsunflower oilorolive oilcan be used instead of lard.
Many varieties of gibanica and related dishes can be found throughout the Balkans; different gibanica are known as part of the national cuisines ofBosnia and Herzegovina,Croatia,Serbia,North Macedonia,Slovenia, andFriuli-Venezia Giulia(Italy, where it is calledghibanizza),Greece, andBulgaria, where it is usually calledBanitsa.Recipes can range from sweet to savoury, and from simple to festive and elaboratemulti-layered cakes.The so-called "chetnik gibanica" is the fatter, greasier version; it received the name after World War II.
From the basic recipe, many local specialties have evolved.Prekmurska gibanica, for example, is a "fancy" multi-layered cake fromPrekmurjein Slovenia, served as a dessert course on festive occasions.Međimurska gibanica, from the neighbouringMeđimurjeregion of Croatia, is a closely related but simpler and less "formal" dish consisting of four layers of fillings (prepared fresh cheese (quark), poppyseed, apple and walnut).Another gibanica variety, calledPrleška gibanica, is known fromPrlekijato the west of theMur River.
The basic concept of gibanica, a cake or pie involving a combination of pastry with cheese in differentiated layers often combined with layers of various other fillings, is common in the cuisines of the Balkans,Anatolia, and theEastern Mediterranean. For example, a similar dish known as shabiyat (sh'abiyat, shaabiyat) is part of the cuisine ofSyriaandLebanon.Gibanica can also be considered to resemble a type of cheesestrudel, with which it likely shares a common ancestry in the pastry dishes of the region, and the cuisines of theByzantineandOttomanempires.
Gibanica is one of the most popular and recognizable pastry dishes from the Balkans, whether served on festive occasions, or as a comforting family snack. In Serbia, the dish is eaten as breakfast, dinner, appetizer and snack,and is often consumed at traditional events such asChristmas,EasterandSlava.The largest Gibanica ever made was in the town ofMionicain 2007. It weighed over 1,000 kg, and was applied for inclusion in theGuinness Book of Records. Around 330 kg of phyllo dough, 330 kg of cheese, 3,300 eggs, 30 L of oil, 110 L ofmineral water, 50 kg of lard and 500 packets ofbaking powderwent into its creation.In Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia there are festivals dedicated to gibanica. One of them, called the Gibanica festival or Days of Banitsa, is held each year inBela Palanka. It first took place in 2005.The Slovenian festival of Prekmurska gibanica and ham is held in the Slovenian region of Prekmurje,and the Croatian festival of gibanica is held in Igrišće inHrvatsko Zagorje.