Macedonian Cuisine

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== Overview of Macedonian Cuisine History ==
North Macedonia has been visited by many civilizations, through the centuries. This way, the culture, and furthermore, the cuisine has accumulated concepts from these nations. When people decided to keep their country far from the effects of urbanization, North Macedonia became the agricultural core of the Balkans. The fact that a country with such a small territory produces many varietes of citrus fruits, grapes and hazelnuts should be appreciated. 
The cuisine has been affected by the nations from the Mediterranean space and also by the countries from the Balkans. The strongest influences come from Turkey and Greece. The dishes that have Turkish origins are: the Beef kebobs and burek. The baklava is a typical dish for the Balkan cuisine, so it cannot be related to one nation only. On the other hand, sirenje, which is a white cheese resembles of the Greek feta. The yellow cheese named Kashkaval, which is also popular in Bulgaria, originates from the Italian Locatello Romano. 
The meat has a very important role in the Macedonian cuisine. People use for the recipes many types of meats, that range from Pork, Beef, Lamb and Chicken. The freshwater fish, the Lake Ohrid Trout, particularly, is enjoyed by the Macedonians and the game does not make an exception. 
The Macedonians also produce white and red wines that are recognized world wide for their specific taste. Vranec, the common Cabernet Sauvignon and the soft Merlot are only a few of the wine varieties which can be tasted in North Macedonia. Other beverages that are worth to be mentioned are rakija and mastica. Also, the beer is popular in this country and it is appreciated both by the locals and the tourists.
== Cuisines of North Macedonia ==
North Macedonia has been part of Yugoslavia and was affected by the nations that comprised that country. Also, it has influenced them in exchange. Other influences come from Greece, Bulgarian and Italy, on one hand and from Turkey on the other hand. People from North Macedonia were appreciated by the Turkish as being big gourmands and also differentiated from the other nations through their specific way to prepare the fish and the Lamb kebab. Although the Macedonian cuisine was inspired by the cuisines of the surrounding nations, regional cuisines did not develop and hence, the Macedonian cuisine is watched as a whole. However, it is characterized by diversity.
== Preparation Methods for Macedonian Cooking ==
The Macedonian cuisine does not imply knowing any special cooking techniques. People use the same preparation methods as the rest of the Europeans. Of course, each dish requires to be prepared in a certain way, but all the manners are typical. 
Hence, some of the foods may involve either deep frying, boiling, stewing, baking, steaming and grilling, while others would require seasoning, salting and simmering. There are specific preparation techniques to be used when starting from raw ingredients and others when the goal is only to enhance the taste of the foods. People that want to cook a Macedonian recipe should have, hence, basic knowledge about the general cooking methods used nowdays.
== Special Equipment for Macedonian Cooking ==
Most Macedonian dishes don’t require you to purchase any special tools. However, having a coffee grinder helps with roasting and grinding spices and maximizes their volatile oils, which, in turn, provides your food with more flavor. 
As the Macedonian cooking techniques are not special, neither are the utensils used in a typical Macedonian kitchen. The equipment that is necessary resumes to pans and trays, bowls and pots of different sizes, scoops, forks, teaspoons, tablespoons, knives, mills for the spices, and even thermometers and food scales that help a lot when it is wanted to use precise quantities.
== Macedonian Food Traditions and Festivals ==
Macedonians have mostly cultural festivals that are organized in order to celebrate and to display the national music and the folk dances. Ohrid Summer festival is the best known of them. Each year, people that are into music and drama gather from all around the world here. Although the main target is not the food, nor the beverages, tourists most likely try the Macedonian cuisine. 
The Wine and Cheese Festival at the Old Tree, which is also organized at Ohrid, represented a great opportunity for the sheepherders to display the best of their feta cheese, as well as many other types of sheep cheese.
== People in Macedonian Food ==
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Category:European Cuisine