Kukurec is a North Macedonian lamb specialty made with knitted lamb intestines, strips of lamb tripe, and sometimes lamb sweetbreads. The process of making this specialty from scratch is quite laborious, which is why many opt for buying one from a butcher’s.
Traditionally, well cleaned and boiled kukurec is roasted in an earthenware vessel along with chopped garlic, boiled carrots, bay leaves, dried mint leaves, mixed spices, seasonings, water, meat stock, and optionally wine for flavor. Zaprshka, or roux, consisting of a combination of flour, paprika, Bukovska pepper, and oil is added to the dish to thicken the sauce.
Simit-pogacha is a traditional North Macedonian specialty originating from Skopje. It consists of a bun that is stuffed with - you'd never guess it – burek, which is a flaky layered pie that's typically filled with meat, cheese, or greens.
However, the burek that is used in simit-pogacha is plain and not filled with anything. This unusual dish is traditionally consumed for breakfast or during the morning. Because it's quite dry, locals eat it with yogurt. In Turkey, the dish is known as Skopska simit-pogacha, and in Skopje, only one baker is still making simit-pogacha using traditional methods - with yeast made from smashed chickpeas, which gives the bun a unique flavor.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Kompir mandza is a simple North Macedonian potato stew that is considered a poor man's meal in some parts of the country. Apart from potatoes, the stew consists of onions, carrots, garlic, oil, powdered paprika, seasonings, and optional flour for additional thickening.
The stew is served warm, garnished with fresh parsley, and it is recommended to pair it with a salad on the side.
Chomlek is a traditional North Macedonian stew that is typically prepared with veal or baby beef, a generous amount of tiny, walnut-sized onion bulbs (called kokar or arpadzik in Macedonian), and garlic. Depending on the recipe, either red or white wine is added to the mixture, while other common ingredients contained in the dish include dried red peppers, carrots, tomato purée, parsley, or mushrooms.
Chomlek is usually seasoned with salt, black pepper, red pepper, and bay leaves. It is customarily prepared in a traditional earthenware dish or pot, with the lid placed on top and firmly secured and sealed with dough. Even though this delicacy is a rather straightforward dish, it is also time-consuming and takes hours to cook.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Makalo is a very traditional North Macedonian dish based on garlic. The most basic type of makalo is made with garlic, warm oil or butter, wine vinegar, lukewarm water, and salt, which are added to a wooden bowl and mixed thoroughly. Dried red peppers, chopped parsley, hot pepper flakes, walnuts, milk, or yogurt are often added to this dish.
There is a variety of makalo dishes that can include roasted hot peppers, eggplants, green tomatoes, fresh or roasted red tomatoes, or boiled potatoes. Makalo can be served as a meze dip or an appetizer, depending on the ingredients used in it, and it is typically eaten with lots of bread and white brine cheese.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Širden is a North Macedonian delicacy made by stuffing the abomasum (stomach lining) of lamb or sheep with a combination of three types of chopped meat, paprika, onions, and seasonings such as salt and black pepper. The opening is sewn and closed, and širden is baked with lard in a traditional earthenware vessel.
It is usually served with the same sauce from the vessel and a glass of red wine on the side.
Kačamak or bakrdan is a simple dish made by cooking cornflour in salted water, similarly to Italian polenta and Romanian mămăligă. After the corn mixture has thickened, it is usually mixed with melted butter or pork fat and oil, and it can then be alternatively baked in the oven.
This corn flour specialty is consumed throughout the Balkan countries, and it is commonly eaten for breakfast with dairy products such as sirene (a type of white cheese), plain yogurt, sour milk or cream, and kaymak (a thick cream).
This round North Macedonian pie is traditionally associated with Ohrid and the entire Southwestern region. It is prepared with a simple flour batter that is repeatedly poured in a pan, and while it bakes, each layer is coated in oil. The pie was traditionally made in a sač – a traditional bell-shaped vessel that is placed on a fireplace, while the lid is covered with ash and coals.
Traditionally, gomleze is cut into diamond shapes and is usually quite large. Modern variations often include eggs and crumbled white cheese.
Kozinjak or milibrod is a sweet yeasted bread with soft, moist, and thread-like texture, usually flavored with lemon zest or orange zest, and filled with dried fruits, typically raisins soaked in rum or orange juice. The dough is braided, brushed with a yolk-milk mixture on top, and then baked in a well-oiled baking tray or high bread pan in the oven.
Once baked, kozinjak is generously sprinkled with sugar to form a sugar crust, or dusted with powdered sugar before serving. Poppy seeds and different types of fruit jams are also used as common kozinjak fillings. This sweet bread is usually prepared for holidays, especially for Easter and Christmas, and it is also consumed in neighboring Bulgaria, where it is known as kozunak.
Recognized as the first Slow Food Presidium item of North Macedonia, wild fig slatko, or slatko od divi smokvi, as it is known in Macedonian, is a type of fruit preserve that is made with wild figs. This preserve has traditionally been produced in the Southeastern region of the country, in the municipalities of Gevgelija, Valandovo, Bogdanci, and Dojran, where wild fig trees are abundant.
Customarily, it has been the task of men to gather the small green, pear-shaped fruits of the wild fig tree just as they start to ripen, while women have been responsible for cleaning the figs and preparing the preserve. The making of wild fig slatko (slatko, meaning sweet in Macedonian) is a long and laborious process that involves boiling the whole fruits nine times to eliminate the bitter-flavored, milky latex they contain before simmering them in a sugar syrup until the syrup has thickened.
OTHER VARIATIONS OF Slatko
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “10 Worst Rated Macedonian Foods” list until March 27, 2025, 2,002 ratings were recorded, of which 828 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.
If someone is not used to consume such a meals, he may rank them as bad or worst, but if you have a tradition for preparing and eating them, then the thinks are diferent. Dont forget, that our country and people were poor, and they have to survive with "nothing". Its a miracle to make something from nothing!