Gvozdena Živković is with her recipe mashed potatoes won first place in the just-concluded competition for the best traditional recipe of domestic Serbian cuisine for 2018.
She lives in Razanj, is retired, and is devoted to her garden, flowers and cooking. She enjoys hanging out with plants, which, according to her, return her love many times over. Many of her friends, for her blog "In my pot"they say that it is a real treasure of domestic recipes.
We talked only with Gvozden about the secret of her culinary success.
How did you fall in love with cooking?
I'm sorry to say that I started cooking out of necessity. I started cooking when I was a fifth-grade student, because in my village Braljini, where I was born, school could only be attended up to the fourth grade. I was born in 1952, and at that time education was compulsory only up to the 4th grade.
From fifth to eighth grade, I lived and attended school in neighboring Stalac. In the beginning, the parents paid for the apartment with the preparation of food, with the obligatory delivery of prescribed food to the landlady every month. Later, it was unfeasible for my parents' budget, so every week, I traveled by train to my Braljina and on the way back I brought food for 2-3 days, which my mother had prepared for me. At that time, school was also held on Saturdays, so on Sundays my mother would talk to me and teach me the most basic things about cooking. I would also bring groceries for the rest of the days, until the end of the week, and I started preparing food for myself, at the landlady's house.
That's how I continued in the high school of economics, which I attended in Paraćin. It was already much easier then, I mastered basic cooking techniques and even started preparing cakes.
On Sundays, when I go to my village, I always made a cake to make my parents and brother happy. That's how it started and now, thank God, it continues. I like to "invent" a recipe and prepare something new.
What inspired you to start your blog?
My Facebook friend Dubravka Belogrlić, who lives in New Zealand, opened a blog for me and persuaded me to write and publish recipes. I wasn't sure that I would be able to do it and I put it off for a long time, but she was persistent and convinced me that I would be able to do it. I thank her from the bottom of my heart for that. I think that without her and her help, I would never have decided to take that step myself.
How did the name of your blog "U mom loncu" come about?
I left the name of the blog to Dubravka, and I liked it a lot right away. I wouldn't change it "for any money".
What is your favorite recipe that you often prepare in your kitchen?
Take my word for it, I don't have a favorite recipe, it all depends on the time I have. When I'm in a hurry, I cook those dishes that are ready in 30 minutes. When I have more time then there are sarmes, stuffed peppers, prebranac, podvarak and not to mention more.
What is your greatest culinary success?
My challenge was to make a good and tasty goulash from the meat of different game. I think I succeeded in that, and my housemates and our guests always confirm this with their empty plates, as well as the empty vessel in which the stew was cooked. I have to admit that my son has surpassed me in this, because he cooks the stew in a kettle and I think it is tastier than mine.
Which recipe of foreign/international cuisine would you like to prepare, but you haven't had the chance yet?
I have to be honest, I haven't thought about it yet. I will have the opportunity to participate in the World Cuisine festival, so I hope that something will catch my attention.
What spices do you use most often and why?
I mostly use spices from my garden, rosemary, thyme, chives, parsley, celery, coriander, oregano. From purchased spices, I often use ginger, pepper, soy sauce and turmeric. My friend Dubravka sent me a bunch of spices from New Zealand, the names of which I can hardly pronounce. My daughter and my son use them when they cook.
What is your favorite recipe that has been published on your blog?
My favorite is my melon, orange and lemon sweet recipe. For the first time, I dared to cook sweets with several types of fruit and it worked. I watched how Christina Gaspar easily prepares meals, desserts and cold cuts in various combinations. She was my inspiration for this one, but also for some other recipes that are very dear to me.
What is traditional Serbian cuisine for you?
The very word traditional, for me, is something preserved, inherited from our ancestors. When it comes to traditional Serbian cuisine, I try to write down recipes and make dishes that were made by my grandmother, my mother, my neighbors and my cousins, who are much older than me.
What is the recipe for usheh of your award-winning recipe: roasted potatoes, which was chosen as the best traditional recipe of Serbian home cooking on our portal Recipes and Cooking Online?
For this recipe, you need a suitable earthen-clay vessel, and it is the sweetest if it is prepared on a wood-burning stove, the popular "smederevac". Quality food is also needed. We grow organic vegetables on our field, the quality of which cannot be compared to the vegetables we buy at the market. It takes a lot of time and love for the kitchen and food. My opinion is that one who does not like to eat cannot be a good cook.
Belgrade, March 2019.
Interview led by: Miodrag Ilić
Recipes and Cookbook online, Linkom-PC doo, all rights reserved, All rights reserved
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