Continuing the interviews with representatives of the culinary blogging community, we also spoke with Javorka Filipović, kitchen magic blog. For more than 6 years, Javorka has attracted the attention of many visitors to her blog with her recipes, and she has a particularly large number of followers on Facebook - close to 150.000!
Javorka Filipović was one of the 12 finalists in our selection for The best recipe of 2015, and her recipe Seeded wholemeal pie it caught the attention of our jury.
How did you decide to start your blog "Kitchen Magic" and when did it happen?
I started "Kitchen Magic" in October 2009. Before that, I already had a one-year experience posting recipes on Coolinarika.com and I wanted to have all my recipes in one place.
The blog offers the possibility of greater freedom in writing, the recipe can be enriched with memories of the people from whom it originates, but also present a recipe tried from other kitchen blogs with suggestions and recommendations. But the blog is also your identity card by which readers recognize and remember you.
Who inspired you to start a blog?
My inspiration for starting the blog was the blog "Astal - the kitchen of my plain". I met Vera from the blog Astal in Coolinarica and we immediately recognized each other because she also has her roots in the area of southern Banat. The friendship formed during blogging continues today and I am grateful to her for the help she always gives me as a more experienced blogger. We had several excellent collaborations, which is how the online booklet Bakina riznica was created. Kitchen magic: GRANDMA'S TREASURY
What do you consider to be your greatest success in the kitchen, or "Kitchen Magic", what sets you apart from others?
"Kitchen magic" is different from other blogs, because it contains recipes that are easy to prepare with ingredients available to everyone and at an affordable price. With the help of published recipes, even beginners in the kitchen can master the secrets of a good lunch and delicious pastries. The biggest compliment to me is when young people say that they tried the recipes and that they fell in love with cooking with them. Such is the case with the daughter of our housemates. You can imagine my delight when he served me a cake according to my recipe 🙂
Or when my neighbor tells me that her daughter made her first muffins using a recipe from the blog 🙂
My biggest success in the kitchen is that I can equally well make everything that makes up the daily menu of an average Serbian family, as well as the more demanding diaconia for celebrations. The only thing is that I have never tried making fondant and cake figures, because I don't like the colors it contains because they are unhealthy and undesirable in children's diet, and they consume them the most.
How do you explain the fact that your Facebook page has close to 150.000 followers?
The number of visitors to the Kitchen Magic page on Facebook surprised me too. It all started by accident. I didn't have a page for a long time, and then Vera from the blog "Astal" helped me create it and that's how it started. At first it was a few hundred, and then 2 years ago that number started to grow and every comment left or page share means a lot to me. I try to answer everyone's questions and doubts, and this cooperation with unknown, as well as known readers, is a guide to where to further develop my blog and page.
Do you have a favorite international cuisine recipe that you tried on a trip?
I traveled a lot in Europe and always tried to try as much local food as possible. I have my favorites from every cuisine: from Italy it's ice cream and various pastas and gnocchi without tomatoes, from Spain it's paella, from France it's croissants, in Russia it's borscht and wonderful fragrant pastries, in Greece it's gyros and souvlaki, in Bulgarian cuisine I'm not found a favorite food, as well as in Hungary.
In Slovenia, I tried the best cheese cake, the recipe of which I am still looking for. In Germany, it's their potato dumplings as a side dish to various meats. And of course, unsurpassed beer, even non-alcoholic beer.
I recommend that you try souvlaki at home. http://kcbyjafi.blogspot.rs/2009/10/suvlaki.html
Which country and destination would you like to visit and try their cuisine?
I would like to visit Japan and try their food because they use a lot of fish and vegetables in their diet, but also because they don't have a lot of oriental spices, which I don't like.
What are your favorite spices for savory dishes, and which for sweets?
For savory dishes, I use standard spices: pepper and allspice, but I often add oregano, basil, thyme or rosemary. For sweets, I always choose vanilla and cinnamon because I love when my house smells like them.
What is your favorite recipe that has been published on your blog that has had the most views?
My recipe with the most views, about 32, is the recipe for Homemade Crust Pie http://kcbyjafi.blogspot.rs/2011/04/pita-od-domacih-kora-ili-kako-napraviti.html
I came up with this recipe completely unexpectedly and after several days of watching my Bosnian friends make pies and post pictures of their skills. Sometimes I know how to roll up my sleeves and roll out the crusts, but I do that very rarely and when I do, I stretch the dough over the entire table. But that recipe is the one with the most views, and it's not something that I like to make. Sourdough, which I make without measure, is much more satisfying for me. The feel for the dough is something I pride myself on because I started making it late. But genes are crucial here.
What would you say to everyone who is thinking of starting their own cooking blog?
Anyone who likes to cook, write down recipes, has the time and desire to dedicate at least a few hours a week to editing a blog can do it very easily. Every beginning is difficult and don't let that sway you. As the blog develops and grows stronger, you will be more confident that you are doing the right thing.
You don't need a lot of computer knowledge, but always try to make your photos attractive and make whoever sees them want to eat it right away.
Belgrade, February 2016.
Interview led by: Miodrag Ilić
Recipes and Cookbook online, Linkom-PC doo, all rights reserved, All rights reserved
Read more:
The Recipe and Cook portal is ranked among the TOP 50 websites in Serbia!
If you are interested in all of ours recipes, click the link: RECIPES. Collections of the best recipes of our associates can be found in the cook section, if you want to read more, click on the link: COOK. If you want to see our front page, click on the link: RECIPES AND COOK ONLINE homepage.
Don't miss a recipe - Recipes and cookbook online on Facebook. Stay tuned, follow the Recipes and Cookbook twitter notifications!
