You can read about how food was eaten in eastern Serbia at the beginning of the 20th century in the book Ethnological structure and discussions - from Luznica and Nišava, written by Vladimir M. Nikolić, edited by Dr. Jovan Erdeljanović, and printed in 1910.
Here is what the author, Vladimir M. Nikolić, writes about it:
Peasants eat very early, and they call that first meal a meal. Around noon they eat again, and that's lunch. In summer, snack is around five o'clock in the afternoon, and dinner in the evening.
The exact time of the year has not been determined for the area. And it is not mandatory in every house. In the main area it is early. Not much is prepared for breakfast. But that's why lunch has to be better. In the summer, he eats around seven o'clock in the morning, and has lunch around one o'clock in the afternoon. Snack is around five o'clock in the afternoon and dinner at eight o'clock in the evening. In the winter, they eat lunch at around eight o'clock in the morning, and dinner around four o'clock in the afternoon. The area is often called "lunch".
Most of the time, it is eaten at home from the sovr, and less often from the table. On the table, sovr, bread and small earthen salt shakers, "solarčeta", are first spread with salt and crushed pepper. Afterwards, a dish, "manja", is brought. From other dishes, only "fireplaces", mostly wooden and very rarely "forks", are placed. The knife is not brought out, because each chelada has its own blade. The men have a knife or a larger razor, and the women also have a razor or a "checcia" (it's a penknife with a single blade), which hangs from the belt on a chain. Well, almost all older children have a razor or a bread knife.
If the dish is soupy, it is served in one "panica", a bowl, and everyone eats from it. The capture is done slowly and bit by bit. The younger ones always make sure that the older ones start "tasting" first. They eat a lot of bread and very voraciously. One strange feature is that most of them like unbaked and gooey bread, even "žežak" (hot). The bakers of Pirot know this, and that is why on Saturdays each baker leaves a quantity of unbaked bread for the peasants, because they call well-baked bread "burnt" and will not take it. Sovra is never without paprika.
They "melt" thick dishes, dip them with bread, holding the bread with their fingers, and they don't use forks, because they say: "We have a five-toothed jaw, which God didn't give us." If a peasant is forced somewhere to eat with a fork, he will regard it as a punishment and will say that he could not eat something sweet.
Well, what are you going to do, it has always been the sweetest thing to eat with your fingers, but, unfortunately, it was never allowed according to etiquette...
Source: Ethnological materials and discussions - from Luznica and Nišava, author Vladimir M. Nikolić, edited by Dr. Jovan Erdeljanović, printed in 1910. Published for informational purposes.
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