Dessert Memories in Montenegro

Priganice: fried dough with honey

Priganice are a point of pride in Montenegro. Wikipedia describes them as fritters or flat doughnuts, and World Travel Guide as bite-sized fried dough, both served with honey, cheese or jam. The Serbian daily Danas calls them simply fried dough and places them among the Montenegrin dishes people are proudest of, adding that they are also made in Herzegovina and are known in Serbia as uštipci.

The dough is plain. A thesis at Hungary’s University of Debrecen gives the traditional recipe as white wheat flour, yeast, water and a little salt and sugar, rested for at least an hour and then fried in oil; the recipe in Danas uses the same base and adds a splash of rakija, which is said to stop the dough soaking up oil. Danas suggests serving them warm, dusted with icing sugar or with honey or jam, or on the savoury side with cheese, kajmak or cured ham.

Pastries from Turkey and Central Europe

Montenegro’s cakes and pastries show where its cooking has borrowed from. Wikipedia’s article on Montenegrin cuisine traces the first major influences to the Levant and Turkey, largely by way of Serbia, and names baklava and tulumba, shaped like a churro and soaked in syrup, as sweets from that tradition. It notes that Montenegrin baklava often contains raisins along with finely chopped walnuts.

Central Europe left its mark too: the same article sees it in crêpes (palačinke) and doughnuts, and its list of Montenegrin desserts includes krofne filled with jam, apple strudel (štrudla) and krempita, which it likens to a vanilla slice. World Travel Guide recommends krempita for dessert and describes it as layers of creamy custard between light pastry.

Fruit, figs and honey

Not every meal ends with a pastry. According to Wikipedia, a piece of seasonal fruit is the most common way to finish a meal, while proper sweets tend to be served on their own, at tea time or whenever coffee is poured.

Simpler treats have their place too. Wikipedia lists sun-dried figs with walnuts and honey among Montenegrin desserts, and the National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro counts dried figs among the country’s must-try treats. The tourism board also singles out honey, which it calls liquid gold, and medovina, the honey wine that Montenegrins are proud of.

The Montenegro dessert collection

In Emblem World, the Montenegro dessert collection brings together sweets that people have tasted and rated in the country, among them priganice, baklava, tufahije and kolač. Each item has its own page, where people discover and rate local food, drink and music.