Sarajevo Vegan Scene: Karuzo Vegetarian Restaurantby Randi / August 28, 2013
Zaatar & Co. is one of the few Middle Eastern restaurants in the region. I dumbly expected to find a lot of hummus on this trip, I don’t know why. (Because hummus should be available like water, right?) However, this was the only place I could find it. So, if you’re like me, that should be enough motivation to go here.
Man alive, did we have trouble finding this place. All of the info from Google maps and Happy Cow is WRONG. Like, wrong sections of the city wrong, not just wrong side of the street wrong. The restaurant is actually located just off the main street in the Old Town, across from Caffe Libris and generally behind the Old Synagogue. Luckily, there was a clapboard sign on the main road leading to the alley.
We had such a hilarious time here. First of all, when we walked in, the owner proclaimed, “Bosnia is out of chickpeas.” It was kind of hysterical. She explained that there was something of a chickpea shortage going on, resulting in exorbitant prices, and they were out of them that day. I was on the verge of tears, because it had been almost a week without hummus. Luckily, she checked for me, and found some hummus and falafel stored in the fridge from the day before. Yay!
Man alive, did we have trouble finding this place. All of the info from Google maps and Happy Cow is WRONG. Like, wrong sections of the city wrong, not just wrong side of the street wrong. The restaurant is actually located just off the main street in the Old Town, across from Caffe Libris and generally behind the Old Synagogue. Luckily, there was a clapboard sign on the main road leading to the alley.
We had such a hilarious time here. First of all, when we walked in, the owner proclaimed, “Bosnia is out of chickpeas.” It was kind of hysterical. She explained that there was something of a chickpea shortage going on, resulting in exorbitant prices, and they were out of them that day. I was on the verge of tears, because it had been almost a week without hummus. Luckily, she checked for me, and found some hummus and falafel stored in the fridge from the day before. Yay!
“Bosnia is out of chickpeas”
Carrot soup
I begged her to bring me the hummus and falafel, and then we ordered a bunch more. To start, I ordered carrot ginger soup. It was brothy, not creamy like most carrot ginger soups I had. It was a bit plain but fine, and I was happy to have some sort of vegetable.
Next, she brought us elderflower juice. This was amazing. She said this glass was mixed with some other flowers. The juice was just sweet enough, and really pleasant.
Next, she brought us elderflower juice. This was amazing. She said this glass was mixed with some other flowers. The juice was just sweet enough, and really pleasant.
Elderflower juice |
Hummus, tabbouli, pita |
Falafel and tahini sauce |
Zaatar manakeesh
The hummus and falafel were pretty good, not the best I’ve had but considering I asked for it knowing it wasn’t fresh, it was fine. We also had tabbouli. The herbs seemed really fresh.
The best food we ate, by far, was the zaatar manakeesh, a pizza dough-like flatbread with zaatar spices and olive oil on top. When I was in Jordan, I fell in love with this dish. It’s everything you could want from fluffy dough. Delicious. This version was really hot and the crust was awesome. Want now.
While we ate, the woman was frantically dealing with a million different things – she was on the phone with her supplier (arguing about chickpeas, I assume), doling out assignments to employees, seating customers and discussing the menu, and conducting a job interview with the poor guy sitting near us, waiting nearly throughout our entire meal to talk to her. During all this, she spent considerable time talking to us about her life in Bosnia, her husband, her years spent in America and Asia, and more. I kind of love her.
ZAATAR & CO, Sarajevo
The best food we ate, by far, was the zaatar manakeesh, a pizza dough-like flatbread with zaatar spices and olive oil on top. When I was in Jordan, I fell in love with this dish. It’s everything you could want from fluffy dough. Delicious. This version was really hot and the crust was awesome. Want now.
While we ate, the woman was frantically dealing with a million different things – she was on the phone with her supplier (arguing about chickpeas, I assume), doling out assignments to employees, seating customers and discussing the menu, and conducting a job interview with the poor guy sitting near us, waiting nearly throughout our entire meal to talk to her. During all this, she spent considerable time talking to us about her life in Bosnia, her husband, her years spent in America and Asia, and more. I kind of love her.
ZAATAR & CO, Sarajevo
- Water speed: I had to ask for it a lot, but she was incredibly busy. My standards for water became much, much lower in the Balkans.
- Bathrooms: It’s downstairs, again past the kitchen. I guess that’s common in Bosnia.
- Service: Slow, but worth the comedy.
- Food: Good for lunch.
- Bonus: The owner is a character. Also, once you find it, it’s very convenient to a lot of sights.
Related Posts
Veganizing “Friends”: CANDY LADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YES CANDY LADY!!!
YES CANDY LADY!!! Folks, we’ve come to the point in this veganization of “Friends” journey when we get to celebrate one of the greatest things Monica ever made, yet remember that she acted kind of annoyingly in this episode. Maybe I just have no patience for rude people, but I always wanted her to show some moxie and punch her neighbors. Anyway! Enough violence, now onto the candy!
Remember the episode aptly named “The One With All The Candy”? Yeah you do! Monica thought that she should really get to know her other neighbors, not just the other Friends across the hall. She decided that making homemade candy and putting it in a basket outside her door would do the trick. At first, it works like a charm…but then the neighbors get quite boorish, and near abusive. Refresh your memory:
Remember the episode aptly named “The One With All The Candy”? Yeah you do! Monica thought that she should really get to know her other neighbors, not just the other Friends across the hall. She decided that making homemade candy and putting it in a basket outside her door would do the trick. At first, it works like a charm…but then the neighbors get quite boorish, and near abusive. Refresh your memory:
It’s totally worth watching the whole video, isn’t it? You also get to see (at 0:40) my favorite Ross line of the whole episode: “Mine stole my newspaper; it’s like a crime wave!” He’s such a nerd. Anyway, as you saw, the building residents have absolutely no sense of social decency and could really use a punch in the face. But…maybe our little Harmonica’s candy was really so good and so addictive that, without it, the neighbors experienced drug withdrawal. Our task today is thus to make THE GREATEST candy that could turn otherwise nice, well-behaved citizens into DEMONIC BARBARIANS. Let’s doooo it!
One pecan-pretzel cluster, pre-fridge
Last week, when I made “that wonderful nutty cakey pie thing“, I had such good feedback from its eaters that I figured I should incorporate some of the same delicious components here. The candied pecan caramel was a hit, so we’re making that again. Then, we’re also going to melt chocolate with Speculoos. We’ll increase the awesomeness with some crumbled flat pretzels, and mix it all together for a crunchy kind of Speculoos-pecan-caramel-chocolate turtle! To quote Monica, I KNOW!!!
|
PECAN CARAMEL!
Ingredients:
Directions:
 |
 This may be my new favorite thing. When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeeeling saaaad… SPECULOOS CHOCOLATE!
Directions:
|
The most delicious side project ever
Do you feel like you don’t have control over the volume of your voice anymore? Are you starting to act mean towards nice people? No? Let’s keep going.
TO ASSEMBLE:
- Start by spooning a thin circle of chocolate onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. This will help the cluster stay together once cooled.
- Cover that circle with the pecan caramel
- Top that with some crushed pretzels (the pieces in the picture are a bit big for this, but shown for effect, like on cereal boxes).
- Cover the whole cluster with chocolate
- Throw the baking sheet in the refrigerator for a few hours.
Pre-refrigeration, when it’s all melty, it’s almost as good as post-refrigeration
Finished product. I like how the chocolate layer on the bottom of that back one makes it look like a spaceship
So, this is the best candy I’ve ever made. I think Monica would be proud! I hope my neighbors don’t turn on me, though my mom already went into the fridge and ate the still-warm pieces. It’s quite addictive. Try making it yourself, and play around with the add-ins! Also definitely on your to-do list? Watching this Joey gif over and over:
Giveaway trivia:
- What was one nickname the gang had for a not-so-well-known neighbor?
- In Rachels’ b-story this episode, she wrote a very inappropriate review of Tag that accidentally went to human resources. What was Tag’s nickname in this review?
- Why does Phoebe get mad at Ross this episode?
