Rakija Part One
I resisted for a long time writing about Serbian’s National drink and obsession, Rakija. It always remind me of commenting on Serbian Politics, a subject I avoid discussing except with my closest friends and always with the caveat that I am trying to understand more than comment. I decided it was so important to life in Serbia that I could at least mention the drink and point you to some other resources.
Rakija is very personal to most Serbians. Almost everyone has connections to their family farm from their ancestors where Rakija is still produced. Many of the farms are now summer homes where they spend a few weeks a year. Everyone has a friends or special connections where they get locally produced Rakija. There is also distillery production sold in restaurants, grocery stores, and liquor stores (more on that in a later post).
You can make brandy out of any fruit. The most common in Serbia are made from apricots, quince, honey, pear and “sljivovica”, which is the damson plum. If you are a real Serb you drink sliva. There are almost 10,000 producers of rakija in Serbia, most are family productions with only around 1000 registered with the government. This would be considered moonshine in the US but is overlooked in Serbia and has just become a custom. In fact they sell all the parts to a still in the hardware stores. Sliva is usually consumed within the next year and is not aged. Some commercial and domestic rakijas are aged in barrels for up to 10 years.
When you drink Rakija with a Serb there are a few customs you should know and practice. When toasting with Rakija keep eye contact through the first sip of the drink. To look away or not drink that first sip it is considered rude. Rakija is not Tequila it is to be sipped not slammed as you would a normal shot. Treat it more like Cognac.
You will find it as an everyday part of Serbian life. It would be hard to imagine going to someone house for dinner or a party and not being offered Rakija. You are offered a few glasses every time of the day, in fact many older Serbs will start the day out with a glass.
Next post on Rakija, what you can find in Monasteries.