'Shall we get one? Tastes of Serbia - Rakia

Rakia among Serbs as a cure for death!

Although I'm not fond of "rotten fruit" as I usually call such types of fruit derivatives, I can't resist to good homemade rakia. I prefer quince, apricot, or peach, but good old plum rakia, for which Serbia is most famous, is not far behind on my top list.

Rakia is a cult drink in Serbia.

It may seem to someone who is not from the Balkans that we are exaggerating, but for Serbs, rakia is like some surreal magical creation, an unsurpassed medicament with no equal.

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In addition to drinking, we also use it abundantly for healing rituals from various ailments.

For example, if you have a sore throat, make a rakia poultice, if you cough, rub rakia on your chest, if you have a fever, socks soaked in rakia are the right thing, and it is understood that it also cures rheumatism and arthritis, and who knows what else... And, we believe that you can also use it instead of lotion.

If you put aside the fact that you smell like an old barrel and endure the treatment, healing is guaranteed.

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For good homemade rakia, you must first collect fruit, well ripe, and a good sign of excellent fruit for this drink is if it falls on the ground.

So while you're crawling on the grass and your spine is cracking, you're standing still and enduring all that suffering and sacrifice for the sake of real good rakia. 

And so for days you continue to collect fruit and put it into barrels and stir. When the barrel is full, a thicker layer of straw is placed on top and left to form a so-called "cake". 

The mixture you will get is called "kljuk" or "džibra" and when the fermentation process is finished it is ready to prepare rakia - a magical Serbian drink, a healing lotion, or a purgative for scrubbing windows...

Yes, yes, the purpose is quite wide!

Well, through rakia, the Serbs showed that they are real Renaissance people!

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Rakia, our pretty rakia... we treat her with sympathy because rakia for Serbs is like a sincere friend, brother, family member, or neighbor, but also much more than that. Rakia is good in a big company and good in solitude.

Now the best part! In order to make good homemade brandy, you need company, i.e. friends who will help you make it.

The cauldron is heated, the brandy is being brewed, and as the day progresses, the friends are in a better mood. Because, by tasting and examining the quality of freshly prepared medicine, it creates a happier picture of the world and existence in the psyche of your "brothers".

And although it seems that the brain becomes as barren and lifeless as the moon's surface, the real truth is that brandy actually helps to understand the entire universe in a completely new and different way.

Since "roasting" of rakia is a whole day's work, you need to bake something under the stove or boil a kettle... you can also grill something, and the main spice is, of course, song.

An additional addition that makes everything perfect and that you can't do without, just like you can't do without brandy.

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If you have decided to approach rakia more seriously than I did and maybe become a professional in making this drink, I highly recommend the book "Production of the best fruit brandy" by an excellent expert in this field, Professor Ninoslav Nikićević.

Cheers!

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