Whenever I come to the Balkans it always takes about a week for me to sit and write my first blog entry about it. You know how it is, too much going on, too many people to see/meet, lots to do and so on. It`s beem almost two years since I last put my feet here in Serbia, so no wonder why I still didn`t manage to sit and write anything.
Anyways, here I am now!
Today is my 6th day here in Serbia. I arrived in Belgrade last tuesday, after the longest hours of my life waiting for my flight to Belgrade at the airport in Rome.
After one and a half days in Belgrade, me and my friends (Sol, Chica and Andrei) headed to Novi Sad, where we performed at the Exit Festival. It was SO, so great!! The 2 other days of festival were awesome too (pictures and videos coming soon, promise).
And today - after 3 days in Novi Sad - I`m leaving back to Belgrade. As soon as I reach my apartment there I promise to post all the pics and videos I shot so far :)
Til soon!
Monday, 12 July 2010
Friday, 9 July 2010
Right here, right now
I`m in Serbia since Wednesday (in Belgrade) and now I`m in Novi Sad, preparing to perform at Exit Festival with my friends Sol, Andrei and Chica. Pictures, updates and videos real soon, promise!
Sunday, 27 June 2010
Monday, 14 June 2010
Things I miss about the Belgrade - III
The 3rd item on my list of "Things I miss the most about Belgrade" (previous two can be seen here and here) is none less than my favourite place in this world: Kalemegdan.
Before going to Serbia for the first time, I remember seeing pictures of Kalemegdan and wanting to go there first thing once in Belgrade -and it ended up becoming such a special place to me that I'd go there almost every single day when I was in Belgrade. I would go all the way into the fortress (entering it from Knez Mihailova) and sit on its walls, facing the confluence of the rivers Sava and Danube, Veliki Ratno Ostrvo, Novi Beograd and Zemun on the far background. The image of this wonderful view was chosen to picture this blog's background :)
But some of you must be wondering: what is Kalemegdan, anyways?
Wikipedia says that "Kalemegdan (Serbian Cyrillic: Калемегдан) is a fortress and a park in an urban area neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Stari Grad. (...) Etymologically, the word Kalemegdan (Turkish: Kalemeydan) itself means "Castle Square" in Turkish."
Here's what I know about it:
On the 3rd century BC, on the site of a previous Greek settlement, Scordisci Celts chose an strategic hilltop on the confluence of two rivers as the basis for their habitation - there they founded a city called it Singidūn, known today as Belgrade. When Romans arrived to Singidūn, they changed the city's name to it's roman version - Singidunum - and it quickly became a military frontier between the Roman Empire and barbaric Europe.
During the 4th and 5th centuries, Singidunum was repeatedly destroyed by Goths and Huns. On the late 5th century, it became the border between Western and Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire).
Since its foundation til present days, Kalemegdan and Belgrade - or Singidūn, or Singidunum - were ruled by many - Celts, Romans, Bulgarians, Byzantines, Turks, Hungarians, Austrians, Serbs - and destroyed and rebuilt 38 times.
Nowadays, Kalemegdan is a huge urban park, with some open air cafes (crowded with people during summer!), sports courts, a military museum and a natural history museum, a church, some open air exhibitions and parties at times, not to mention the many monuments, ruins, towers and so on. It's a great place to go during the summer, to lay on the grass and read, or to go for a walk during the winter days, when Kalemegdan gets totally white, covered with snow.
Walking through Kalemegdan today one would probably have a hard imagining that those walls and ruins witnessed so many battles for over two thousand years. And this feeling to be walking on history is one of the many things that makes Kalemegdan so special to me.
Before going to Serbia for the first time, I remember seeing pictures of Kalemegdan and wanting to go there first thing once in Belgrade -and it ended up becoming such a special place to me that I'd go there almost every single day when I was in Belgrade. I would go all the way into the fortress (entering it from Knez Mihailova) and sit on its walls, facing the confluence of the rivers Sava and Danube, Veliki Ratno Ostrvo, Novi Beograd and Zemun on the far background. The image of this wonderful view was chosen to picture this blog's background :)
But some of you must be wondering: what is Kalemegdan, anyways?
Wikipedia says that "Kalemegdan (Serbian Cyrillic: Калемегдан) is a fortress and a park in an urban area neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Stari Grad. (...) Etymologically, the word Kalemegdan (Turkish: Kalemeydan) itself means "Castle Square" in Turkish."
Here's what I know about it:
On the 3rd century BC, on the site of a previous Greek settlement, Scordisci Celts chose an strategic hilltop on the confluence of two rivers as the basis for their habitation - there they founded a city called it Singidūn, known today as Belgrade. When Romans arrived to Singidūn, they changed the city's name to it's roman version - Singidunum - and it quickly became a military frontier between the Roman Empire and barbaric Europe.
During the 4th and 5th centuries, Singidunum was repeatedly destroyed by Goths and Huns. On the late 5th century, it became the border between Western and Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire).
Kalemegdan in the 17th century
Nowadays, Kalemegdan is a huge urban park, with some open air cafes (crowded with people during summer!), sports courts, a military museum and a natural history museum, a church, some open air exhibitions and parties at times, not to mention the many monuments, ruins, towers and so on. It's a great place to go during the summer, to lay on the grass and read, or to go for a walk during the winter days, when Kalemegdan gets totally white, covered with snow.
Flowery corner in the fortress
View from Kalemegdan, during the winter
Summer sunset on Kalemegdan
A summer day on Kalemegdan's walls
Walking through Kalemegdan today one would probably have a hard imagining that those walls and ruins witnessed so many battles for over two thousand years. And this feeling to be walking on history is one of the many things that makes Kalemegdan so special to me.
Sunday, 30 May 2010
Receita adaptada de Burek!
Pedro jogou a isca e eu peguei: nunca tinha me ligado em dividir minha maneira adaptada de fazer burek, mas achei super válida a idéia.
Tenham em mente que isso é uma adaptação brasileira do original balcânico: poucos em casa tem o espaço necessário para fazer a massa que se usa no burek original e alguns outros ingredientes (como o queijo feta e a banha de porco) são dificílimos (e caros!) de se achar por essas terras. Então lá vai!
Você vai precisar de:
- 1 pacote de massa fillo 300g (fig. 1)
- 1 pedaço de de queijo minas frescal (ou feta, se você estiver disposto a desenbolsar mais $)
- 1/2 kg de carne moída (qualquer carne serve, mas de 1ª é sempre melhor)
- manteiga derretida
- sal, pimenta, páprica (doce e picante), tomilho, noz moscada
- pincel de cozinha
Figura 1
obs².: os temperos são a gosto, não precisa usar todos os que listei, mas sal e pimenta são imprescindíveis.
1- Pra começar, arranje bastante espaço na bancada da sua cozinha, ou numa mesa qualquer.
2 - Numa bacia, tempere a carne como você achar melhor. Eu normalmente uso pimenta branca e a páprica (doce/eou picante). Curto colocar um tomilho tb, mas isso fica a gosto de cada um.
Se você escolher fazer o recheio de queijo, lembre-se de escorrer bem a água dele. rale o queijo minas o amasse-o bem com um garfo. Se achar necessário, acrescente um pouco de sal ao queijo (lembre-se de que estamos tentando "copiar" o queijo feta, que é bem salgadinho).
4 - Estenda a folha de massa sobre sua bancada/mesa. Pincele manteiga por toda sua superfície até ela ficar toda amanteigada. Salpique a carne crua temperada de forma linear, sem exagerar muito na quantidade (pra que a massa não rasgue depois).
Se você for usar o queijo (ou outro recheio mais "molinho", como espinafre ou cogumelos) você pode salpicar o recheio sobre toda a superfície da massa, sem deixar que pedaços grandes se acumulem. (figuras 2 e 3).
Figura.2
Figura 3
5 - Após colocado o recheio, comece a enrolar a massa pelo lado mais comprido da folha (fig 4). Após formado o "charutão", amasse/dobre as extremidades, fechando o "charuto" e enrole ele, formando uma espiral. Faça igual com todas as outras folhas de massa e arrange as espirais em um tabuleiro untado com manteiga (fig. 5).
Figura 4
Outra opção aqui é você enrolar a massa de forma menos apertada, mais "achatada" um pouco, como se fosse um "rolinho primavera" comprido. Faça igual com todas as outras folhas e arranje os rolinhos um ao lado do outro em um tabuleiro untado com manteiga (fig. 6).
Figura 5
Figura 6
Antes de levar o tabuleiro ao forno, dê mais uma pincelada de leve de manteiga, só pra constar. A idéia de jogar gergelim por cima é ótima, principalmente no burek de queijo!
6 - Asse em forno médio (pré aquecido) por uns 15-20 minutos, ou até que a massa fique dourada.Como os fornos variam muito, eu aconselho que você de uma olhada após uns 10 minutos, só pra não correr o risco de queimar o seu burek.
7 - Agora aqui rola o pulo do gato: imediatamente após retirar o tabuleiro do forno, respingue água com a mão sobre o burek até que a fumaça pare e cubra-os com um pano de prato por uns 2 minutos: isso vai fazer com que a massa dê uma murchada essencial pra que ela não quebre e endureça quando esfriar!
Agora está pronto! Super recomendo que você pegue um bom iogurte (daqueles naturais, sem adição de açúcar e de preferência bem espesso) ou uma coalhada (normal ou seca) e coma junto com o burek. Fica sensacional ;)
Monday, 26 April 2010
Things I miss about the Belgrade - II
Carrying on with my listing of things I miss the most about Belgrade, here's the second item on my list: Burek! There isn't a street in Belgrade where you won't find a pekara (bakery) or a buregdžinica (a place for burek and pita) - they are everywhere, tempting you to step in and order some delicious (and often really unexpensive!) pastry delight.
I was told the word burek is used to reffer specifically to the meat filled pastry. Pastries with fillings other than meat are called pita, meaning something like "pie",but not quite. So if you want a cheese "pie", you should order a pita sa sirom, or sirnica. Maybe a potato one? That would be krompiruša. And so on, depending on the filling.
In Serbia burek is often round, pretty much like a pie. I read (or I was told, can't remember) that this shape of burek was created by a turkish baker in Niš (a city in Southern Serbia), some 5 centuries years ago (God, that's as old as my home country!). In Bosnia, though, burek and pita are rolled, creating either small "buns" or big rolled pies. I love both shapes, haha, can't pick one.
Now, I've been to Belgrade time enough to know some good places for a burek and I have to say that the best one I've ever been to is this buregdžinica called Sarajevo, at Svetogorska street, 38. It's open 24 hours a day (!!!) and it's totally worth a visit. And if you can't say a word in serbian and feel embarassed to step in and order in english, fear no more! They do speak english there, as in many other places around the city.
Come to that, here's a fact: people often tend to think that most people in Belgrade won't speak any english. If you too think so, you'd be surprised: no matter how good or bad one's english is in Belgrade, they will always try and help you out as much as they can. And they will be delighted if you try some serbian words. So, no reasons to be embarassed ;)
Ps.: I'm eternally grateful to Valja for having "introduced" me to Sarajevo :D
I was told the word burek is used to reffer specifically to the meat filled pastry. Pastries with fillings other than meat are called pita, meaning something like "pie",
A pekara (bakery) in Belgrade
In Serbia burek is often round, pretty much like a pie. I read (or I was told, can't remember) that this shape of burek was created by a turkish baker in Niš (a city in Southern Serbia), some 5 centuries years ago (God, that's as old as my home country!). In Bosnia, though, burek and pita are rolled, creating either small "buns" or big rolled pies. I love both shapes, haha, can't pick one.
Now, I've been to Belgrade time enough to know some good places for a burek and I have to say that the best one I've ever been to is this buregdžinica called Sarajevo, at Svetogorska street, 38. It's open 24 hours a day (!!!) and it's totally worth a visit. And if you can't say a word in serbian and feel embarassed to step in and order in english, fear no more! They do speak english there, as in many other places around the city.
Come to that, here's a fact: people often tend to think that most people in Belgrade won't speak any english. If you too think so, you'd be surprised: no matter how good or bad one's english is in Belgrade, they will always try and help you out as much as they can. And they will be delighted if you try some serbian words. So, no reasons to be embarassed ;)
Ps.: I'm eternally grateful to Valja for having "introduced" me to Sarajevo :D
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Entrevista na Folha Ilustrada!
Música dos Bálcãs inspira orquestra pop no Rio
AUDREY FURLANETO
da sucursal do Rio
São 18h de uma sexta-feira e um saxofonista cumprimenta uma flautista na praça São Salvador, em Laranjeiras, zona sul do Rio. Em seguida, mais três rapazes chegam e tiram das bolsas acordeão, violino e trompete. Uma moça loira surge com copos e uma garrafa de Shlivovitsa, destilado típico do Leste Europeu. E a orquestra começa a tocar no coreto.
É o primeiro ensaio aberto da Go East Orkestar, a orquestra de música dos Bálcãs organizada pela DJ (a moça loura) Maria Teresa, ou Tetê, líder da "balada balcânica" Go East!, que chega à 15ª edição hoje, no Cine Lapa, no Rio.
Formada por músicos jovens como o saxofonista Daniel Vasques, do Brasov, a orquestra faz ensaios periódicos na praça (a programação é sempre atualizada no blog).
A Go East Orkestar vai suprir a falta de bandas na balada que as duas promovem no Rio desde 2007 e que chegou a São Paulo em 2009. Com público médio de 500 pessoas, a festa das DJs já recebeu até bandas de ciganos. A ideia é que, agora, a orquestra própria se apresente nas próximas edições.
Falta ainda resolver um detalhe: como não conhecem muitas pessoas que falam sérvio, o grupo está sem vocalista. E, embora sejam fluentes no idioma, Tetê e sua amiga Chica Batella, filha do escritor João Ubaldo Ribeiro, devem fazer só coro e dançar "kolo", algo como o samba dos Bálcãs, que elas já apresentam na Go East.
Chica e Tetê (a DJ já morou duas vezes na Sérvia, em busca de música e de materiais para sua festa) voltarão ao país em julho e agosto com outros seis amigos. O interesse é música e cultura local.
"Em toda a esquina, há um grupo de ciganos tocando. Há centenas de barcos por todo o [rio] Danúbio com festas de música folclórica e de turbo folk [o som pop da Sérvia]. São tão musicais quanto nós brasileiros", diz a DJ.
No ensaio aberto ao público, não demora para que a praça fique lotada de curiosos que espiam e dançam ao som de bandas como a americana Beirut, que com "Elephant Gun" e outros hits, ajudaram a popularizar a música dos Bálcãs nos últimos anos.
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u721941.shtml
AUDREY FURLANETO
da sucursal do Rio
São 18h de uma sexta-feira e um saxofonista cumprimenta uma flautista na praça São Salvador, em Laranjeiras, zona sul do Rio. Em seguida, mais três rapazes chegam e tiram das bolsas acordeão, violino e trompete. Uma moça loira surge com copos e uma garrafa de Shlivovitsa, destilado típico do Leste Europeu. E a orquestra começa a tocar no coreto.
É o primeiro ensaio aberto da Go East Orkestar, a orquestra de música dos Bálcãs organizada pela DJ (a moça loura) Maria Teresa, ou Tetê, líder da "balada balcânica" Go East!, que chega à 15ª edição hoje, no Cine Lapa, no Rio.
Formada por músicos jovens como o saxofonista Daniel Vasques, do Brasov, a orquestra faz ensaios periódicos na praça (a programação é sempre atualizada no blog).
Rafael Andrade/Folha Imagem
Membros da orquestra Go East! fazem ensaio em Laranjeiras, zona sul do Rio
Há, como inspiração, o som do cineasta sérvio Emir Kusturica. Autor das próprias trilhas, ele mostra a música de sua No Smoking Band em filmes como "Underground", que lhe rendeu a segunda Palma de Ouro no Festival de Cannes em 1995.
"O som é algo entre a comédia e o tom dramático ao mesmo tempo, com muitos metais. É intenso, energético", define Tetê, que organiza a orquestra com sua parceira na Go East, a argentina Maria Sol Provvidente. Elas, aliás, vão tocar em julho no Exit, festival à beira do rio Danúbio, no norte da Sérvia, por onde já passaram Primal Screen e Gogol Bordello.A Go East Orkestar vai suprir a falta de bandas na balada que as duas promovem no Rio desde 2007 e que chegou a São Paulo em 2009. Com público médio de 500 pessoas, a festa das DJs já recebeu até bandas de ciganos. A ideia é que, agora, a orquestra própria se apresente nas próximas edições.
Falta ainda resolver um detalhe: como não conhecem muitas pessoas que falam sérvio, o grupo está sem vocalista. E, embora sejam fluentes no idioma, Tetê e sua amiga Chica Batella, filha do escritor João Ubaldo Ribeiro, devem fazer só coro e dançar "kolo", algo como o samba dos Bálcãs, que elas já apresentam na Go East.
Chica e Tetê (a DJ já morou duas vezes na Sérvia, em busca de música e de materiais para sua festa) voltarão ao país em julho e agosto com outros seis amigos. O interesse é música e cultura local.
"Em toda a esquina, há um grupo de ciganos tocando. Há centenas de barcos por todo o [rio] Danúbio com festas de música folclórica e de turbo folk [o som pop da Sérvia]. São tão musicais quanto nós brasileiros", diz a DJ.
No ensaio aberto ao público, não demora para que a praça fique lotada de curiosos que espiam e dançam ao som de bandas como a americana Beirut, que com "Elephant Gun" e outros hits, ajudaram a popularizar a música dos Bálcãs nos últimos anos.
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u721941.shtml
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Things I miss about the Belgrade - I
It's been a nostalgic week for me and I guess the weekend won't be any different. So I decided to start this series of photo-posts here on the blog, listing the 'things' I miss the most when it comes to Belgrade. I won't mention all the people I miss, cause then the list would be waaay to big - and besides, those I miss know who they are and how much I miss them :)
So, number 1 thing: the "music all around" factor: there's always someone playing something on some corner.
So, number 1 thing: the "music all around" factor: there's always someone playing something on some corner.
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Travelling without moving
Slightly new look here on the blog for a new trip do Serbia real soon - I can't barely wait!
Me plus 4 or 5 friends should be arriving in Serbia on the first days july and staying almost til the end of august - it's gonna be epical! 4 out of those 6 friends had never been to Serbia before, and 3 of them had never been to the Balkans. I'm counting the days! :)
While boarding time won't come, I keep carrying some projects here to bring me closer to the Balkans in some way. The latest of these projects - with my super partner in production and DJing, Sol - is GO EAST ORKESTAR: a reunion of great musicians from Rio de Janeiro interested in playing music from all over the Balkans. The band is gonna be resident at GO EAST, the balkan music party me and Sol produce together here in Brazil, for over two years now.
So far we had two rehearsals, and I can't barely wait for the 3rd!
I leave you here with 3 videos of GO EAST ORKESTAR's first 2 rehearsals:
Me plus 4 or 5 friends should be arriving in Serbia on the first days july and staying almost til the end of august - it's gonna be epical! 4 out of those 6 friends had never been to Serbia before, and 3 of them had never been to the Balkans. I'm counting the days! :)
While boarding time won't come, I keep carrying some projects here to bring me closer to the Balkans in some way. The latest of these projects - with my super partner in production and DJing, Sol - is GO EAST ORKESTAR: a reunion of great musicians from Rio de Janeiro interested in playing music from all over the Balkans. The band is gonna be resident at GO EAST, the balkan music party me and Sol produce together here in Brazil, for over two years now.
So far we had two rehearsals, and I can't barely wait for the 3rd!
I leave you here with 3 videos of GO EAST ORKESTAR's first 2 rehearsals:
Monday, 18 January 2010
Coming back!
Dear readers!
I can't wait to be able to post here on a daily basis again. I mean, I could write entries now and all, but if I'm not in Belrgade or in the Balkans, what's the sense in it? As this blog is entirely dedicated to my adventures in Southeastern Europe, the answer to the previous question I just made has to be "none". Unless I had any unwritten story to tell you guys, which is not the case. Anyways...
Hopefully I'll be back to Belgrade by May (fingers crossed everybody!), and this time I'll definitelly roam around the region a lot. Can't tell you more than this for now, but I'd suggest you people to watch this blog closely within the next couple of months, as I believe some exciting news will follow shortly ;)
For now, I'll leave you with a track by one of my favourite DJs/producers/musicians, Mr Kiril Džajkovski, from Macedonia. The guy is a genius, and his new track (featuring the wonderful Esma Redžepova!) is totally great!
I can't wait to be able to post here on a daily basis again. I mean, I could write entries now and all, but if I'm not in Belrgade or in the Balkans, what's the sense in it? As this blog is entirely dedicated to my adventures in Southeastern Europe, the answer to the previous question I just made has to be "none". Unless I had any unwritten story to tell you guys, which is not the case. Anyways...
Hopefully I'll be back to Belgrade by May (fingers crossed everybody!), and this time I'll definitelly roam around the region a lot. Can't tell you more than this for now, but I'd suggest you people to watch this blog closely within the next couple of months, as I believe some exciting news will follow shortly ;)
For now, I'll leave you with a track by one of my favourite DJs/producers/musicians, Mr Kiril Džajkovski, from Macedonia. The guy is a genius, and his new track (featuring the wonderful Esma Redžepova!) is totally great!
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