ArenaNet:International cultural references/Serbia

Dear Gaile,

Serbia has been all over the world news in the last few weeks, because of the Kosovo area.

History

Its now a small country (even smaller because we don`t have that area anymore) But 6 centuries ago, it was big. It had half of Greece, Romania and a lot of other territories. It was the firs country that used forks in the medieval times. This was under the rule of Emperor Dusan.

After his death, his son Uros has taken the throne and lost his rule to the Ottoman Turks. And then five centuries passed till the people of Serbia wore free again.

Food

The most famous of the all food types are called the CEVAP. Its a sausage like meal, and its a brown/gray color.

There is also SARMA, a national meal made out of meat rolled in leafs of cabbage.

And of course GIBANICA, which is something similar to cheese cakes, but it has yogurt in it.

Myths

The legend of vampiri (Vampires), living dead which crawl up in the middle of the night sucking blood comes from Serbia, where the first ``Vampire`` was found (By the name of Sava Savanovic) The word Vampire is since used worldwide.

Then there are Azdajas (Aždaje) which are demon/ dragon creatures.