North Macedonia is located north of Greece, between Albania and Bulgaria. Since the 4th century BCE, when the ancient kingdom of Paeonia was conquered by the Persians, the territory of North Macedonia has been contested and occuped by a series of empires: Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans and later Bulgarians and Serbs. After WWII, North Macedonia was annexed by Yugoslavia and only became its own country in the 1990s, after Yugoslavia fell apart.
Macedonians today are the descendants of Slavic tribes who began settling in the region back in the 6th century CE. Macedonian is a Slavic language, and Macedonian culture and cuisine falls within the spectrum of Balkan cuisine, having both Mediterranean, Slavic and Ottoman infueces. Like others in the Mediterranean, Macedonians quickly adopted American ingredients such as tomatoes and peppers and they feature prominently in their cuisine. Stews, braises and other dishes slowly cooked in earthenware are common, and seasonings beyond salt, pepper and paprika are relatively scarse. It's of no matter, all the Macedonian food I cooked was hearty but also vibrant and very, very tasty.
Related cuisines I've explored so far: Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian,
Dalmatian,
Greek, Greek Jewish, Kosovar, Montenegrin
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