Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, is a crossway between worlds.  Over the centuries it has been part of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria, Serbia, the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and later the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia before becoming independent as the capital of Macedonia. And like its history, the food of Skopje is a wonderful mixture of cultures.

When we visited Skopje we tried to experience as much of the food culture as we could, starting with some traditional pastries for breakfast to kick off our day. We got some pastrmajlija, which is a boat shaped pastry filled with cubed meat. It was really filling, but not too heavy, perfect for breakfast. Later in the day as part of our guided tour we tasted burek. The burek is like a tart made of fried, leafy pastry traditionally filled with either meat or spinach and cheese. It is served cut up and locals pair it with yoghurt. I was a big fan, but we also had some less amazing experiences with burek. After having a taste of the traditional ones, we tried plain cheese ones and pizza ones which were a bit underwhelming as they had barely any taste.

            Next we had a taste of the street food of Skopje. The perfect place to find fresh street food is the Old Town Medina. We had some of the classic Macedonian delicacies, originated from the Ottoman Empire, such as kebab and tavce gravce, which are baked beans. The baked beans were phenomenal. They were made in clay pots together with tomato sauce and onion, which gave it a unique, smoky taste. The kebab was also good but a bit overpowered by the extremely salty bread that we had with it as a side.

            Clay pots have a special place in the heart of North Macedonians. For our last night we went to a traditional Macedonian restaurant called Old House and tried some traditional dishes made in these infamous pots. We were not disappointed. Most of them are made with a big variety of vegetables and a mix of meats. They were a bit spicy so a good amount of bread and water is highly recommended. If you are worried that these claypot dishes would be too heavy for you, fear not because North Macedonians also have their national salad. Shopska Salad is made with tomatoes and cucumbers generously covered in white cheese, which makes it a perfect light dish option.

            We inspected the drinks of Skopje and I can honestly say they have something for everyone. To start with there is the national drink, rakija, which is a strong alcohol made out of grapes, which is drunk as an aperitif before eating. We tried it both cold and warm and I personally liked the latter version more since it was fruitier and not as strong in this form. It is definitely a good choice in the winter since it warms you up, but be careful in the summer… it might hit hard.

But you can’t always go for shots, so for a lighter drink we tried the beer. We had Skopsko as a bottled beer, the bestselling in the country. Since I am not the biggest beer fan, I was not really impressed by it. It just had a stronger wheat taste than most beers I have tried before. Nonetheless, we could not stop there since Skopje is famous for its craft beers. On our last night we sat in at Kolektiv, a local brewery where we went on a beer tasting journey. We tried 8 different beers ranging from traditional pale ale to one infused with cannabis. My personal favourites were the strawberry, which was much more bitter than a cider but still with a lovely fruity taste, and the darkest ale, which had a chocolaty, coffee-like taste. There was only one that made us question our existence which was the mint flavoured beer that appeared ‘Shrek’ green at the light of the flash.

In conclusion, if you ever go to Skopje do not miss out on the food. The variety is incredible, mixing the foods of many cultures. And the prices will knock you off your feet. A two-course meal and drinks for two people in the smack-bang centre of the city were around 6000 forints (around 18 euros). Skopje is the perfect place to have a dive into Balkan cuisine and coming out of it wanting more.