Taste of Serbia welcomes neighbors

Members of St. Basil of Ostrog Serbian Orthodox Church created their festival as a way to show "gostoprimstvo" to the neighbors.

On Sunday, during the church's third annual Taste of Serbia celebration in Mettawa, dozens of people representing all nationalities embraced the church's hospitality.

"The first year we weren't quite sure how this would go over in the neighborhood," said J.J. Howard, a member of the parish. "But we wanted everyone, Serbs and non-Serbs, to come out and see our faith and try our food."

The Taste of Serbia festival offered constant entertainment during the two-day event, with Sloboda Serb folk dancers and performances by Milos Djordjevic, Merima Njegomir and accordian player Ljubisa Pavkovic.

But with "taste" in its name, the real focus was obviously the food, described as a cross between Mediterranean and central European cuisine.

On the menu was cevapcic (char-grilled Serb sausage); raznjici (char-grilled shish kabobs); palacinke (Serb crepes); and krempita (Serb custard-filled pastry).

"We've got the best Serbian food in the Chicagoland area," said Richelle Arandjelovic, whose personal favorites are the cevapcic and burek, which is a pastry filled with cheese.

Jim and Tammy Graham of Lake Bluff decided to give the cuisine a try Sunday and attended the festival at lunchtime with their son Luke.

While Luke, 13, stuck with chicken, the Graham's experimented and liked what they got.

"I don't know the names of this stuff in Serbian, but it tastes like pork," Jim Graham said. "We just thought we would come over and have a little taste."

While the festival is just three years old, St. Basil will celebrate its 10th anniversary in October.

Parish trustee Lou Milicich said the Serbian population is growing in the suburbs, with some estimating there are 300,000 Serbs in the Chicago area.

Milicich said in Lake County and the northern suburbs, there are about 20,000 Serbs.

Bosnian Serb Mirela Ristic, and her daughter Tamara, 5, relocated to Schaumburg in 2005.

She said the festival gives her a chance to enjoy all of the great food that is not easy to find in America.

"I was welcomed here and this (festival) welcomes Americans to our culture," Ristic said.