Slava (Saint protector's day) - Slavska trpeza
In Balkan there is the Orthodox tradition of the ritual glorification of one's family's patron saint. The family celebrates the Slava annually on the saint's feast day.
The most important things to have on this day are the red wine (represents the blood of Christ), Slavski Kolač or ritual bread with the orthodox cross in the center of it,made by a housewife (it represents the body of Christ) and also Koljivo- it's made from boiled and then minced wheat sweetened with sugar and walnuts. Every guest that arrives to the house has to take one spoon of Koljivo and then drink a bit of wine. Before serving the appetizers it's a tradition to put a bit of wine on the ritual bread making the cross, kiss it 3 times, then make three circles holding it while saying the prayer and in the end split it in pieces.
Depending on whether the celebration falls in a period of fasting, the rest of the feast consists of a meal with a variety of food that is either all animal-except-fish (posno, and that includes sweets also obligatorily made without eggs and dairy) or with dairy, eggs, and the meat (usually roast piglet or lamb) and poultry allowed (mrsno), colloquially, Slava can be referred to as posna or mrsna. Many of mrsna Slava usually consists of: a few appetizers (salty cakes, salads, a platter with smoked meat and cheese, pickles...) soup or broth, sarma
(cabbage rolls filled with minced meat and rice), roasted pork meat served with potatoes and different kinds of salads. In the end of course it finishes with various desserts.
Ovaj post je posvećen jednom od najvažnijih praznika u Balkanskoj tradiciji tj. Slavi Sveca zaštitnika porodičnog ognjišta. U mojoj kući se uvek proslavlja u najužem krugu porodice i rodbine. Pošto mnogi stranci ne znaju šta je to Slava ovaj post će donekle pomoći da stvore ikakvu predstavu o tom prazniku.
In this picture there are 3 main things for Slava: RED WINE, RITUAL BREAD, and KOLJIVO. Na ovoj slici su prikazani VINO, SLAVSKI KOLAČ i KOLJIVO, sveto trojstvo.
Typical appetizers: Salty cakes - Tipična predjela su slane torte i salate
Traditional meal: Sarma- Tradicionalno jelo bez kojeg ne može da prođe Slava: Sarma
Desserts- Slavski sitni kolači