to Anon: burek, banitsa, cheese and the EU

Submitted by Nadia, Mar 29, 2017 at 06:02

Hi Anon,
"I would argue the EU would love to change its name and begin accepting non European countries" - I would argue it's not needed at all. Many European countries have territories outside Europe and these territories are now part of the European Union. We already have Your neighbour Cyprus in and they are situated in Western Asia.

"........accepting non European countries but it will likely collapse before it has the chance to do so......" - Correct and Israel will have to hurry up in order to join and have some fun before it's over. I see Israel as a nice new member State and I am surprised Europe has not yet started negociations. After all Israel is in the Eurovision already. My opinion is there is no other country at this moment that is more ready on all fronts - very high Human development index, GDP and GDP per capita, strategic location and bla bla. Culturally and judicially a Western democracy with the perk of MENA high fertility rates Europe needs. I can imagine the joining ceremony with Dana International (Israeli singer who won the Eurovision in 1998) singing and free fireworks courtesy of neighbouring Hamas and Hezbullah. Pity Dana is banned in Egypt and the ceremony would probably never be televised there as so many Egyptian men drool over her. And imagine the news in neighbouring countries - "Europe on our border", "Crusadors are back with a vengeance", "Europe eyes our wealth" and so on. So many Egyptians and Jordanians will finally see European land for real. They'll just have to get out of the tent and walk a bit or get a camel ride up to the border. Satmar, Bobov, Vizhnitz, Naturei Karta and other dynastic and not so groups might soften their stance and finally accept Israel as a European subdivision and not a man made State. They can then stop protesting and blocking traffic is there and gracefully accept another handout. Maybe shorter border control within Europe will make European destinations as interesting for them as Teheran. Sounds like Utopia but now nothing surprises me. I can come along and distribute some recipes for homemade banitsa, spanakopita, börek or whatever.

White bulgarian cheese is exactly like feta or the Israeli bulgarite. I can't taste the difference. Well, for a true connoisseur it will matter, not for me. I like goat's best but sheep's is OK as well. Here I get it in Turkish shops along with thick filo called saç ufka. I also sometimes buy the supermarket variety. I read burek in Bulgaria is a banitsa with eggs, but then my grand-mother always put eggs in the banitsa. But she was from Greece and maybe that's why. In Bulgaria banitsa is never made with meat, fish or mushrooms. Same in Greece. Mushrooms are not part of traditional Balkan cuisine. Same for seafood. Only fish was picked and eaten in the past with crabs and shellfish discarded back to sea. My grand-mother was amused about shellfish being sold. Mushrooms were never cultivated or eaten in the past but are now quite common. Filo pastry originates from Ottoman Anatolia so exist in every country ever colonised by the Ottomans. In Northern Africa börek is called brik and the pastry sheets are made of semolina. Balkan cuisine is very, very similar and is also quite similar to Levantine cuisine.

I'll search a video on Youtube about rats talking over a coffee, but it's in French. They are usually quick to propose on the first meeting. Otherwise they'll have to fork out for another coffee lol.

Greetings

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