Serbian cuisine developed under the influence of the moderate continental climate and historical mingling of cultures, with Byzantine, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian influences being crucial in its formation. Serbia is at the crossroads of the East and West, and this is shown in the contrasting variety in the cuisine. Serbian food is characteristically Balkan, and heavy on meat, dairy, and grains, owing to history and geography.
Pastoralism has been important as significant territory is mountainous, and in the Ottoman period, Serbs became more dependent on dairy products, and also significantly incorporated
pork, which the Muslim Ottomans did not enforce taxes on.
William of Tyre who travelled to
Constantinople in 1179, described the Serbs as "rich in herds and flocks and unusually well-supplied with milk, cheese, butter, meat, honey, and wax". Cheese, pies and breads are included in almost every meal, and meat in at least one meal. Seasoning such as
bay leaves were introduced from the Mediterranean trade, and peppers were introduced in the 1600s and became a staple; Paprika, which is especially used, is a major export product. The
Taste Atlas for 2023/2024 listed Serbia at the 20th place of national cuisines, and included the most popular dishes as
Pljeskavica (patty),
Pasulj (bean stew),
Ajvar (relish),
Gibanica (cheese-and-egg pie),
Burek (pastry),
Sarma (stuffed sour cabbage),
Karađorđe schnitzel,
Prebranac (bean stew),
Donuts,
Urnebes (relish), etc. Serbian food is of high quality owing to five million hectares of agricultural land of which farms use no genetic modifications. Healthy food is found in markets sold directly from farmers. There are three meals per day. Generally, breakfast is strong, consisting of savory pastry, while lunch is the most important, eaten in early afternoon, and
dinner is light. Ordinary home meals include cooked dishes, such as boiled peas, beans or other vegetables, stews and casseroles, moussaka, soups, baked, fried or grilled meat, and salads. For tourists, portions are large, and local dishes are found in cozy
kafanas which offer coffee, drinks, snacks and small meals. The kafanas were adapted from Ottoman coffeshops, and feature ethnic Serbian food, drinks and music. Cuisine is heavily integrated with hospitality and holidays. Serbian ethnologist Dragomir Antonić (1948–2020) studied Serbian cuisine. There are regional variations and specialties, with Austro-Hungarian influences dominant in the northern province of
Vojvodina, where noodles, macaroni, buns, dumpling and patties are popular, although there are variations between sub-regions, where Srem uses much more spices than in Banat for instance. East of the
Great Morava, hard cheese are popular specialties, while to the west of it, between
Drina and Morava,
kajmak is the best, especially in the Čačak area. The best pork
rotisserie is found in the area between
Gornji Milanovac and
Mrčajevci (in
Šumadija), while the best lamb is in the
Raška region and
eastern Serbia. Paprika is characteristic of southern Serbia. The
Orthodox monk Jerotej of
Krušedol wrote the oldest modern Serbian cookbook in 1855. The first published cookbook in Serbia is
The Big Serbian Cookbook (), written by Katarina Popović-Midzina in 1877. The best known Serbian cookbook is ''Pata's Cookbook'' (), written by Spasenija Pata Marković in 1907; the book remains in publication even today. The
Serbian government has passed laws banning the production and import of
genetically modified foods, a legislative decision which has been applauded by
environmentalists but caused a long-running dispute with the
World Trade Organization, preventing Serbia from being able to join the WTO. ==Meal culture==