1 (Dis)Unity in Eating, Brotherhood in Drinking?: American Travel Writers Perceptions of Yugoslav Socialist Cuisine A Yugoslav family lunch 1 A Yugoslav family lunch 2 In 1979, Roy Andiers de Groot, a columnist of the Chicago Tribune conveys a story to his readers - in the summer of 1979 Yugoslavia`s president for life, Josip Broz Tito, suddenly arrives at a small restaurant in a village in the south of France. The restaurants famous chef Michel Guerard (inventor of cuisine minceur) was just about to prepare dinner for the Yugoslav chief when cooks from Tito`s entourage entered the kitchen: “Soon there appeared in one of the most advanced kitchens in France- gleaming with pots and stainless steel - a motley crew.” They began preparing dinner for the president in methods “unorthodox by the French standards, but the Yugoslav efficiency in preparing multicourse meals and getting them to the president in time was extraordinary”. The cooks prepared, as the main course of the said dinner, bosanski lonac (de Groot calls it “bosnaski lonac”). The author is pretty much obsessed with bosanski lonac- “the more I thought of that scene in Guerard`s kitchen the more I pictured those eart hy Yugoslav cooks weaving their magic in that elegant French kitchen, that gleaming, refined temple of modern cuisine - the more I wanted to taste bosnaski lonac!” De Groot then calls up the Cultural office of Yugoslav embassy in the USA and tries to recreate the recipe. In the continuation of his story, we are told that chef Guerard finally persuaded Tito to try some of his specials so he sent 1 Edmund Stillman and the editors of Life „Balkans“. New York:Time Incorporated (1964) 2 Carol Green „Yugoslavia- Enchantment of the World“ Chicago: Children press (1984)
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1
(Dis)Unity in Eating, Brotherhood in Drinking?:
American Travel Writers Perceptions of Yugoslav Socialist Cuisine
A Yugoslav family lunch1 A Yugoslav family lunch
2
In 1979, Roy Andiers de Groot, a columnist of the Chicago Tribune conveys a story to his
readers - in the summer of 1979 Yugoslavia`s president for life, Josip Broz Tito, suddenly arrives
at a small restaurant in a village in the south of France. The restaurants famous chef Michel
Guerard (inventor of cuisine minceur) was just about to prepare dinner for the Yugoslav chief
when cooks from Tito`s entourage entered the kitchen: “Soon there appeared in one of the most
advanced kitchens in France- gleaming with pots and stainless steel - a motley crew.” They
began preparing dinner for the president in methods “unorthodox by the French standards, but
the Yugoslav efficiency in preparing multicourse meals and getting them to the president in time
was extraordinary”. The cooks prepared, as the main course of the said dinner, bosanski lonac
(de Groot calls it “bosnaski lonac”). The author is pretty much obsessed with bosanski lonac-
“the more I thought of that scene in Guerard`s kitchen the more I pictured those earthy Yugoslav
cooks weaving their magic in that elegant French kitchen, that gleaming, refined temple of
modern cuisine - the more I wanted to taste bosnaski lonac!” De Groot then calls up the Cultural
office of Yugoslav embassy in the USA and tries to recreate the recipe. In the continuation of his
story, we are told that chef Guerard finally persuaded Tito to try some of his specials so he sent
1 Edmund Stillman and the editors of Life „Balkans“. New York:Time Incorporated (1964) 2 Carol Green „Yugoslavia- Enchantment of the World“ Chicago: Children press (1984)
2
him foie gras.3 What followed is another perfect example of what Yugoslavia should have
looked like to the outsiders:
“Apparently, Tito liked it. An order came for more. Then, four more orders for four
ministers. Next six orders for the six advisers. An order for the ambassador, the doctor,
the two nurses, the interpreter, the butler and just to prove that Yugoslavia is truly an
egalitarian society, for the two chambermaids and the 30 bodyguards.”
This whole article is a perfect example of a carefully maintained image of Yugoslavia. First we
have the image of Tito as an “autocratic ruler of his country for 35 years, is 87, but the former
guerilla fighter and steel worker with the muscular body of an athlete shows no sign of
weakening appetite or ability to get around”. Second we have the image of “earthy cooks” who
prepare original Yugoslav dishes from ingredients brought from their native land (even live
chickens claims De Groot). Last we have ordering of foie gras for everyone.4 We are presented
with an image of a strong, unique country with unique cuisine and equality in sharing the
benefits from the West.
Creating an egalitarian society was the basis of the “Yugoslav dream”. Milovan Djilas, a high
party official used an interesting comparison, using food as a metaphor, on the Second Plenum of
the CK SKJ in 1953: “In the western countries there are plenty of steaks but while someone is
eating five steaks others are eating just one, while here in Yugoslavia - here we have some
justice”5
Brotherhood and unity, a wartime slogan of partisans relating to the “nations,
nationalities, and the working class” was a rallying cry and a beacon of hope for the people of
Yugoslavia.6 This whole concept was aimed at making the “wrongs” of first Yugoslavia right by
making everyone in Yugoslavia equal. 7
The application of this “constitutive concept”, as Dejan
Jović calls it, to Yugoslavia was not only a weapon against a new civil war and disunity but
functioned as a tool for the creation of a Yugoslav national consciousness.8 At the same time this
concept, and the politics it represented, were one of the key elements of Yugoslavia`s image
3 An expensive dish made from liver of geese
4 RoyAndiers De Groot (1979): Yugoslavias Bosanski Lonac. In: Chicago tribune, 19. november, N_29
5 Dobrivojević, Ivana (2008): Snabdevanje i standard u FNRJ 1945-1955 In: Historijska traganja br.9, Sarajevo p.77
6 Tepavac, Mirko (2000): Tito 1945-1980. In: Udovicki , Jasmina and Ridgeway, James (ed) (2000): Burn This
House: Making and Unmakig of Yugoslavia. Duke University Press, p. 65 7 Jović, Dejan (2003): Jugoslavija. Država koja je odumrla: Uspon, kriza i pad Četvrte Jugoslavije. Zagreb i
Beograd: Prometej, Samizdat B92. pp. 119-134 8 Djilas, Aleksa (1991): The Contested Country. Yugoslav Unity and Communist Revolution. Harvard University
Press, pp. 156-166
3
abroad. 9 This image was closely tied with foreign tourism which was very important to
Yugoslavia.10
When American travel writers and tourists started to tour Yugoslavia in the early
fifties they started to “probe” this representation of “brotherhood and unity” in every aspect.
Although an overall positive image of Yugoslavia was relayed in American travel reportages we
examined, there were serious variations. Cuisine was given an important place in most of these
reportages and in some authors opinions eating and drinking with the locals was the best way to
meet them. I will focus my analyze on the image of a “Yugoslav cuisine”.
It is my hypothesis that Yugoslavs, in the eyes of the American travel writers, were mostly
viewed disunited in their eating habits – in the sense of what, where and with whom they ate, and
perhaps most importantly- how did they call their food. The other part of our hypothesis is that
Yugoslavs were mostly united by their drinking habits. I presume that the first image was used to
underline Yugoslavia the hybrid, while the second image was used to place Yugoslavia firmly in
the "Balkan part" of the American imagination.
The bulk of the sources I analyzed consist of travel reportages from American daily, weekly and
specialized newspapers and magazines. These reportages present a type of source that has a
„highly charged discourse“.11
The advantage of these reportages is that they vary in target
populace as well as in their primary interest. Some of them focus on the purely tourist attractions
of Yugoslavia, while others focus on the day to day lives of ordinary Yugoslavs. In regards to
cuisine, they visit different places in the geography of taste - from tourist to more local
9 Grandits, Hannes and Taylor,Karin (Eds.) (2010): Yugoslavias Sunny Side a History of Tourism in Socialism.
Budapest/New York CEU Press. p. 9 10
For Yugoslavia, tourism in general was very important. In regards to foreign tourism, it helped put Yugoslavia on
the map From the 1960s onward there was a rapid growth in foreign visitors. Yugoslavia was marketed as a holiday
paradise for all. By the end of the 1980s Yugoslavia had 52 million of overnight stays.. Grandits, Hannes and
Taylor,Karin (Eds.) (2010): Yugoslavias Sunny Side a History of Tourism in Socialism. Budapest/New York CEU
Press. pp. 11-20; This success in tourism was praised in the American press by the former US Secretary of the
Interior Stewart B. Udall stating that “Marshal Tito’s liberalization.. and demanding that Yugoslavia’s tourist
industry improve its cuisine and accommodations in order to entice more travelers and more tourist dollars…gained
vital foreign exchange and independence.” Udall, Stewat L(1970): A few Prejudices. In:New York Times, 17.5.1970,
23-24 11
Furich, Elfriede and Kavoori Anaandam P. (2001): Mapping a Critical Framework for the Study of Travel
Journalism U:International Journal of Cultural Studies vol 4, pp.149-169.
4
restaurants, hotels, buses, roadside taverns, markets, streets to even private homes.12
I also
analyzed some tourist guides and propaganda films.
I intend to analyze these sources using general literature on cooking, cuisine, consumption and
its relations to identity and image. Also, using literature concerning imagology I will examine the
image of the "Other" in these sources. This is important being that all of the mentioned sources
are not representatives of a true state of Yugoslavia but represent the image of Yugoslavia in the
USA and therefore are charged with various discourses.
A (dis)unity in eating
Yugoslavs during troubled times 13
An illustration from Fodors 1990 Yugoslavia14
12
The importance of differences in private/public eating habits is underlined by Arjun Appadurai. In: Appadurai,
Arjun (1988): How to make a National Cuisine. Cookbooks in Contemporary India In:: Comparative Studies in
Society and History, 30 (1), p. 10. In this way we hope to determine how “Yugoslav cuisine” was viewed in
environments that weren`t strictly controlled and planned - unlike Tito`s famous journey’s or meetings with foreign
dignitaries which was planned down to what dishes will be served, or the unified elements of different cuisines for
internal purposes but where foreigners had no access (like the Yugoslav People’s Army). Drulović, Anja (2005):
Titov kuvar. Beograd:Laguna; Krstić, Marija (2010):Tito kao turista. In:Etnoantropološki problemi, god 5, sv.2. ;
Jokić, Nedeljko et al. (2011): Recepture za pripremanje jela u JNA, Ljubljana:Ebesede 13
Zausmer, Otto (1955): Yugoslavs Smile Again despite 1.30$ Butter. In: Boston Globe, 1.6.1955. 14
“Fodors Yugoslavia“New York and London: Fodors Travel Publications (1990) 78
5
Food is the repository of traditions and of collective identity. It is therefore an extraordinary
vehicle of self representation and cultural exchange.15
Food and drink are also building blocks in
the construction of all social identities and the connection between food and identity is amplified
by the universality and regularity of eating and drinking.16
Placed in the general Balkans setting Yugoslavia’s special place in the Cold War world shaped
perceptions about her cuisine and food and drink consumption, also.17
If we look at the National
Geographic`s reportages on the Balkans through the 20th century we can see remarkable
similarities in the images of regional cuisines. The Balkan cuisines indeed share some important
features.18
But if we focus on the image of consumption of food and drink in the 1945-1990
period we see some patterns of representation. Looking at Yugoslavia`s neighboroughs - Albania
is shown as a poor country of hunger and desperation.19
Bulgaria had a somewhat better image –
but lines for groceries and “only one kind of meat”, as well as separate stores for party officials
made it look bad. 20
Greece is shown as a land of plenty and more importantly for our subject – a
land of equal plenty.21
It is in Yugoslavia where it gets interesting with a general discourse of a
kaleidoscopic mix of nations, and a mix of eating habits, as well as a mix of Western and Eastern
influences in cuisine and consumption.22
As Wendy Bracewell concludes: “Consumer goods,
including food were one of the most obvious differences between Yugoslavs and their
neighboroughs.“23
However, after the initial separating Yugoslavia from the communist bloc in
the domain of imagination, we see American authors trying to prove the “enormous divide”
15
Monatanari, Massimo (2002): Food is Culture. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 125 16
Wilson, Thomas M. (Ed.) (2008): Food, Drink and Identity in Europe. New York: Berg. pp. 12-15 17
Goldsvorti,Vesna(2005):Izmišljanje Ruritanije-imperijalizam mašte. Beograd:Geopoetika; Todorova, Marija
(2004): Imaginarni Balkan. Beograd:Bibilioteka XX veka. 18
Bradatan, Cristina (2003): Cuisine and cultural identity in the Balkans. In: The Anthropology of East Europe
Review vol. 21, 1. 19
Mahmud Bieber,” Albania, Alone Stands”, National Geographic oktobar 1980 20
Boyd Gibbons, (ph) James L. Stanfield, “The Bulgarians”, National Geographic, jul 1980. 21
Peter T. White, (ph) James P. Blair, “Greece….”, National Geographic, mart 1980; Kenneth Wever, “Athens….”,
National Geographic, decembar 1963. 22
George W.Long, (ph) Volkmar Wentzel,” Yugoslavia between East and West”, National Geographic, februar
1951; Gilbert Grosvenor, “Dalmatian Coast: Yugoslavias Window on the Adriatic”,National Geographic, avgust
1962; Robert Paul Jordan, (ph) James P. Blair ”Yugoslavia: Six Republics in One”, National Geographic, mart
1970; Bryan Hodgeson, (ph) Lynda Bartlett, “Montenegro: Yugoslavias Black Mountain”, National
Geographic,novembar 1977; Kenneth C. Danforth, (ph) Steve McCurry” Yugoslavia: A House Much
Divided”,National Geographic, august 1990 23
Bracewell, Wendy (2012): Eating Up Yugoslavia: Cookbooks and Consumption in Socialist Yugoslavia. U:
Paulina Bren and Mary Neuburger (Eds.), Communism unwrapped: consumption in Cold War Eastern Europe.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 171
6
between the Yugoslav nations and nationalities and they are using , amongst other things, cuisine
to achieve that.
Most of the American travel writers whose work I examined were interested in trying original,
local dishes in Yugoslavia. If we start with the name - „Yugoslav cuisine”- we can only confirm
the conclusions of Wendy Bracewell that it was only an export commodity.24
When it comes to
cooking in Yugoslavia, the name “Yugoslav cuisine” is rarely used without annotations, or
without an explanation that it`s not really a united, true cuisine.25
Without a unified name
Yugoslavia’s cuisine (cuisines) missed a chance to be represented clearly. Foreigners never got
the chance to “taste the nation”26
(of Yugoslavs) in a truly nationalized cuisine. Travel writers
noted that various cuisines in Yugoslavia had some common denominators both in ingredients
used in dishes and ways of preparation as in presentation to tourists and visitors. For example, in
the eyes of Americans it was all too spicy and too sweet. 27
Special complaints, such as food
being too greasy at a time when in the West fear of obesity and a “cult of thinness” triumphs
reveal attitudes and prejudices of authors.28
All of the writers and guides present “Yugoslavian
cuisine” as “straightforward”29
and “homely”.30
Everything offered to the Americans was also at
“bargain prices”. Big menus in restaurants were also a common as were” big portions, but
nothing fancy”.31
American writers noticed and presented their readers with the differences inside Yugoslav
cuisine and in consumption of food quite early. These differences were sometimes used to
signify deep, even essential differences between Yugoslavs. A disunity in eating, as I named it,
existed and is very well summed up in Wendy Bracewell`s work where we can see that the
Yugoslav dream was not equally enjoyed by the population – summed up in a comparison of a
24
Bracewell, Wendy (2012): Eating Up Yugoslavia: Cookbooks and Consumption in Socialist Yugoslavia. U:
Paulina Bren and Mary Neuburger (Eds.), Communism unwrapped: consumption in Cold War Eastern Europe.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 177; 25
Brannon Albright (1966): October in Opatija. In:New York Times, 9.10.1966, 23; Greeberg, Al (1984): Skiing in
Yugoslavia. In:Skiing , February 1984,64 26
Brunnbauer Ulf , and Grandits Hannes , editors. The Ambiguous Nation: Case Studies from Southeastern Europe
in the 20th Century, Munich:Oldenbourg Verlag, 2013..p. 30 27
Olympic Notebook;Chinese Compete to Learn. In:New York Times, 16.2.1984. 28
Monatanari, Massimo (2002): Food is Culture. p. 121 29
In the sense of easy, simple preparation methods/ see more in: CBS, Yugoslavia (1986); “Fodors Yugoslavia“New
York and London: Fodors Travel Publications(1990) 30
Le Jeunesse, Ann (1987): Sea-ing Yugoslavia. In:Orange Coast, October 1987. In the sense of large portions of
simple dishes 31
Handly, John(1974): Yugoslavias 5-10$ Riviera. In:New York Times, 14.4.1974
diet of a Slovenian man, a director who lives in the city and a Kosovo women who lives in a
village.32
Geographical, historical and cultural differences in the background of various
Yugoslav regions had been factors in creating various consumption patterns.33
However,
whoever pointed out these disunities had their own agenda –scientific, political or other. The
Yugoslav officials stressed the city-village differences in nutrition.34
Yugoslav experts in the
1970s pointed out regional differences, and a regional “struggle” for the central place in the
representation of Yugoslav cuisine.35
American travel writing about Yugoslavia 1945-1990
stresses two key “disunities” – one subtly – a disunity in class, and another pretty direct – a
disunity where the factors were regions, republics and nations and used this disunities as building
blocks in their own images of Yugoslavia.
Class
In all history food was the first opportunity for the ruling strata to show off their superiority.36
In
the early years of Yugoslavia, exclusive banquets on the one side, and crippling hunger on the
other prompted Tito and others to criticize the new elite.37
American travel writers wrote
extensively about the hunger in the 1950s but didn’t (as they did for other communist countries)
criticize the Yugoslav party elite. This “silence” is probably on the account of American writers,
in view of special relations of Yugoslavia and the West, trying to differentiate between
individual communist systems.38
Soon writers started reporting on the end of hunger with
32
Bracewell, Wendy (2012): Eating Up Yugoslavia: Cookbooks and Consumption in Socialist Yugoslavia. U:
Paulina Bren and Mary Neuburger (Eds.), Communism unwrapped: consumption in Cold War Eastern Europe.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 184. 33
For regional differences in food consumption see: Kromhout, Daan et al., (1989): Food Consumption patterns in
the 1960s Seven Countries In: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition;br.49; str. 889-894; On specific regions:
Selinić, Slobodan (2005): Beograd 1960-1970-snabdevanje i ishrana, Beograd: INIS; Duvnjak, Neven (2012):
Analiza sadržaja kuharica posvećenih dalmatinskoj kuhinji: Prilog definiranju načina prehrane u Dalmaciji In:
Narodna umjetnost-Hrvatski časopis za etnologiju I folkloristiku vol. no 2.; Golija, Maja Godina (2010): From
Gibanica to Pizza. Changes in the Slovene Diet in the Twentieth Century. In: Glasnik Etnografskog Instituta vol. 2
pp. 117-130 etc. 34
Savezni Zavod za Statistiku (1986): Jugoslavija 1945-1985.Statistički prikaz. Beograd 1986. 35
Petrović, Milan (1976): Kvalitativne razlike u ishrani stanovništva Jugoslavije u zavisnosti od socio-ekonomske
pripadanosti domaćinstva s posebnim osvrtom na teritorijalne razlike. Beograd: Savezni Zavod za statistiku;
Stojanović, Andrija (1970): Narodna jela u turističkoj primjeni. In: Radovi plenarnog sastanka Ogranka za SR
Hrvatsku Etnološkog društva Jugoslavijie (ed.) Stojanović, Andrija Zagreb, 1970 36 Monatanari, Massimo (2002): Food is Culture. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 114 37 Marković, Predrag (1996): Beograd između istoka i zapada. Beograd:Službeni list SRJ. p. 288 38
For relations between Yugoslavia and USA see: Jakovina, Tvrtko (2002): Socijalizam na američkoj pšenici