Today, Montenegrin cafes and restaurants offer a full variety of breakfast choices – from fresh, healthy granola to classic hearty English breakfasts. That’s great. But when in Rome, do as the Romans do, right? So, have a cup of Turkish coffee if you enjoy starting your day chatting with a waitress at a nearby restaurant terrace. It will give you strength and right mood for the morning.
But, when you're ready for breakfast, move your focus from restaurants to bakeries or what we call the “into” in the local dialect. At a typical local bakery window, you’ll see 6-7 kinds of puff pastry products with different fillings under general name “pita.” And if you’re not the sweet breakfast type, then choose a “burek.” Montenegrins (as they say) are split into two types – those who like minced meat pita, or “burek,” and those who like cheese, potato, and other puffed pies. Don’t be surprised at the size – this is a proper Montenegrin portion.
At a local table, burek typically comes in combination with any fermented milk product such as yogurt, kefir, ayran or sour cream to balance the fatty pie. My choice today is thick clabber (or “kiselo mleko”) by the local milk factory 'Moja Kravica', so I asked for a spoon.
Burek is originally an eastern dish made of a very thin puff pastry and stuffed with minced meat, and it gained its popularity in the areas that were once part of the Ottoman Empire. From large pitas to tiny, bite-sized mantije, Montenegrins are true burek lovers - and if you want to live like a local, this is your perfect breakfast.
