Welcome to author CL Mustafic and the Loving Sarajevo blog tour! CL is here today to chat about one of my favorite subjects—food ::omnomnom::—and she’s also offering a giveaway, so be sure to check out those details below!
Food: Because I Love It
It’s been pointed out to me that my characters are always cooking and eating. I think it’s because cooking and baking are two of my favorite past times. After moving to Sarajevo, I had to learn to deal with not only the different measurements but also with the lack of ingredients I needed to make the meals I’d grown accustomed to making for my family.
Sarajevo is the largest city in Bosnia but is still lacking in some of the comforts and conveniences I’d taken for granted back in the states. When we first moved here only seven years ago, there were no western fast food places. We did get a couple of McDonalds restaurants a couple of years ago but I’m not a huge fan of the chain so I barely noticed its arrival. The lack of fast food wasn’t the hardest thing I had to cope with, no, it was the missing ingredients on the grocery store shelves that got me.
I had to learn to adapt and make lots of things from scratch. Learning to substitute one thing for another is something I’ve become adept at but when I don’t feel like going on a scavenger hunt for things I need, I have Bosnian cuisine to fall back on.
Bosnian food is usually hearty and filling. A lot of the meals have meat as the protein but it’s usually stretched to feed more people by adding rice and dough or some other starch because meat is expensive. In Loving Sarajevo Gage and Nikola eat a few different dishes and I thought I’d share with you what they are and look like.
Mixed Meat is just what it says it is. It’s a plate full of the different types of meat they serve off the grill. It usually comes with a salad of either cabbage or cucumbers and tomatoes and a healthy helping of bread.
Burek and Sirnica are two types of pita or pie as we call it here in Bosnia. It’s a very thin dough which is stretched until it’s translucent, then filling is added. You can put pretty much anything in it but meat and cheese are probably the most popular. I make this myself at home occasionally but it’s a long a labor-intensive process which is why we normally buy it from the bakery because it’s cheaper and doesn’t end with me cussing.
Sarma is minced meat mixed with rice, finely ground vegetables and seasonings which are then wrapped in cabbage or grape leaves. It’s served with either mashed potatoes and/or yogurt or kjmak. It’s yummy and probably one of my favorite Bosnian dishes.
Of course, we have pizza and burgers here but if you’re ever in Sarajevo, don’t be afraid to try the local cuisine. It’s good and most of it won’t kill you (at least not for a few years).
About the Book
Title: Loving Sarajevo
Author: CL Mustafic
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: October 2, 2017
Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 97500
Genre/Categories: Contemporary, LGBT, Family drama, BDSM, D/s, spanking, travel, businessmen, men with children
Goodreads
Buy Links: NineStar Press || Amazon || Smashwords || Barnes & Noble || Kobo
Blurb: Gage has problems saying I love you. After five years with his live-in boyfriend, Lucas, he still hasn’t said it. When Lucas calls it quits, it’s not a surprise, but it couldn’t have come at a more inconvenient time—the eve of Gage’s first business trip to Sarajevo.
Nikola, who’s been tasked with chaperoning Gage during his stay, is the walking epitome of sex on a stick. Gage quickly develops an attraction to him, even before he’s certain it could ever be reciprocated. When the feeling turns out to be mutual, Gage is surprised by Nikola’s domineering bedroom persona but finds he likes being manhandled by the sexy Bosnian.
After a heated disagreement, Nikola must convince Gage that even though they’ve only known each other a short time, what they feel for each other is worth fighting for. With only his cell phone and a plan, Nikola goes about getting the man who has stolen his heart to give them a chance at happiness.
About the Author
CL Mustafic is a born and bred American mid-westerner who mysteriously ended up living in one of those countries nobody can ever find on the map of Europe. Left with too much time on her hands—let’s be honest here: it was the lack of television channels in her native language–and too many voices in her head trying to fill the silence, she decided to give her life-long dream of writing a novel a shot. So now, between shuttling kids back and forth from various activities and risking her life on the insanely narrow, busy streets of her new hometown, she loses herself in her own made-up world where love always wins.
Author Links: Facebook || Twitter || Email
The Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
Follow the Tour
10/2 Bayou Book Junkie
10/2 Outrageous Heroes of Romance
10/2 MainelyStories
10/3 Divine Magazine
10/3 Zipper Rippers
10/3 Stories That Make You Smile
10/3 A Book Lover’s Dream Book Blog
10/3 Dani’s Book Review Blog
10/4 The Novel Approach
10/4 Boy Meets Boy Reviews
10/4 Abbeys 1-Click Book Blog
10/5 Love Bytes
10/5 Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter
10/5 Drops of ink
10/6 Erotica For All
10/6 Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews
10/6 Happily Ever Chapter
Thank you for the post…it’s making me a bit hungry drool
These foods sound so good! I’m going to have to add Sarajevo to my European itinerary.
That food looks delicious!