After spending a month or so in Serbia...we're talking Begrade for a few days then an hour east to a town called kostolac. We were there for archeological field school and it was a twisted version of "The Real World: Yugoslavia". There were 7 Americans and 12 or so Serbs, living under one farmhouse roof, all there due to archaeology and being cooked for by a few formidable local ladies. Wine, Beer (pivo) and rakija ( a grappa-like jet fuel grain alcohol) were provided IN QUANTITY! Needless to say we were fast friends and concerning a few individuals, lovers. Rakija and Gorki-list (a crazy serbo-strong version on jagermeister)were always on hand.At 6 am we relied on turkish coffee (and maybe a shot rakija, which the old men swear by) to Begin an 8 or 9 hour day in the field, after which we would head back to the house for a communal mid-day meal. Food wise everything was good and every thing was expectedly NOT what U'd expect. Dont order a hamburger in serbia or even pasta with marinara...Before you will, in all honesty, be a plate of linguini with ketchup( im serious, the bottle is on the table for your leisure). If you go the old adage "do as the romans do" persists! Go with the local favorite eveytime. Standing out in my mind is the karageorgavic ( pounded veal with sausage or whatever rolled inside, breaded, baked and then fried for a few moments....Add lots of lemon wedges and Weiner Shnitzel is a thing of the past. Stuffed peppers, anything with goat, their incredible cheeses and hard salami-like meats are not to be missed. In short Serbian food is fantastic to anyone that has a taste for good food, although rustic, and is willing to taste whatever Slobadanka puts in front of you. And by the way, after a late night random rave party in an old Turkish fort in the center of Belgrade, I bought a hot dog....It was of NY caliber and utterly fantastic