Serb Fest!

St. George Serbian Orthodox Church
11001 Greenwood Street
Lenexa, Kansas

We passed through the sign of Serb Fest happening at this church the other day. We decided to check it out, since we’ve never been to Serbia, nor eaten any kind of their food.

We came in right before dinner to avoid the crowd. Based on their church website, they are having this fest annually. So, they must be good!
Anyway, we signed up at the door and greeted by very nice ladies. The church itself was beautiful. They have set up tables inside the gym, laid with nice colorful faux tablecloths. Then we saw two tables filled with Serbian items, from traditional clothes to flags to ornaments. They even had Serbian cookbooks, which unfortunately I did not buy. :(

When we got into the bigger gym, we were greeted by Serbian music and the smell of food. We were immediately got into the line while talking about what we should get. We decided to get “Cevapcici” (Serbian sausage make with pork, beef and spices), “Raznjici” (Pork tenderloin shis-ke-bob), “Lepinja” (Serbian flat bread), “Burek” (Meat pita made of ground chuck, onions, and spices layered in “Kora” (homemade phyllo dough)), “Gibanica” (cheese pita), and Spinach pita. At the end of the food line, they provided mild and hot roasted peppers for us.

They took our orders professionally and the line was not overwhelming. We got all our orders right after we paid them. Then we chose several desserts, such as “Palacinke” (Serbian crepe filled with fruit preserves or chocolate), “Baklava”, “Pohance” (a light, crisp, batter-fried cookie, dusted with powdered sugar), and a mini pie with some kinds of nuts in it (I forgot the name!:( ).

Now, let’s talk about the food first. We both loved the meats. They were delicious! The sausages were tasty and moist. The pork was amazingly tender. Eating them with hot roasted peppers was a great decision. The peppers actually added more flavor to the meats.
I personally loved the meat pita. The cheese pita tasted more like regular quiche without the bacon. The spinach pita was very similar to “spanakopita” (Greek spinach pie), but softer. My husband thought the three pitas tasted good, though. :)

We both thought the desserts were OK. Nothing really stood out from the taste. The crepes were ordinary, nothing special about it. My kids liked the “Pohance” because of the powdered sugar on top.

There, we have eaten Serbian food without having to go to Serbia.:)
We loved these kinds of festivals. Since our expectation was not set high on this one, we thought this experience was actually a little higher than our original expectation. So we would love to come back next year (or before) if they are having it again. Who would have thought we can eat Serbian food right here in town?