Some of my long-time readers may remember that I once dedicated an article to snacking and drinking culture in Albania. To be completely honest with you all, that article came out of necessity. Albania was the first country I covered on the Wondering Voyager, and I needed as many articles as humanly possible from a relatively short trip. Sharing one article every Sunday for years is not an easy task, especially given the fact that it is completely unpaid, meaning that I do have an actual job outside of this website. Unfortunately, once again, life is a bit too hectic, and the future is a bit too uncertain. I cannot guess just how much more traveling I can do in the next two years, meaning that a few articles here and there may seem a tad too extra for some of you. Nevertheless, it never hurts to know which products to buy in foreign grocery stores, and which ones to avoid. To find out about some of the best snacks that Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) offers, and to learn the best local good that money can buy, make sure you follow along the article below!
Sweet Bosnian Snacks: A Hazelnut Dream
Let us start strong with Lasta, a local brand that was founded in 1952. They offer some of the best sweet snacks in BiH, especially because nothing really comes close to beating their hazelnut cream filled wafer sticks. There are many alternative brands that sell the same snack, but Lasta is the only one that does it justice in my humble opinion.
Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about their fig filled strudels, which tasted mediocre. To my taste buds the Saudi brands make some of the best mass-produced strudels.
Similarly, their much-recommended chocolate filled wafers did not hit the spot as well. This is not to say that these are low quality products. They are decent, but you do not want to waste your stomach space eating these if you can find the hazelnut filled wafers instead.
Smoki is yet another big brand in Bosnian supermarkets, though it is Serbian in origin. They are known for their exceptionally peanut flavoured snacks, though we will get to those later. Their chocolate covered puffs, on the other hand, are not so great. They are okay as a quick snack, but I would not go out of my way to buy them.
What you should go out of your way to buy in Bosnia are these so called Bosnian Lokum. These are truly fantastic! Moreover, as they are produced locally, you may not have an easy time finding these outside of BiH. These are basically tea biscuits, that taste somewhat like the Scottish shortbread. They are not as sweet nor as buttery as an actual shortbread, though that may be a negative or a positive depending on your relationship with those Scottish baked goodies.
Moving on, Frondi is one of those alternatives to Lasta’s hazelnut filled wafer sticks. What little information I could find online suggested that these have a cult-like following, unlike Lasta’s version. However, this Croatian alternative, to me, simply did not taste nor feel as good as the Bosnian version. Each to their own, I guess.
The same Croation brand also sells a ton of other sweet snacks, like these tea biscuits. While I did not see anyone recommending these, frankly, they tasted much better than the Frondi, and my mother seemed to enjoy these a bit more than the rest of the stuff I mentioned so far as well.
There are of course plenty of other brands that set up shop in the region. These TOPS biscuits were also recommended multiple times online, and while I did enjoy them, there was not anything special about these. The chocolate they used certainly could have been higher quality, and the recipe of the biscuit part could make use of some finetuning.
However, since I do enjoy eating anything that is filled with berries of all sorts, I did end up getting this chocolate bar on a whim as well. This was a wise purchase. This cheap chocolate bar obviously had a cheap chocolate taste, but the mix berry filling inside was generous and tasty, it paired quite well with some black tea in the morning.
To finish this section on a strong note, I must mention the Serbian Plazma, which can be found all across BiH. These biscuits are top notch, and they come in all shapes, sizes, and flavours. Personally, I prefer the chocolate covered square versions, especially if they are filled with some hazelnut cream. Honestly, you cannot really go wrong with anything hazelnutty in this country.
Salty Bosnian Snacks: The Peanut Madness
I certainly prefer saltier snacks and thankfully supermarkets in BiH offered an interesting mix of those to keep me satisfied. In fact, these peanut butter filled salty crackers were some of the best snacks I had to date, period. They are a bit on the drier side, so you better enjoy them with some beer or soda. Nevertheless, no matter how you enjoy them, nothing really comes close to the joy of biting into one of these, and actually hitting a sizable amount of filling. Much like the Bosnian Lokum and Lasta’s hazelnut filled wafers, these are a must buy in BiH.
Sadly, I cannot say the same for these chips. I like chips just as much as the next guy, and I am not ashamed to admit that. Unfortunately, this brand of chips felt like a waste of calories. They did not taste terrible, they just were not crispy, at all. Which is sort of important when you are enjoying, you know, crisps.
Thankfully, Chipsy is here to save the day! While I am sadly not sponsored by them in any way, I genuinely remember enjoying a product from this brand in every single Balkan country I visited so far. They do not really disappoint.
While Chipsy is quite tasty and crispy, I must say, if you are ever in the Balkans, you must treat yourself to a Smoki. You should eat an entire packet of these peanut powered corn puffs everyday, you will not regret it. You see, these are no ordinary snacks. Smoki and Cockta remain as two Yugoslav brands that bridge the gap between the fractured post-Yugoslav political reality today. These are found across all the former Yugoslav states and are enjoyed by all to this date. I am not that much into Cockta, but I do share the Balkan love for Smoki.
I always buy an extra bag or two of Smoki to bring back home. In fact, I will have some of this peanutty goodness right after finishing this article. These ridiculously tasty puffs even come with a ton of actual peanut in them, so you can even fool yourself into thinking that you are eating healthy! Now how can a snack get better than that?
A True Balkan Treasure: The Healing Travarica
You may already be familiar with rakija. It is a fruit brandy originating in the Balkans. But are you familiar with travarica? I sure was not aware that such a product even existed before I saw an older lady selling it in Blagaj, when I bought one out of curiosity. After doing some research, I realized that it is practically a type of rakija, one that is flavoured by a mix of herbal greens. Presumably, this is the sort of stuff that gave birth to the idea that certain liquor may have some medicinal properties. I am no expert in medicine, but if you want to enjoy one of the best tasting alcoholic beverages of your life, you cannot go wrong with travarica. This thing has it all. It is sweet, herbal, and certainly quite potent. For just a few euros for an entire bottle, it is also a bargain. If you see some Bosnian babushkas selling these homemade bottled goodies anywhere in BiH make sure to stop by and buy some.
At the end, despite its humble size, and even humbler industry, Bosnian supermarkets are teeming with some interesting options for those who like to do a bit of snacking. If you ever visit BiH, make sure to enjoy Lasta’s hazelnut cream filled wafer sticks, Bosnian Lokum, Pardon peanut butter filled crackers, any Smoki product, and homemade travarica. Once again, I wish I were sponsored by any one of these brands (especially Smoki), but I am not. I just hope that I can help you make your stay in BiH slightly tastier!