It’s that time of year again! With the release of Bon App & Tito, 2025 has been a busy one for me, and this blog has suffered from my lack of free time: I’ve posted only nine times in the past twelve months. Luckily, all the recipes I published make for great festive dishes that you should try this season:
- Start your meal with the Marinated Langoustines with Skuta and Lemon Emulsion, a pairing of outstanding ingredients in a simple preparation.
- The Venison Wellington NSK style certainly requires a lot of work, but it’s a guaranteed show-stopper for your holiday table.
- Finally, the Chocolate-Olive Oil Cake and Truffle-Honey Ice Cream is a genuine Christmas dessert from Istria, and the accompanying ice cream will stir a lot of conversation (or controversy!) among your guests.
And here’s the usual list: my most popular recipe posts of 2025:
- After losing readers’ favor in 2024, Khinkal, Dagestan’s National Dish is back! Sadly, my odds of visiting Dagestan in the foreseable future haven’t improved — rather the contrary.
- Swiss Chard and Potatoes, Dalmatia’s Favorite Side Dish is number 4, falling 2 spots.
- Bosnian Ćevapi with Kajmak, Ajvar, and Lepinja takes the 3rd spot, up from 4th last year.
- Roasted or Pan-Fried Turbot, and How to Cook Fish climbs from 3rd to 2nd position. Wait until I share my recipe for turbot stuffed with sea urchin!
- Kajmak, the Clotted Cream of the Balkans still tops the ranking.
For the second year in a row, four of my five most popular posts feature dishes hailing from former Yugoslavia. This should come as no surprise, since that’s been the main topic of these pages for a while now. But here’s a preview: changes are coming!
Previous years:
Happy Holidays 2024
Happy Holidays 2023
Happy Holidays 2022
Happy Holidays 2021
Happy Holidays 2020
Happy Holidays 2019
Happy Holidays 2018
Happy Holidays 2017
Happy Holidays 2016
Happy Holidays 2015
Happy Holidays 2014
Happy Holidays 2013
Happy Holidays 2012
Happy Holidays 2011
Photo credit for Tito’s pictures: Tito on Brijuni Exhibition, Croatia