Macaroni, pilaf, pastry leaves, and soon a Bosnian lokum called “Drina” could soon be found on the markets of Switzerland and Austria.
20 years ago, in search of work, Camila started her own production of pasta and cakes on the ground floor of a house in Gorazde. Today she is retired, and she decided to share the craft that was practiced on the best domestic recipes in a new plant launched on the Drina.
“Time shows how well we worked. Our pasta was in demand, and we also produced cakes, Bosnian lokum. Here they put pasta with pepper and spinach, and soon the production of Bosnian lokum will begin. The most important thing is to prepare the dough. Recipes for traditional products are simple, flour, water, fresh eggs, and experience, ” said Camila.
Pasta is prepared exactly according to traditional recipes.
“We know how to make pilaf, dough, then rub, stretch, cut, and now it’s all done by machines. Spiral macaroni are the most complicated because the dough needs to be prepared to roll fine and be of good quality when cooked. Everything else is pilaf, tarhana… They have mastered the process, but it takes skill and experience, it is a craft, and the craft is learned, ” stated Camila.
She added that she was able to earn a solid income before from this job.
“It was easy for us to produce up to 150 kilograms of pasta, and baked pastry leaves were number one. It’s a specialty. They are rubbed, stretched, dried, baked, packed and here we now make baked pastry leaves, and I used to make both thin and sweet. If you put in the effort and have the will, you can do everything, “noted Camila.
The most important thing is that all products are traditional, homemade, and without artificial additives and admixtures.
“Healthy and natural, that’s why we were recognizable, and it will be the case with our new plant as well,” said this hard-working housewife.
Even though she is 70, she has been teaching pasta production skills in a traditional way Elmira Bajrami, a master of education (food technology at the University of Sarajevo), who is happy because she got the job.
“I am fascinated by how I managed to get this job. I am very satisfied and the credit for every process I learned goes to Aunt Camila, she also teaches us those little things and details necessary to work faster and better,” emphasized Elmira.
The plant currently produces 18 types of pasta, and the whole process starts from checking and cleaning the machine through preparing the dough, drying or baking the pastry leaves, and finally packing.
“The most important thing is to check the machine, whether it is neat and clean, followed by flour preparation and production. We currently make 50 kilograms of a mixture of all products except pastry leaves where we make 10 kilograms, so depending on which product we want to get the difference is in the use of flour and its quantity. We prepare 25 kilograms, which is the capacity of the machine. The process goes to drying and flour is then prepared for other products. The dryer itself has a capacity of 50 kilograms as much as can be dried during the day and at the very end, we have the packaging process. We produce spiral macaroni, pasta with peppers, eggs, spinach, and barley. We have wide and narrow, and everything is traditional, “ explainedElmira.
She added that the drying process takes several hours, after which about 50 kg of different products are packed, which is preceded by the cooling process because hot pasta cannot be packed. The production of pastry leaves is a longer process, and about 10 kilograms are produced daily.
“We are waiting for the mixture to rise, the drying and cooling process is also important because we can’t pack them warm. We learned all this from Aunt Camila, she used to make pasta like this,” said Elmira.
Pasta production in Gorazde was launched at the end of last year. The Drina Gorazde plant points out that their goal is to reach a daily production of 100 kg of all types of pasta, which is currently marketed in Sarajevo and Gorazde, and product samples have been sent to Austria and Switzerland.
“We expect agreements on the terms of placement of our pasta in those countries very soon. If we achieve this goal of exporting our products, we would double production in a year and hire additional labor. Reactions are positive and new partners appear every day who want to offer our products, ” told Hemo Jusovic, director of Agroideja, the company which started these plants.
Last autumn, five hectares of wheat were sown on 11 hectares of land in Ustikolina, where vegetable production has already been established, ie vegetables in greenhouses and outdoors, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, and plums, so the flour they produce will be used for pasta production. There are also plans to launch organic egg production in Ustikolina, which will also be used in pasta production.
Source: sarajevotimes
