We are flattered that you would turn to people in the United States, to spread the word about your global search for authentic Serbian hamburgers. Traditionally pljeskavica (plee-es-ka-VEETCH-a) is made with a mixture of lamb and beef, grilled along with onions and served hot on a fresh somun, a thick pita bread. We have had the meatball version, cevapcici (che-VAP-chi-chi), in Bosnia, and it was delicious. We certainly understand your desire to find an authentic recipe.

We are not programmers here, but with our modest Internet skills, can turn up at least half a dozen recipes for pljeskavica at Serbian, Croatian, and Yugoslav domains. Without seriously brushing up on our Serbo-Croatian, however, we can’t read the recipes. It may be that you need a translator more than a chef. But several of our readers were kind enough to pass recipes along to us, including one who was adamant that pljeskavica is not Serbian at all, but Bosnian (needless to say, we’re not going to get caught up in that), and another from a Bosnian muslim, who wanted to make sure we (and everyone else in the world) knew that he does not make pljeskavica with pork. Having brushed aside all questions of political correctness, we’ll pass you along to two pljeskavica recipes that we hope you will find authentic and delicious – one simple, one requiring a little more effort.