Traditional Diets of Bosnia and the Representation of the Traditional Food in the Cuisine Field

Abstract Tradition is a cultural heritage that is passed down from generation to generation, and refers to their knowledge, crafts, ri tuals, moral codes, and customs. The term “traditional food’ ‘is defined as a way of preparing food and nutrition in rural families in the past up until the mid-twentieth century. Considering that Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the strategic areas of development in tourism and the development of rural areas, the question is what was the traditional food of the Bosnian Krajina and how many traditional foods, were retained in the design of cuisine. The data was collected by survey, interviewing 50 people over the age of 70 years old. The questions were: what type of food they ate in the past, how the food was prepared, what were the customs of everyday life and during different celebrations? Furthermore, by review different menu's of 30 catering establishments it was determined the number and types of traditional foods represented in today's cuisine.The results show that the traditional lifestyle of the Bosnian Krajina was very simple and poor. The food was prepared from raw materials of vegetable origin, and very rarel y from animal, which was due to the low standard of living. The most common types of food were made from wheat and corn, and the most frequent were cooked foods. Special attention was paid to food for celebrations. Today on offer in Bosnian Krajina, there are a small number of traditional foods, but those that are offered are prepared in the traditional way. The style of presentation is impoverished, where the appearance of traditional decor, objects and ambience are most important. In the promotion of tourism Bosnian cuisine with its very different, unique and nutritional richness, could be used to help it become recognized as a tourist culinary destination and a pleasure for guests in this area.