Tuesday, November 10, 2009

"Minjoni" for Katarina in Canada

Today's photo fulfills a request from Katarina in Canada, who wrote the following to me:

"I am a Belgrader by birth who has been living in Canada since the age of 9. I love your blog and read it almost every day! One of the things I miss the most about Belgrade is minjoni, and the Petkovic pastry shop on Takovska (number 18, I think) makes the best ones!! The little pastel-coloured fondant squares in the little crinkle papers bring back so many memories to me and I make sure to have them every time I go back to BGD..."

I was more than happy to oblige Katarina, and as you see, I bit into one (just for the sake of art, of course, so you could see the inside...), and by the time you read this, the 'petits fours' called minjoni (MEEN-yo-nee) here, will be history. I've eaten these little cakes before here in Belgrade, but Petkovic's bakery really does make good ones. They're not overly sweet, and the crust is just crunchy enough.... (Minjoni most probably got their name from the French word "mignon," meaning cute, or in the sense of filet mignon, "dainty.")

Anyone have any other requests???

17 comments:

marley said...

Delicious looking!

My request? Send some over here!

Virginia said...

Well they look wonderful. Here in the south we have petits fours at all the best teas and showers and receptions!
V

Virginia said...

Well they look wonderful. Here in the south we have petits fours at all the best teas and showers and receptions!
V

Gaelyn said...

They look like delicious little cakes. I hope Katarina enjoyed them as much as you did.

Lowell said...

Yes, a request: Please send a box asap! You've whetted my appetite for these whatchamacallits. ;-)

PJ said...

That's very sweet of you - and for you!
Virginia, you're stuttering again.

Leif Hagen said...

Delicious photo! Wait for me, wait for me! Coffee, too, right?!

Mara said...

Send some over! They look absolutely scrumptious. No wonder you ate them all and that Katarina misses them!

B SQUARED said...

To my way of thinking, places like this make life worth living.

Thérèse said...

Les mignardises sont devenues très à la mode dans les restaurants français en effet... j'ai pu le remarquer l'été dernier.

Jilly said...

How lovely you were able to photograph these beautiful minjoni for Katarina and enjoy themselves at the same time. They look absolutely delicious!

Irena said...

They are my favorite as well. My grandparents lived in Makedonska 32and there use to be a lovely sweet shop next door where they would take me for minjon treats. Such great memories.

James said...

At first I was thinking that they look really nice but they are probably too sweet. Now I just think they look great.

James said...

At first I was thinking that they look really nice but they are probably too sweet. Now I just think they look great.

Anonymous said...

Hello Bibi,

One of my absolute favorite foods that my grandmother made was fresh cooked peas with fresh dill. I remember she came home and threw her shopping bags on the table and started cooking a giant pot of peas on the stove and wiener schnitzel with lemon. I've never seen my quiet grandmother move so fast!

She served them in a deep bowl with fragrant dill. I still remember them years later. For some reason, it's impossible to find fresh peas like that that you shell in the states. I bonded with her while shelling them.

Unknown said...

I would love to see a nice serving of kesten pire, with some slag on top!

Kim said...

How lovely! AND we learn something in three languages.

Whenever I've had petits fours I haven't been impressed (all looks and no taste/good texture), so haven't gone out of my way to try them further. I would be tempted to give it another go with that bright pink iced one at the top, though :-).

Glad you enjoyed them after your kind shop visit for your reader.
-Kim

SPRING FASHION

 This is a post that would be better in color, but maybe not. These colors were soooo pale.