Traditional food uses of wild plants among the Gorani of South Kosovo.
A food ethnobotanical field study was conducted among the Gorani of South Kosovo, a small ethnic minority group that speaks a South-Slavic language and lives in the south of the country. We conducted forty-one semi-structured interviews in ten villages of the Kosovar Gora mountainous area and found that seventy-nine wild botanical and mycological taxa represent the complex mosaic of the food cultural heritage in this population. A large portion of the wild food plant reports refer to fermented wild fruit-based beverages and herbal teas, while the role of wild vegetables is restricted. A comparison of these data with those previously collected among the Gorani living in nearby villages within the territory of Albania, who were separated in 1925 from their relatives living in present-day Kosovo, shows that approximately one third of the wild food plant reports are the same. This finding demonstrates the complex nature of Kosovar Gorani ethnobotany, which could indicate the permanence of possible "original" Gorani wild plant uses (mainly including wild fruits-based beverages), as well as elements of cultural adaptation to Serbian and Bosniak ethnobotanies (mainly including a few herbal teas and mushrooms).
University of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele 9, I-12060 Pollenzo, Italy. Electronic address: a.pieroni@unisg.it.
Andrea
A
Pieroni
Estonian Literary Museum, Vanemuise 42, Tartu 51003, Estonia.
Renata
R
Sõukand
Department of Dermatology, Emory University School of Medicine, 615 Michael St., Whitehead 105-L, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Center for the Study of Human Health, Emory College of Arts and Sciences, 550 Asbury Circle, Candler Library 107, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Cassandra L
CL
Quave
Institute for Biological and Environmental Research, University of Prishtina "Hasan Prishtina", Mother Teresa Str., 10000 Prishtinë, Republic of Kosovo.
Avni
A
Hajdari
Institute for Biological and Environmental Research, University of Prishtina "Hasan Prishtina", Mother Teresa Str., 10000 Prishtinë, Republic of Kosovo.
Behxhet
B
Mustafa
D000328:Adult; D000363:Agaricales / Q000254:growth & development; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000531:Altitude; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004032:Diet / Q000208:ethnology / Q000639:trends; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D019448:Ethnobotany; D005260:Female; D000074421:Fermented Foods / Q000382:microbiology; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000208:ethnology; D000067030:Fruit and Vegetable Juices / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam; D063826:Kosovo; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010945:Plants, Edible / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000382:microbiology; D000069459:Teas, Herbal; D044465:White People; D055814:Wilderness
D000069459:Teas, Herbal
Ethnobotany; Gorani; Kosovo; Wild food plants