Battle of the Nations is not only fighting, it is much more! There is a very romantic and interesting moment in the Championship. Remember, the day of battles has come to an end, at last you can take off the armor and relax. You are sitting by the fire with friends and having dinner. You can hear the fire crackling and feel its warmth… Wonderful, isn’t it?

And what is cooked in the historical camp? We asked our community representatives from different countries and were shocked by the variety of dishes and even their historicity! Now we will tell you more.

Let’s start with the debutants of the last Battle of the Nations, the Romanian team. All the days of the Championship there were legends about dishes prepared in their camp! Everyone who tried it was delighted!

Vlad Torceanu, fighter of the HMB Romania team:

“Our talented cook is our captain of the national team Adrian Vlad Nicolae. He also participates in medieval cooking contests at festivals. He feeds us with very tasty food made after historically accurate recipes.

Laurence Lagnese, marshal from the USA also reminded that there was a fantastic meal in the Romanian camp. Of course we asked Adrian Vlad Nicolae to tell us about the dish that he wondered during the Championship.

Adrian Vlad Nicolae, captain of the HMB Romania team:

“For the first evening it was an end-of-14th-century recipe, viel in berries and red wine sauce. Second evening, 15th-century, chicken with mushrooms and raisins in beer. The last one – byzantine lentils, it’s lentils in cheese and sour cream sauce with lemon, garlic and turmeric.
I chose them, as the fights were easier or harder the next day for the fighters. 

Of course we had guests in our camp. Every day we were together with the Serbians, as we had an arrangement that I was cooking for both teams, and first evening, when it was the cultural exchange evening. For this event it was veal with olives and mushrooms, cooked in black beer, with rosemary, thyme and turmeric for color. For us it was easier to cook, but most people brought specific snacks or drinks. It was great”.

Yes, we are sure that everybody remembers this cultural exchange evening with warmth. 

The HMBIA News reporter even managed to find out that the HMB Ukraine team has a tradition of cooking a certain dish for many years.

Ilias Vyshutin, the vice-captain of the national team of Ukraine, captain of the Knyaz club:

“The Knyaz club has its own tradition – to cook a festive Samarkand pilaf on the road. It originated back in 2013, when I first visited the Battle of the Nations held in the beautiful city of Aigues Mortes, France.

Then this pilaf was prepared purely for the residents of the Knyaz club – fighters and civilians who helped us throughout the tournament. Thus, a warm friendly atmosphere was created at the common meal.

 But in the following years we began to invite more people. Thus, new interesting acquaintances were made with fighters, volunteers, guests of the festival who carried the rumor about pilaf further. We can say that a simple dish has become internationally unifying. And in 2018, our tradition gained grandiose scale, as the Ukrainian national team came to visit us in full force. At that time, I was so worried that everyone had enough that I even gave my portion to one of the guests.

Now, starting from the first day of the Battle of the Nations, many are asking about that very legendary pilaf, and whether it will be possible to look at the light. I answered that we will be glad to everyone”.

At BotN X in Smederevo There was a camp for historical reconstruction with workshops and all, and there were a lot of reenactors from Romania, Slovenia and of course Serbia. In this camp a big part of the fighters and support team also slept and ate. Slobodan Boba Marinić, the blacksmith from Serbia worked here in the workshop and cooked. He even kindly shared with us the recipe for his signature dish, which he treated the fighters to. It seems like a really great dish!

“The dish I like to make is called “Kotlić”, because the pot for cooking is called that way. The dish itself is ageless, and has pre medieval origin. It is a kind of stew. For each mouth it goes about 300 grams of meat, and 300grams of vegetables. 

So if you cook for 30 people, you will need about 5kg of pork and 5 kg of beef, and add an additional 3 to 5 kg for unexpected guests. If you have venison, great, add venison.

For the beginning, I took about 5kg of fresh onions, cooked them on slow fire with garlic, olive oil and butter for an hour, and for that time, prepared the veggies. For the most part, it’s  carrots, paprika, potatoes, pees, and everything seasonal at that moment, and add mushrooms if you have some of these ingredients, they are not historically accurate, thou.

For the meat, chop it up in little cubes, add salt and a lot of pepper and little honez for the seasoning, and roast it for a couple of minutes inside the pan, just to form a little crust and flavor in general. When onion is glass like, add meat, and enough water. After a while add veggies. After 3+ hours it should be done. For the last 10 minutes, add seasoning like basil and thyme. This stew is very nutritious, and very tasty”, said Slobodan Boba Marinić.

We are looking forward to the Battle of the Nations 2022, and a new opportunity not only to watch the fights of the best HMB athletes in the world. But also soak up the special atmosphere of the Championship, taste the incredible treats prepared by our talented chefs, meet friends around the campfire and create a new page in the history of the World HMB Championship Battle of the Nations.