Bosnian sarma is sour-cabbage leaves stuffed with minced beef, pork and rice, slow-braised with smoked meat. The Sarajevo version anchors winter cooking and family meals from December through February.
Sarma comes through the Ottoman dolma tradition (literally 'stuffed' in Turkish) and crystallised into the Bosnian winter form with sour-cabbage. Dveri and Inat Kuca both work the canonical Sarajevo recipe; sour cabbage heads come from highland farms through Markale market, with the salting and fermenting carried out in early November to anchor the December-to-February season. The smoked-meat layer (suho meso) is the Bosnian addition that sets the dish apart from Croatian and Serbian versions.
4 editor picks for Sarma in Sarajevo, ranked by editorial score. All Sarajevo signature dishes · Sarma across every city.
Dveri ★ 4.6
bascarsija · Prote Bakovica 12, 71000 Sarajevo
Dveri off Saraci in Bascarsija is the family Bosnian room behind a wood-shuttered facade, with a flowered courtyard and hearty lonac on every table.
Inat Kuca ★ 4.5
kovaci · Veliki Alifakovac 1, 71000 Sarajevo
Inat Kuca in Sarajevo's Kovaci is the Spite House, an Ottoman house moved across the Miljacka in 1895 and now a Bosnian restaurant for sahan and lonac.
Nanina Kuhinja ★ 4.5
bascarsija · Kundurdziluk 35, 71000 Sarajevo
Nanina Kuhinja on Kundurdziluk in Sarajevo Bascarsija cooks Bosnian dishes the way a nana would, with klepe, sarma and bosanski lonac through the day.
Sedef ★ 4.3
ilidza · Hrasnicka cesta 15, 71210 Ilidza, Sarajevo
Sedef in Ilidza is the Sarajevo family room cooking the canonical sahan, bosanski lonac and colourful dolma at suburban prices for the Vrelo Bosne crowd.