Granny Pena and the banitsa baked in embers
How a woman from Zheravna taught our whole group to roll pastry — and why we go back to her every season.
Granny Pena is 81 and rolls pastry faster than I can write this. The first time we walked into her yard by chance — we were looking for a coffee. We stayed three hours.
Since then every group in Zheravna stops at her place. She hands out aprons, rolling pins and strict instructions, then bakes the banitsa in a tray under the embers. Nobody makes it like her — and nobody has ever said no to a second helping.
