Bosnia and Herzegovina traditional cuisine characterized by specialties, which unite the flavors of East and West. In addition to usually containing various types of meat, of which veal, lamb, chicken and fish should be singled out (especially trout grown in rivers throughout BiH, as well as sea fish and other seafood), many meals include legumes, fruits and vegetables, especially zucchini, carrots, peppers, eggplants, spinach, beans, onions, garlic and tomatoes.

Spices are also used a lot: salt, pepper, hot pepper, parsley, laurel, basil, etc.

Use very fresh food, produced in a natural way, makes this cuisine particularly tasty and high-quality. Bosnian and Herzegovinian cuisine uses many spices, but in small quantities and is easily digestible, because a lot of water is used in cooking. Sauces are completely natural, because they are based on vegetables, and yogurt is often drunk with the meal.

This cuisine is closely related to Turkish, Greek and other Mediterranean cuisines, with certain European influences related to the brief Austro-Hungarian domination of these regions.

Herzegovinian cuisine is slightly different from Bosnian: it uses more vegetables in the preparation of the dish, it is tastier and lighter.

Influences from Turkish and Greek cuisine are an integral part of traditional gastronomy, but recently European tastes, especially Italian, have been increasingly spreading.

A characteristic of the great variety of dairy products, from milk, yogurt, cream, to young and aged cheeses (some of which resemble parmesan), is that most of them are handmade and many can be purchased at city markets.

Mostar is full of restaurants where you can taste them excellent dishes at an affordable price. It is enough to enter one of the many restaurants or cafes in the old part of the city. The most economical ones are buregdžinice, where you can get savory and sweet pies, and in some of them also hot traditional meals that can be eaten in the restaurant or taken home (aščinice).