Cicvara, a specific type of porridge, once used to be a very popular dish and it is often mentioned as a particular delicacy. It is still made today on special occasions.
It is usually prepared with barley, com or wheat flour. It is prepared by melting a chunk of lard or butter in a pan, preferably a copper one, and adding the flour, and salt and water. The mixture is then cooked well, or rather, fried well.
Possible special extra ingredients could be cheese, soft cheese, cream, or even eggs.
Cicvara, a rather rich dish with a high fat content, was well suited for the periods when there was difficult farm work to be done. Serbs considered it a particularly rich dish, and they made it a regular part of their Christmas meals.
Once, it used to be the custom for the family to look for their reflections in the shiny and oily surface of the cicvara, and the belief was that the person who could not see their reflection would not live to see the next Christmas.