Ajvar is the beloved roasted red pepper relish of the Balkans — a thick, smoky, sweet-savoury spread made by roasting ripe red peppers until their skins char, peeling and grinding them, and slowly cooking the pulp down with oil, and usually roasted eggplant, garlic and a little vinegar. A staple across the former Yugoslavia — Serbia, North Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Kosovo — and beyond, it is eaten as a spread on bread, a side to grilled meats and cheese, and a cooking base, and is prized as much for the autumn ritual of making it as for its deep, mellow flavour.