大象传媒

More than a quarter of a million people were trapped in the city of Sarajevo when it came under siege from Bosnian-Serb forces during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

For four years they survived on UN rations and any black market goods that were smuggled in. But rather than go hungry, residents came up with inventive ways of recreating their favourite foods from the limited ingredients they could get their hands on.

Barbara Demick, an American journalist who was based in Sarajevo at the time, explains how it was possible to turn bread into meat and make French fries without any potatoes.

(Photo: A woman crosses a bombed Sarajevo street. Credit: Getty Images)