When Ivan Milanovic worked as a chef at a Melbourne hotel in the 1970s, he noticed the photos of several colleagues on the wall who'd been given the opportunity to work around the world. Knowing he was a hard worker, he asked his boss why his photo wasn't there.
Ivan recalls, "He said my English was not good, so I said not to worry about that, that I could fix that."
Ivan had arrived in Australia just a few years before from Croatia, where he'd worked as a butcher. He hails from Slavonia, a province of Croatia that shares borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Hungary. The region is , with specialities like smoked meat, pickled vegetables and .
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Right after this chat with his boss, Ivan enrolled in English classes. Knowing he had traded as a butcher, one of his teachers mentioned that the government was looking for meat inspectors, so he applied, got the job and left the hotel.
He worked as a meat inspector for 20 years, which allowed him to learn more about Victoria's best producers. In 1986, he opened in Melbourne, Victoria, with his wife Maria.
"A lot of people think I'm from Slovenia, but I explain to them that I'm from , a region like Gippsland, but in Croatia, with fertile lands, forests and a wonderful culture," he says.
Initially, the Milanovic duo sold mostly Croatian, German and Polish smallgoods like kransky, smoked bacon and ; however, with time, they introduced products from Hungary, Czech Republic and other countries. Today, they sell around 150 different meat products, including 12 different styles of bacon.
Ivan and Maria, who've been married for 53 years, still work together at the deli, but it's their son Anthony who manages the business. "I started working when I was about 11. When I could see over the counter, I was old enough to serve customers," Anthony says, smiling.
"When people are thinking about entertaining for certain nationalities, they come to us first. We're an entertainer shop, people come to us for their parties."
Ivan and Maria still work together at the deli, but their son Anthony manages the business. Source: Audrey Bourget
Anthony is a big fan of the csabai, a smoked Hungarian sausage with paprika, garlic and chilli. He likes to fry it in a pan and use the leftover oil to cook eggs for breakfast. His dad also suggests trying csabai in place of chorizo in paella.
Ivan says, "When you come to us, we give you a recipe. Anthony is the expert at teaching customers what to do with salami and bacon."
Their ćevapi, the skinless sausages from the Balkans, are especially popular during holidays, when they sell hundreds of kilos.
They have ćevapi made with beef, typical of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a version with , which you find in Serbia and Croatia.
The family are picky when it comes to quality and only work with the best producers. They've even enlisted a family member who's a local butcher to make several products to the standard they require.
With Ivan and Maria now only working a couple of days a week, Anthony is there full time. He'd eventually love to offer ready-made meals, like his mum's stuffed cabbage rolls. Opening a second, larger location of Slavonija Deli, while keeping the original one at Preston market, could be on the cards one day.
"My customers, when they don't see me, they ask [Anthony], 'Where are mum and dad?', says Ivan. "But I taught Anthony everything and he knows how to run the shop. When my customers tell me, 'Please don't close the shop', I say, 'No, this young fella will carry on as long as he wants to carry on, he has my support'.
"Our customers don't have to worry about the future of Slavonija".
The Centreway, Preston, Victoria
Wednesday-Thursday: 8am-3pm
Friday: 8am-6pm
Saturday-Sunday: 8am-3pm
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