The components of Balkan cuisine are also typically drawn from the traditional cuisines of Greece, Persia, the Arab countries and Turkey, as well as the Balkan region itself, and there has been some borrowing from Mediterranean cuisine, Armenian cuisine and the cuisines of North West Africa and Central Europe. Commonalities can be found with German cuisine, Hungarian cuisine and Slavic cuisine. The involvement of Austria, Hungary and Italy in the Balkans led to the introduction of breaded-meat dishes and goulash, as well as an emphasis on seafood. The influence of Persian cuisine is shown by the use of yoghurt in meat dishes. There are also some contributions from Jewish cuisine, such as patišpanja, the sponge cake found in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
