Croatian cuisine

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Croatian cuisine is heterogeneous and is therefore known as the cuisine of regions, since every region has its own distinct culinary traditions. Its modern roots date back to ancient periods and the differences in the selection of foodstuffs and forms of cooking are most notable between those on the mainland and those in coastal regions. Mainland cuisine is more characterized by the earlier Slavic and the more recent contacts with the more famous gastronomic orders of today - Hungarian, Viennese and Turkish - while the coastal region bears the influences of the Greek, Roman and Illyrian, as well as of the later Mediterranean cuisine - Italian and French.

Contents

[edit] Cuisine of the regions

Croatian cuisine can, roughly summarized, be divided into some few regions which all have their specific cooking traditions, characteristic for the area and not necessarily well-known in other parts of Croatia. Meanwhile, however, most dishes can be found all across the country. This is also why the varied cuisine of Croatia is called "cuisine of the regions".

[edit] Typical food delicacies

[edit] Meat and game

Image:Spicy red pepper.jpg
Spicy red pepper

Some expressions from typical Croatian menus:

  • Specialities from the grill are called s roštilja or s ražnja
  • pečeno means roasted
  • prženo means fried
  • pod pekom means that the dish has been put into a stone oven under a metal cover. The cook puts hot coals on the cover so that the meal is being cooked slowly.

The meals are:

[edit] Sea food

For Christmas, Croats traditionally eat bakalar (cod)
For Christmas, Croats traditionally eat bakalar (cod)

(also see: sea food)

  • Squid - Croatian: lignje, Italian: calamari
  • Octopus salad - Croatian: salata od hobotnice
  • Cuttlefish risotto - Croatian: Crni rižot, Italian: Risotto nero
  • Tuna
  • Shrimps - Croatian: škampi, Italian: scampi
  • Common mussels - Croatian: dagnje
  • Cod with potatoes - Bakalar s krumpirom (Dalmatian speciality served at Christmas time)
  • Fish stew
  • Clam Buzara
  • Sea spider salad
  • Breaded catfish or carp

[edit] Stews

[edit] Pasta

[edit] Soups

[edit] Side dishes

[edit] Other

[edit] Sausages and ham

[edit] Cheese (sir)

  • Paški sir - famous sheep's milk cheese and goat's cheese from Pag
  • Farmers' cheese (škripavac) and curd cheese from the regions of Kordun and Lika
  • Cheese from the Cetina region Cetinski sir
  • Cheese from the Island of Krk Krčki sir
  • Cheese from Međimurje Turoš
  • Cottage cheese (eaten with vrhnje) from Zagorje

[edit] Salty pies

viška pogača (foccacia from island Vis)

soparnik (Dalmatian vegetable pie)

[edit] Pastry

[edit] Sweets and desserts

  • Palačinke with sweet filling (Hungarian: palacsinta)
  • Baklava
  • Dunavske Valovi
  • Krem Pita - cream slice
  • Šam Pita - meringue cream slice
  • Zagorski štrukli - sweet pastry from northern Croatia
  • Uštipci
  • Strudel (Croatian: savijača or štrudla) with apple or curd cheese fillings
  • Orahnjača - sweet bread with walnuts
  • Makovnjača - sweet bread with poppy seeds
  • Croatian honey
  • Bear's paw
  • Farmer's cheese (quark) cakes (cream cake)
  • Krafne, pokladnice - a type of Donut
  • Croatian pancakes (with cream with wine sauce)
  • ušljivac, deran, badavdžija (long plaited bun)

[edit] Cakes (kolači)

[edit] Drinks

[edit] Wines (vino, Pl. vina)

Croatian wine, like most European wine, has a history dating back before the rise of the Roman Empire. Once famous for their rich, fruity white wines, many of the vineyards and wineries along the Adriatic coast in the former Yugoslavia were destroyed during the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s. However, Croatian wine has recently started to re-emerge in the world market as local and foreign investors attempt to restore the local wine industry.


[edit] History

Like the rest of Central and Eastern Europe, viticulture in the present-day Croatia existed hundreds of years before the rise of the Roman Empire. Under control of the Roman Empire, East European wine manufacturing became more modernized and extensive. [1] Even after the fall of Rome, the wine industry continued to flourish until the end of the 15th century with the arrival of the Ottoman Turks. Due to strict anti-alcohol laws, viticulture in Eastern Europe was almost entirely erased under Islamic law.

Fortunately, since the Ottoman Empire was tolerant of Christianity, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, a Catholic tradition involving wine, is what is thought to have “saved” European wine production from complete extinction; Priests and Monks were permitted to continue producing wine in order to provide for Church services. In the 1700s, much of present-day Croatia came under control of the Habsburg Empire, where wine production flourished through the 19th and 20th centuries.

Since Croatia declared their independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, the Croatian economy has struggled to recover from the war. Even though many of the vineyards and wineries were destroyed during these wars, Croatian wine has started to re-emerge in the world wine market. After the removal of Communism from Eastern Europe, local wine makers and foreign investors have taken advantage of the region’s attractive climate and grape variety to restore the Croatian wine industry to its previous success.


[edit] Regions

Dalmatia, highlighted, on a map of Croatia.
Dalmatia, highlighted, on a map of Croatia.

Croatia is divided into two large wine areas: the interior and the coastal area (which includes islands). Since much of the interior region was destroyed during the war, the coastal area remains the most prosperous region for grape cultivation. [2]


[edit] Coastal Region

Croatia, which is situated along the coastline of the Adriatic Sea, is ideal for grape cultivation with its hot, humid summers and mild winters. Located along hillsides and slopes, wine regions along the coast receive many hours of sunlight, which is also ideal for grape production. The coastal region includes four primary wine producing areas including: Istria, Northern Dalmatia, the interior of Dalmatia, and Central/Southern Dalmatia. These regions are famous for producing fruity, dry white wines from a wide range of grape varieties, most famously the Malvazija and Graševina grapes. Along with these native grapes, Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay are also grown in the coastal regions of Croatia.

[edit] White wines:

  • Graševina
  • Malvazija
  • Kutjevački rizling (Riesling from Kutjevo)
  • Žilavka
  • Vrbnička žlahtina from the Island of Krk
  • Traminac
  • White Burgundy
  • Rhine Riesling
  • Riesling from Đakovo
  • Plešivička kraljevina
  • Štrigovanec
  • Varaždinec
  • Debit
  • Promina
  • Benkovački Rosé
  • Kujundžuša
  • Bijeli Pinot (white Pinot) (from Poreč)
  • Moslavac
  • Škrlet
  • White Klikun
  • White Kaštelet
  • Cetinka
  • Vugava from the island of Vis
  • Pošip
  • Rukatac (Maraština) from the island of Korčula and Peljesac peninsula

[edit] Red wines:


[edit] Dessert wines

[edit] Beers (pivo)

Apart from the great abundance of imported international beers (Heineken, Tuborg, Gösser, Stella Artois, etc.), you will find some tasty home-brewn beers in Croatia. (Real fans need to know that the brewery in Split produces Bavarian Kaltenberg beer by licence of the original brewery in Germany.)

  • Karlovačko: brewed in Karlovac [3]
  • Ožujsko: brewed in Zagreb (the name refers to the month of march) [4]
  • Pan
  • Osječko: from Osijek
  • Staro Češko: Czech beer from Daruvar (a Czech minority is living there), brewed in Croatia
  • Riječko pivo: from the large seaport city of Rijeka on the northern Adriatic coast
  • Velebitsko pivo: brewed near Gospić on the Velebit mountain, small but high-quality brewery, the dark beer has been voted best beer by an English beer fan website.

[edit] Liqueurs and spirits

[edit] Coffee

Croatia is a country of coffee drinkers (on average 5kg per person annually), not only because it was formerly part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, but also because it bordered the former Ottoman Empire. Traditional coffee houses similar to those in Vienna are located throughout Croatia.

[edit] Mineral water

Regarding its water resources, Croatia has a leading position in Europe. Concerning water quality, Croatian water is greatly appreciated all over the world. Due to a lack of established industries there have also been no major incidents of water pollution.

  • Jamnica – Winner of the Paris AquaExpo (the so-called Eauscar) for best mineral water of 2003 [6]
  • Lipički studenac
  • Jana – also belongs to Jamnica, best aromatized mineral water (Eauscar 2004)
  • Cetina – water from the river Cetina, which flows through the Dalmatian hinterland [7]
  • Bistra – produced by Coca Cola

[edit] Juices and syrups

  • Badel [8]
  • Jamnica [9]
  • Maraska [10]
  • Dona
  • Vindija juices – Vindi sokovi
  • Cedevita - sherbet [11]

[edit] See also


[edit] Further reading

  • "Hrvatska za stolom - mirisi i okusi Hrvatske", Ivanka Biluš et al., Zagreb:Alfa, Koprivnica: Podravka, 1996, 192 p., illustrated in color, (Biblioteka Anima Croatarum, 2) ISBN 953-168-104-X
  • "Hrvatska vina" (Croatian wines), Fazinić Nevenko, Milat Vinko, illustrated, 159 p., 1994, ISBN 953-173-061-X
  • "Nova hrvatska kuhinja" (New Croatian cuisine), Davor Butković, Ana Ugarković, Profil international, Zagreb, 2005, 272 p., ISBN 953-12-0164-1
  • Callec, Christian (2003), written at The Netherlands, Wine: A Comprehensive Look at the World's Best Wine, New York: Random House (published 2002), ISBN 0-517-22165-9 .

[edit] External links

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