Croatian cuisine


Croatian cuisine is heterogeneous and is known as a cuisine of the regions, since every region of Croatia has its own distinct culinary tradition. Its roots date back to ancient times. The differences in the selection of foodstuffs and forms of cooking are most notable between those in mainland and those in coastal regions. Mainland cuisine is more characterized by Slavic features and influences from the more recent contacts with Turkish, Hungarian and Austrian cuisine, using lard for cooking, and spices such as black pepper, paprika, and garlic. The coastal region bears the influences of Greek and Roman cuisine, as well as of the later Mediterranean cuisine, in particular Italian. Coastal cuisines use olive oil, herbs and spices such as rosemary, sage, bay leaf, oregano, marjoram, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and lemon and orange rind. Peasant cooking traditions are based on imaginative variations of several basic ingredients and cooking procedures, while bourgeois cuisine involves more complicated procedures and use of selected herbs and spices. Charcuterie is part of the Croatian culinary tradition in all regions. Food and recipes from other former Yugoslav countries are also popular in Croatia.
Croatian cuisine can be divided into several distinct cuisines each of which has specific cooking traditions, characteristic of the area and not necessarily well known in other parts of Croatia. Most dishes, however, can be found all across the country, with local variants.

Meat and game

  • Specialities from the grill are called s roštilja, those roasted on the spit s ražnjapečeno means roastedprženo means friedpod 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 cooked slowly in its own juices. Specialties cooked pod pekom include lamb, veal, and octopus.na lešo means boiled in broth or water
Croatian meat-based dishes include:

Seafood

Croatian seafood dishes include:
  • Squid – Croatian: lignje, grilled, fried, stuffed or prepared as stew and served with polenta
  • Octopus salad – Croatian: salata od hobotnice; octopus can also be prepared brudet style, with red wine, or baked pod pekom
  • Cuttlefish risotto – Croatian: Crni rižot
  • Tuna
  • Scampi – Croatian: škampi
  • Common mussels – Croatian: dagnje
  • Salted cod is imported, but dishes are very popular for Christmas Eve or on Good Friday. It can be prepared either as bakalar na bijelo, or as bakalar na crveno, in tomato-based stew, with potatoes.
  • Fish stew – Croatian brodet or brudet, best made with several type of fish
  • Clams
  • Sea spider salad
  • Breaded catfish or carp
  • Grilled sardines or other fish
  • Salted anchovies or sardine are served as hors d'oeuvres or as a part of light supper with povrće na lešo, salads etc.
  • Buzara
  • Date shells or prstaci are part of the traditional cuisine, but in the 20th century their extraction was banned as a measure of ecological protection

Stews

Stewed vegetables with a small amount of meat or sausages is perceived as a healthy, traditional meal. Sour cream or olive oil can be added to the plate just before serving. Stewed meat dishes are often prepared by men in open spaces, following hunting and shepherding traditions. In Dalmatian urban cuisine, spices such as cinnamon and clove, Swiss chard, dried plums, dried figs, apples and other fruit are sometimes added to meat stews.
  • Slavonian čorbanac
  • Varivo od graha – pork hock bean stew
  • Gregada - seafood stew
  • Varivo od mahuna – green beans stew
  • Riblji paprikaš – also called fiš-paprikaš
  • Brudet – fish stew
  • Chicken stew
  • Rabbit goulash
  • Ričet, also known as jačmik, orzo
  • Istrian stew
  • Pašta fažol – bean stew with small pasta
  • Shepherd's Stew
  • Feines Venison goulash with prunes
  • Hunter's stew
  • Wine goulash
  • Sauerkraut stew
  • Zelena menestra – traditional cabbage and meat dish – Dubrovnik and surrounding area
  • Pašticada – Dalmatian beef stew with prunes and dried figs
  • Tripe stew

Pasta

Pasta is one of the most popular food items in Croatian cuisine, especially in the region of Dalmatia. Manistra na pome is a staple. The other popular sauces include creamy mushroom sauce, minced meat sauce and many others. Fresh pasta is added to soups and stews, or prepared with cottage cheese, cabbage, even with walnuts or poppy seed. Potato dough is popular, not only for making njoki, but also for making plum or cheese dumplings which are boiled, and then quickly fried in breadcrumbs and butter.
  • Žganci – cornmeal dish in Slovenian and Northern Croatian cuisine, also known as polenta in Istria and Dalmatia
  • Gnocchi, often served with pašticada or goulash
  • Fuži, a typical pasta from Istria
  • Šurlice and Makaruni, a typical pasta from Krk
  • Needle macaroni
  • Štrukli – baked or cooked filled pastry from Zagorje, Zagreb area.
  • Krpice sa zeljem – pasta with stewed cabbage
  • Šporki makaruli – traditional pasta with cinnamon-flavored meat sauce, from Dubrovnik and surrounding area

Soups

Soup is an integral part of a meal in Croatia and no Sunday family meal or any special occasion will go without it. The most popular soups are broth-based, with added pasta or semolina dumplings. They are usually light in order to leave space for the main course and dessert to follow. However, cream or roux-based soups are also popular, and there are many local variations of traditional soups.
In Dalmatia, fish soup with fish chunks, carrots and rice is commonly served.

Side dishes

Other

Sausages and ham

Cheese (''sir'')

Savoury pies

  • Viška pogača is a salted sardine-filled focaccia from the island of Vis.
  • Soparnik is a Dalmatian chard-filled pie.
  • Duvanjska pita, made from thin phyllo dough wraps filled with potato and meat.

Pastry

Sweets and desserts

Cakes (''kolači'')

Drinks

Wines

Croatia has 3 main wine regions: Continental, Coastal which includes the islands and Slavonia.Croatia’s northeastern-most region. The old wine cellars in Ilok date back to the 15th and 18th centuries. It is interesting that the famous Ilok Traminac was ordered by the English Court for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Also, one interesting story coming from one of the employees who save a place during the Homeland War, more precisely during the Serbian occupation of Ilok, when he decided to enclose the wall of one part of the Old Cellar and store it as many as 8,000 most valuable archival wines.
Each of the main regions is divided into sub-regions which are divided yet further into smaller vinogorje, and districts. Altogether, there are more than 300 geographically defined wine-producing areas in Croatia.Istria, Konavle and Pelješac were recognised by Vogue as the best ones in Croatia. There are numerous enological events throuought the year.
In parts of Croatia, wine, either red or white, is sometimes consumed mixed with sparkling water or juice. For example, in Hrvatsko Zagorje and Međimurje, popular combination is white wine and mineral water, called gemišt. On the other hand, in Dalmatia is popular bevanda, mix of vine and still water. Bevanda is common gastronomical motif in cultural representations of Dalmatia and its people in popular culture.

Dessert wines

White wines

Red wines

Beers (''pivo'')

Apart from imported beers, there are home-brewed and locally brewed beers in Croatia. A brewery based in Split produces Bavarian Kaltenberg beer by licence of the original brewery in Germany.
Recent craft beer breweries are:
  • Medvedgrad Brewery, from Zagreb, established in 1994
  • Grif microbrewery, Zagreb

Liqueurs and spirits

Coffee

Croatia is a country of coffee drinkers, 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.

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 for best mineral water of 2003
  • Lipički studenac
  • Jana – also belongs to Jamnica, best aromatized mineral water

Juices and syrups

Protected products

There are 46 Croatian agricultural and food products registered in the European Union as a protected designation of origin. or a protected designation of geographical origin.
They include cheese, honey, meat, fruits and vegetables, olive and other oils, pastry and sea products.