Croatia’s mouth-watering melange of culinary influences – a jumble of Hungarian, Italian, Slavic, Turkish and Austrian, among others – has created one of the most exciting cuisines in Europe. Each region has its own specialities, making a foodie tour of Croatia one of the most pleasurable ways of spending a summer holiday.
Start in the heart-shaped Istrian peninsula in the north Adriatic, a land of award-winning olive oils, superb wines and pungent truffles. While there’s a hint of Italy on the plate, the Istrians have come up with their own pasta called fuži, which is served with all sorts of deeply flavoured sauces including beef ragout and, of course, truffles. Spend a morning with a truffle farmer and his hunting dog and you’ll soon see how much the truffle is valued here. Try thin slices of air-dried ham called pršut during wine tastings in some of Istria’s top-classes wineries producing delicate white malvazija and robust teran reds. Seafood lovers can combine visits to gorgeous Rovinj with giant bowls of mussels from the Lim Channel.
As you make your way down the Adriatic coast, stop by the island of Krk and try some of its scrumptious langoustines and dry white žlahtina wine. The neighbouring island of Cres has some of Croatia’s most succulent lamb, although the nearby island of Pag offers strong competition – plus a moreish sheep’s milk cheese called paški sir. Drop into Zadar, the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia, for a shot of its sweet yet subtle maraschino brandy made with local maraska cherries. It’s one of many liqueurs and brandies you’ll find all over Croatia, made from everything from plums and honey to herbs and walnuts.
When you reach Dalmatia, you won’t be able to resist a dish of pašticada, slow-cooked and wonderfully rich beef served usually with gnocchi. Seafood lovers will be spoilt for choice: feast on freshly grilled fish served at a waterside restaurant, once you’ve whetted your appetite with a plate of salted anchovies or squid-ink risotto.
With more than 130 indigenous grape varieties in Croatia, you’ll have excellent wines to choose from. Take a tour of Hvar’s wineries and you’ll be presented with a gift from God – the literal translation of the dry white bogdanuša wine. Lovers of red wine can follow the wine routes of the plavac and plavac mali grapes, which happen to be in some of the most scenic parts of the country. Explore the wineries of the beautiful island of Korčula –home to exquisite white pošip and grk wines – before taking a quick ferry ride across to the Pelješac peninsula, whose hillsides are smothered with plavac mali and dingač red grapes. While you’re in Pelješac, visit the historic village of Mali Ston, where some of Europe’s finest oysters and mussels are produced. Eating freshly shucked oysters by the water’s edge while gazing at Dalmatia’s mountains and drinking local wine is one of the true pleasures of a Croatian holiday.
It’s not just the coast that has Croatia’s culinary highlights. The eastern inland region of Slavonia is the country’s biggest wine producer, with countless acres of vineyards producing white graševina wines and reds including merlot and cabernet sauvignon. These full-bodied reds are more than a match for the paprika-laden cuisine of Slavonia, where spicy kulen sausage and paprika fish stews echo the flavours of neighbouring Hungary. And will leave you hungry for more flavours of Croatia.
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