For the past ten days, the Amsterdam Foodie has been away from home, sampling the cuisine of the Adriatic in Croatia. The region is dominated by olive groves, vineyards and, of course, the sea, so it made sense that olive oil, seafood and wine featured prominently on the menu. In fact, according to the exhibition at Pula’s amphitheatre, these have been Croatia’s greatest exports since Roman times. It was a tough job, but I set about sampling some of what this so recently war-torn country has to offer…
Highlights included the Dalmatian ham, burek, calamari, pašticada and ćevapčići. Burek is a kind of Croatian ‘street food’ – layered pastry filled with either curd cheese, potatoes and onions, or ground beef. It reminded me of a Cornish pasty and cost barely over a euro – a satisfying lunch that didn’t eat into the evening’s cocktail budget. The calamari bore no resemblance to the greasy onion ring look-alikes that have become representative of fried squid in many resorts. In Croatia, the calamari were not for the squeamish – tentacles were all present and correct, their purple tinge visible through the light crispy batter. But their freshness was unmistakeable and I ate them frequently with salad, other seafood or alone with lemon. Pašticada has its roots in Hungary – hearty Eastern European rather than vibrant Mediterranean. Reminiscent of goulash, the beef is stewed in red wine, lard, spices and rosemary is served with small dumplings.
We were introduced to ćevapčići by our Croatian friend and his fiancée, with whom we dined in Pula. These sausage-shaped meatballs are in fact a Bosnian speciality and were served simply in bread with a red pepper paste and a kind of crumbly cream cheese. We kicked off our meal with a shot of sweet, strong grappa flavoured with honey and lemon – cold remedy for alcoholics. A half litre of beer was a mere €1.40 and flowed freely in the unprepossessing Bosnian bar in which we munched our ćevapčići. The grappa made an excellent digestif too. Despite being British, I got the impression that my Croatian counterparts were fairly skilled at drinking too…
