Croatian gastronomy 1 Dalmatian cuisine The past and

Croatian gastronomy 1 Dalmatian cuisine

The past and the present making a whole!! • Dalmatian cuisine is defined only in part by its healthy, organic ingredients, skillfully coaxed from stubborn land pristine seas by a resourceful people. There also millennia of tumultuous history influencing its flavors, written in part by the Illyrians, Greeks, Romans, Croats, Slavs, Venetians and Ottoman Turks. From obscure local specialties to far-famed regional favorites, that history lives in the sumptuous, elegantly simple Mediterranean cooking of Dalmatia’s sun-drenched mountains and shores.

Christmas cod Dalmatian style The Christmas meal in Dalmatia nearly always includes bakalar, a simple stew of dried cod and potatoes. It’s beyond delectable. The Croatian word bakalar is not only the name of the dish, but also of the fish. It’s a derivation of bacalao, the Spanish word for cod. The highly prized cod fish cannot be gotten from the Adriatic Sea, so it’s imported to Croatia in its durable, salted and dried form from various colder-water locales.

The recipe for the Christmas cod • • • To make stewed bakalar, you will need: 1 lb dried salt cod 2 lbs. peeled and large diced potatoes 8 oz. large diced onion 4 cloves garlic, chopped 4 oz. fresh parsley, roughly chopped 8 oz. olive oil salt, pepper to taste Wash the salt cod well and soak overnight in water. Wash again, then cover with fresh water in a large pot and cook on a low flame until tender, but not falling apart (5 -6 hours). Remove the cod from the water (which you will reserve), lay it on a clean cutting board and carefully remove the bones, taking care to keep the meat in large pieces. Quickly saute the onion, garlic and parsley in olive oil in the cooking pot, then add the potatoes and stir until coated with oil. Add the reserved cooking water and simmer the potatoes until tender, then return the cod meat to the pot. Simmer slowly for an additional 20 -30 minutes without stirring. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with freshly baked crusty bread for soaking up the broth.

Pašticada - Trogir style • INGREDIENTS: 750 g lean beef without bones - smoked bacon - some cloves - 3 garlic cloves - vinegar - flour - 2 tbs. grease - 1 onion - broth of water 1 tsp. tomato paste - 1 glass of Prošek (desert wine) or red wine - 1 -2 sugar cubes - sald and papper • Wash the beef (from the leg) and lard it with pieces of smoked beacon, some clove, and garlic (tiny sliced). Evenly marinate the meat for one night or one day in vinegar (turning several times). Next take the meat from the marinade, drain well, and coat in flour.

• …Separately hat two tbs. of grease, and add the meat and the whole onions. Brown the meat on all sides adding the water/broth little by little and let stew, covered. Stir in tomato paste. Next add 1 glass of Prošek or good red wine, and add 1 -2 sugarcubes simmering for 3 hours over low heat until the meat is tender and can be cut into thin slices. Pass the sauce through a sieve, and add salt and pepper to taste, and pour over the meat, simmering another half hour over light heat. Serve with pasta and grated cheese.

Nothing is possible without DALMATIAN EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL Dalmatian olive oil is a very special natural food, produced from olives grown organically in a pristine Mediterranean ecosystem. It is rich, fruity, bold in flavor and aroma, and yet still perfectly balanced on the palate with an even mouthfeel. It is like nothing you’ve ever had before, and after one taste you’ll understand why olive oil goes on nearly everything in Dalmatian cuisine.

Dalmatian brodetto (fish-stew) • INGREDIENTS: 1 kg various fish (rock-fsh, sea-bass, conger-ell, tuna-fish, etc. ), 1/8 l olive oil, 1 onion, parsley, salt, pepper, several fresh tomatoes, 1 tea spoonful tomato juice, vinegar • The best brodetto is made using assorted fish of • various kinds, e. g. rock-fish, dent-fish, sea-bass, dory, congercel and tuna. Cut the bigger fish into slices, leaving the smaller ones whole. Use 1/8 l of olive oil per kilo. Fry a dhopped onion in oil, add fish and fry it a while, adding chopped garlic and persley. Put in some salt and pepper and 1 tea spoonful of concentrate tomato juice and, depending on the season, some sliced fresh tomatoes. Cover the fish with water and let it boil before adding the vinger. Cook for 1 -1, 5 hours, letting it simmer over a low fire. Do not stir - shake the casserole gently instead so that the ingredients should remain in layers in the same order they have been added. Brodetto is best served with boiled maize-flour (corn meal), rice or spaghetti (pasta).

Rožata pudding • INGREDIENTS: 6 eggs - 6 tbs. sugar - 1 l milk - grated lemon rind - 1 tbs. Maraschino or rum - vanilla, sugar - 14 sugar cubes • Beat all of the eggs with 6 tbs. sugar and milk, adding lemon rind, maraschino (rum) and vanilla sugar. In a separate pot caramelize the sugar cubes and pour them into an oven safe pudding form before adding the pudding mixture. In a second pot bring enough water to reach up to over the halfway point of the form to a boil and put the filled pudding form into s water bath. cook for 45 min. in the water bath, and before the Rožata is finished cook it for 15 minutes in its form at 180 -200 C. After cooling off, carefully turn the Rožata over onto a plate and serve. In summer, one can refrigerate before serving.

Ravioli - Makarska Style INGREDIENTS: 75 dkg of flower, 6 eggs, 2 spoons of sugar, salt, 22 dkg of butter, milk if neccesserc, For the stuffing: , 50 dkg of almonds, 5 eggs, powder cinnamon, a little nutmeg, 50 dkg of sugar, 2 spoons of rum, maraschino or brandy, grated lemon core, 1 piece of chocolate, 2 spoons of butter Take 75 dkg of flower, 4 eggs, 2 egg yolk, 2 spoons of sugar, salt, 22 dkg of butter, milk if needed, and beat well and roll into a thin layer and fill with the following stuffing: 50 dkg unpealed, roasted and ground almonds, 3 whole eggs, whipped whites of 2 eggs, a little powder cinnamon, little nutmeg, 50 dkg of sugar, 2 spoons of rum, maraschino cherrie or brandy, grated lemon core, 1 piece of grated chocolate and 2 spoons of butter. Ravioli is cut, stuffed and baked on a temperate fire. In Makarska it is customary to make large ravioli, which they coat with egg white and sprinkle with sliced almonds and vanilla sugar.