Delicious Croatia

Authentic Croatian cuisine and the most popular Croatian wines.

Croatian cuisine can be divided into a few regional cuisines such as Istrian cuisine, Dalmatian, Slavonian, Zagorje's cuisine... each influenced by the neighbouring countries or historically, conquering super powers. Croatia's mainland cuisine is characterised by the earlier Slavic and more recent contacts with Hungarian, Austrian and Turkish culture - a lot of meat, lard and spices (especially paprika) while the coastal region bears the influences of the Mediterranean cuisine - Greek, Italian (especially Venetian) and French - a lot of olive oil and fresh herbs. Although, variations of most of the dishes are found across the whole country.

The most famous meat dish (although it also has a mollusc variation) is the "Peka / Ispod peke" or in rough translation “under the bell”. Mostly lamb or veil (or an octopus) are being cooked under a domed clay or metal bell covered with hot coals so that the meal is cooked slowly in its own juices. It is usually accompanied with a lot of potato (prepared in the same method) and a seasonal salad or/and soup.

Soups are an integral part of a meal in Croatia and there isn't a Sunday or special occasion without it. The soups are usually broth based with added pasta or dumplings and vegetables. The meat from the soup (baby beef) is usually served aside and tastes delicious with a bit of mustard!

Stews are very popular in Slavonia and Central Croatia (with a little meat and some vegetables you could make a meal for the whole family in times of poverty). Some of the most popular stews are fish stew (fiš paprikaš - Slavonia), beef stew Pašticada (Dalmatia).

When it comes to pasta, thanks to the Italian influence, it is very popular especially in on the coast. Istria has many meals with home made pasta such as Fuzi.