Traditional dishes of Croatia and the island of Pag

Croatia's position on the European map gives it the opportunity to procure fresh and healthy ingredients for the preparation of top-quality dishes. Croatia is known for its diverse cuisine, starting with the meat delicacies of continental and coastal Croatia, Istrian and Dalmatian risottos and famous Adriatic seafood.

However, it is quite difficult to define the original autochthonous dish, because history tells us about the intertwining of the lives of different peoples, and that through coexistence with them, we have adopted some of their ideas, recipes and foods. Due to the influence of neighboring cultures, primarily Turkish and Hungarian, our continental cuisine has included spices such as garlic, paprika and pepper in its repertoire. Coastal cuisine mostly uses olive oil and spices such as rosemary, bay leaf, oregano and sage, and all this is mainly thanks to Greek and Roman, or Mediterranean cuisine. Also, we cannot say that Croatian cuisine is homogenous, given the geographical diversity of the country, which has influenced the different eating habits of the inhabitants of certain areas.

Traditional dishes from the island of Pag, which we will describe in more detail a little later, certainly form part of coastal cuisine.

Although small, Croatian cuisine, like the country itself, is incredibly diverse, and gastronomy is one of the key pillars of the domestic tourist offer. Millions of tourists from all over the world visit Croatia every year because of the excellent food. We will describe some of the most famous dishes from all Croatian regions.

One of the most legendary Croatian dishes is prepared in the area of Dalmatia and is an indispensable and favorite dish for all celebrations, starting from weddings, baptisms, and the biggest holidays such as Easter or Christmas. The meal requires long and meticulous preparation. The meat, usually beef thigh, is pierced and stuffed with garlic, cloves, carrots and bacon and marinated overnight in wine vinegar. It is then stewed with onions, parsley, prunes, wine and sweet prosecco for several hours. The meat is cut into thicker slices and additionally cooked in the resulting sauce until it becomes very thick. Pašticada is usually served with gnocchi or homemade pasta.