Croatian cuisine is heterogeneous and is therefore known as the cuisine of regions, since every region has its own distinct culinary traditions. Its modern roots date back to ancient periods and the differences in the selection of foodstuffs and forms of cooking are most notable between those on the mainland and those in coastal regions. Mainland cuisine is more characterized by the earlier Slavic and the more recent contacts with the more famous gastronomic orders of today - Hungarian, Viennese and Turkish - while the coastal region bears the influences of the Greek, Roman and Illyrian , as well as of the later Mediterranean cuisine - Italian and French.

Contents

1 Typical food specialities 1.1 From the grill (roštilj) 1.2 Sea food 1.3 Stews 1.4 Sausages and ham 1.5 Cheese (sir) 1.6 Baked 1.7 Sweets and desserts 1.8 Cakes (kolači) 1.9 Other 2 Drinks 2.1 Wines (vino, Pl. vina) 2.1.1 White wines: 2.1.2 Red wines: 2.2 Beers (pivo) 2.3 Liqueurs and spirits 2.4 Coffee 2.5 Mineral water 2.6 Juices and syrups 3 See also 4 Links

Typical food specialities

From the grill (roštilj)

• Ćevapčići - meat rolls
• Ražnjići (skewers)
• Pljeskavica
• Janjetina - roast lamb garnished with mediterranean herbs
• Odojak - roast pork
• Fresh Dalmatian game
• Visovačka begavica
• Veal steaks stuffed with ham and cheese and grilled with breadcrumbs
• Turkey with mlinci (flat, sour dumplings)

Sea food

(also see: sea food)

• Squid - Croatian: lignje, Italian: calamari
• Octopus salad - Croatian: salata od hobotnice
• Tuna
• Shrimps - Croatian: škampi, Italian: scampi
• Common mussels - Croatian: dagnje
• Bakalar (Dalmatian speciality served at Christmas time) - fish sort

Stews

• Goulash (Croatian: gulaš, see also Hungarian gulyás )
• Grah - beans
• Mahune
• Riblji paprikaš - also called fiš-paprikaš (spicy fish stew from Slavonia, see also Hungarian halászlé )
• Brodet - fish stew

Sausages and ham

• Kobasica - spicy, air-dried sausage (Hungarian: kolbász)
• Pršut - Dalmatian double-smoked ham (similar to Italian prosciutto)
• Kulen - spicy ham from Slavonia

Cheese (sir)

• Cheese from the Island of Pag - famous sheep's milk cheese and goat's cheese from Pag
• Farmers' cheese and curd cheese from the regions of Kordun and Lika

Baked

• Burek
• Pita
• Pogača (farmers' bread)
• Husiljevača

Sweets and desserts

• Palačinke - crêpes with sweet filling (Hungarian: palacsinta)
• Zagorske štrukle - sweet pastry from northern Croatia
• Uštipci
• Strudel (Croatian: savijača or štrudl) with apple or curd cheese fillings
• Orehnjača - sweet bread with walnuts
• Makovnjača - sweet bread with poppy seeds

Cakes (kolači)

• Čupavci
• Krofne (sort of a doughnut, German: Krapfen)

Other

• Zagrebački odrezak - escalope with gravy
• Punjena paprika - paprika/peppers filled with minced meat (Hungarian: töltött paprika)
• Sarma - cabbage rolls filed with minced meat
• Mlinci - flat, sour dumplings
• Wild truffles with pasta

Drinks

Wines (vino, Pl. vina)

Croatian wines certainly belong to some of the best wines in the world, however they are not very well known. It is a matter of the growing Croatian economy to make those wines more popular in the world and it is up to Croatian winemakers to start production for international markets.

White wines:

• Graševina
• Malvazija
• Kutjevački rizling (Riesling from Kutjevo )
• Žilavka
• Žlahtina from the Island of Krk
• Traminac

Red wines:

• Postup
• Plavac
• Pošip
• Dingač
• Kaštelet

Beers (pivo)

Apart from the great abundance of imported international beers (Heineken, Tuborg, Gösser , Stella Artois, etc.), you will find some tasty home-brewn beers in Croatia. (Real fans need to now that the brewery in Split produces Bavarian Kaltenberg beer by licence of the original brewery in Germany.)

• Karlovačko : brewed in Karlovac [1]
• Ožujsko : brewed in Zagreb [2]
• Pan
• Osječko : from Osijek
• Staročeško : Czech beer from Daruvar (a Czech minority is living there)

Liqueurs and spirits

• Maraska Cherry Brandy [3]
• Travarica
• Šljivovica
• Lozovača
• Drenovac
• Pelinkovac - Vermouth

Coffee

Croatia is, of course, a country of coffee drinkers, not only because it was formerly part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, but also because of its bordering position to the former Osman Empire. You will find traditional coffee houses similar to those in Vienna everywhere in Croatia.

Mineral water

Regarding its water resources, Croatia has a leading position in Europe. Concerning water quality, Croatian water is greatly appreciated all over the world. Due to a lack of established industries there have also been no major incidents of water pollution.

• Jamnica – Winner of the Paris AquaExpo (the so-called Eauscar ) for best mineral water of 2003 [4]
• Lipički studenac
• Jana – also belongs to Jamnica , best aromatized mineral water (Eauscar 2004)
• Cetina – water from the river Cetina , which flows through the Dalmatian hinterland [5]
• Bistra – produced by Coca Cola

Juices and syrups

• Badel [6]
• Maraska [7]
• Dona
• Vindija juices – Vindi sokovi
• Cedevita - sherbet [8]

See also

• Croatian brands

Links

• [9]