Croatia has two kitchens barely in contact with each other. The coast is Dalmatian — olive oil, fish, grilled vegetables, Italian influence — and the interior is continental, with pork, paprika, cream and dumplings borrowed from Hungary and Austria. Which one you eat depends entirely on where you are standing.
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Black risotto made with cuttlefish ink, garlic, white wine and parsley. The signature Dalmatian first course.
The ink comes from the cuttlefish itself and is added late so it does not lose its colour. It stains everything it touches, including teeth, and the dish is finished with a squeeze of lemon. Properly made it tastes of the sea rather than of ink.
Meat or octopus cooked under a cast-iron bell with coals heaped on top. You order it hours ahead.
The bell is covered with embers so the heat comes from above as well as below, which is closer to roasting than baking. It takes two to three hours, so restaurants ask you to order at lunchtime for dinner. Octopus, lamb and veal are the usual versions.
Beef braised for hours in wine, prunes and dried figs, served with gnocchi. From Split and the Dalmatian interior.
The meat is larded with bacon and garlic before cooking, and the sauce is sweet-sour from the dried fruit and vinegar. It is a feast dish made for weddings and celebrations, and it takes a full day.
Baked pastry rolls filled with cottage cheese and cream. Zagorje's dish, and a continental counterpoint to the coast.
The dough is stretched thin, filled, rolled and baked with cream poured over so it sets into a custard. It can also be boiled and served savoury or sweet. It is the dish that most clearly shows the Austrian and Hungarian influence inland.
Air-dried ham and hard sheep cheese from the island of Pag, served as a cold starter with olives.
Dalmatian pršut is air-dried in the bora wind rather than smoked, which gives it a milder, saltier profile than the Montenegrin version. Paški sir is rubbed with olive oil and ash and aged, and it is sharp enough to need the ham alongside it.
A fish stew cooked with tomato, wine and garlic, often with eel or monkfish.
The name means 'mess', and the dish is built by layering fish rather than stirring, so the pieces stay whole. It is served with polenta or bread, and it is a home dish rather than a restaurant one in most of Dalmatia.
Small fried dough balls with brandy and citrus peel, dusted with sugar. Eaten at Christmas and at festivals.
The batter has rakija and lemon zest in it, which keeps the dough from tasting only of oil. They are fried in batches and eaten hot, and they appear at every Advent market in the country.
A small cheesecake-style pastry from Zagreb, along with the savoury štrukli — the inland cake tradition.
Samoborska kremšnita is the other one to know: a custard slice with a thick layer of cream and a crisp top, sold in Samobor and worth the trip. Inland Croatia takes its pastry seriously, and the cake shops are the reason to stop.
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