Croatia

Croatia has several distinct regions and climates that offer widely varying cuisines. Along the Dalmatian Coast, the fare incorporates fresh seafood and light herbs, fresh vegetables and pasta, risotto or polenta. In the north and inland, a hearty lunch often includes a beef or chicken soup served with additional cooked meat, often pork, potatoes, bread and, when in season, fresh greens dressed with olive oil and vinegar.

Only made on the Croatian island of Pag, the goat cheese paski-sir is rolled in ashes and olive oil and served thinly sliced with olives. Cevapcici are grilled sausages served with avjar, a spiced red pepper sauce. Fish paprikash is a Slavonian spicy dish made by simmering fresh fish, tomatoes, white wine, onions and, of course, paprika in a cauldron over an open fire and serving over egg noodles. Other recurrently enjoyed food includes turnspit-roasted eel that migrate from the Sargasso Sea; the delicacy of Butarga, the roe of the gray mullet, served dried and sliced with crusty bread and wine; and the dessert, palacinke, a crepe-like dessert stuffed with chocolate or walnuts often served with ice cream.

Croatia has several wine regions, including coastal Cabernet, continental Traminac or the heavy, flavored red wines of the south. Flavored brandies such as plum, herb or walnut, come from all regions.—Leska Tomash

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