Our 14 favorite Croatian culinary specialties

Prepare your taste buds for a trip to Croatia! Here's our top of the 14 Croatian culinary specialties.

For some, the desire to travel lies in the temptation to discover new landscapes, populations with unknown customs, architectures dating back centuries and to accumulate a maximum of photos of the world... For others, a good reason to travel would be to learn a new musical culture, to go hunting local artists and to perfect their playlists. Finally, for gourmets, travelling is especially the opportunity to awaken your taste buds! Gouter new product associations, discover the typical dishes of each country...

It is for all these reasons that Wanderlix now offers you to find, for multiple destinations, our playlist travel , our top of the most beautiful pictures but also our top of culinary specialties !

Travel to Croatia today, where gastronomic culture, rich in its influences, is particularly diverse. So prepare your taste buds for this culinary journey through the discovery of our 14 favorite Croatian specialties!

Enjoy, or dobar apetit !

Flavours to the influences of Mediterranean cuisine and Italian neighbour

Rich in neighbouring influences, Croatia's gastronomic culture is an ocean of flavours. To start our gustative journey, head to the Adriatic coast to discover recipes with Mediterranean flavours. Grilled Calamars, seiche ink risotto or fresh truffle pasta are in the spotlight in our selection of the best Croatian specialities.

1. Fuži d’Istrie

The Istria Peninsula, located northwest of the country, is known for its majestic black truffles. So you can find them in Croatian culinary specialties, especially with the Fuži . This term refers to a dish of homemade, traditional pasta from Istria.

Often seasoned with a truffle sauce, it can also be accompanied by a red wine sauce, game, asparagus or raw ham. A delight worthy to compete with all that is served on the other side of the Adriatic!

2. The Crni rižot

Crni Rižoto is literally translated as "black risotto". This intense color comes from the flagship ingredient of the recipe: seiche ink. Thus, the dish is composed of riceotto cooked with calamar and white wine. Finally, the seiche ink is added at the end of the cooking process, which gives it its subtle taste.

This Croatian specialty is particularly widespread in the region of Dalmatia where its popularity in peasant communities would come back from the Middle Ages.

3. La Peka

Emblematic dish of Croatian cuisine, the Peka consists of fish or meat (usually chicken, calf, lamb or octopus), accompanied by vegetables and aromatic herbs, all cooked to suffocated in a cast iron bell.

This Croatian specialty is a real tradition, so much that most houses have a special home, in living rooms or in the basement, in order to be able to cook it.

4. Salata od hobotnice

Reviews to seafood enthusiasts! Salata od hobotnice Will delight your taste buds. Often accompanied by potatoes, tomatoes, onions and capers, with as a final touch the olive oil, it is also found in the Venetian region. To taste it, go to the seaside restaurants, where you will find it on all the maps!

5. The Brudet

The Brudet is one of the Croatian specialties not to miss! This soup is prepared with the small fish of the fish that simmer in a boiler with peppers, tomatoes and white wine.

To enjoy the Brudet in all its authenticity, go to the great folk festival of Sali on the island of Dugi Otok!

6. Lignje na žaru

It's impossible to visit Croatia without tasting its famous grilled calamars! Simply and deliciously grilled with wood fire, you find them on the menu of many restaurants. No wonder, fishing with calamars and other seafood is a real institution among the Croats, who mostly live on the coast, their own small boat.

Taste with Ottoman and Germanic influences of Turkish and Balkan neighbours

If Croatian specialties are on the one hand influenced by Mediterranean flavours, they are on the other with the influence of the terroir and gastronomic delicacies from Balkans . Prepare your stomachs for this tasty discovery!

7. Čevapi

♪ Čevapi are rolls of grilled beef or lamb and served with onions and ajvar . This dish can be enjoyed on a plate or with bread: it’s THE sandwich to taste at least once during your trip to Croatia!

8. Štrukli his sirom

The Štrukli his sirom is a typical Croatian delight based on cheese. Cooked in a dough, the dish looks like some sort of stuffed big ravioli. A Croatian specialty that will delight the taste buds of gourmet travelers!

9. Pljeskavica

pljeskavica is a delicacies prepared with chopped and grilled meat, usually served with fries, ajvar and onions. Although native Serbia , it is found much in Croatian cuisine, but also in Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia and in Kosovo.

10. Sarma

These small packages of happiness are composed of cabbage leaves, stuffed with chopped meat and rice and cooked in a broth with smoked meat. Definitely one of the best Croatian specialties, not to miss under any pretext!

11. Punjene paprike

Another Croatian delight that must be presented: Punjene paprike ! This dish is prepared in the same way as the Sarma, except this time it is peppers that are stuffed. An explosion of flavors that will fill your taste buds!

12. The Sljivovica

Small parenthesis to food, because it is necessary to "hydrate" from time to time. More than a water of life, Sljivovica is a real ritual of friendliness of the Balkans. The recipe is made from prune and transmitted from generations to generations.

Don’t miss to taste it, just to help your stomach digest all the specialties you’ll have eaten!

Cheese and wine

13. Cheese and charcuterie

That's his smoked ham " Pršut or its delicious sheep cheese " Paški sir Croatia does not lack local specialties that you can eat at any hour of the day. For the most greedy, whole trays called " pršut i sir » are often served as an aperitif before a meal. You won't know where to start!

14. Croatian wines

To finish our gustative journey in Croatia, how not to talk about wine? Finally, it is he who will accompany for the most part all the delicious specialties you have just discovered.

The Croatian vineyard reflects the richness of its territory. Indeed, there is a large variety of local grapes that offer a wide selection of wines to be enjoyed in moderation, whether red or white. Among the best, here is a small selection:

• Pošip: this white Dalmatian is fruity and full-bodied, ideal with grilled fish;
• Plavac Mali: a rich Dalmatian red, ideal for meat tasting;
• Graševina: a dry white from Slavonia, perfect to accompany the crustaceans.

So, which of all these Croatian specialties gives you the most desire?