Croatian cuisine () is heterogeneous and is known as a cuisine of the regions, since every region of Croatia has its own distinct culinary tradition. Its roots date back to ancient times. The differences in the selection of foodstuffs and forms of cooking are most notable between those in mainland and those in coastal regions. Mainland cuisine is more characterized by Slavic features and influences from the more recent contacts with Turkish, Hungarian and Austrian cuisine, using lard for cooking, and spices such as black pepper, paprika, and garlic. The coastal region bears the influences of Greek and Roman cuisine, as well as of the later Mediterranean cuisine, in particular Italian (especially Venetian). Coastal cuisines use olive oil, herbs and spices such as rosemary, sage, bay leaf, oregano, marjoram, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and lemon and orange rind. Peasant cooking traditions are based on imaginative variations of several basic ingredients (cereals, dairy products, meat, fish, vegetables, nuts) and cooking procedures (stewing, grilling, roasting, baking), while bourgeois cuisine involves more complicated procedures and use of selected herbs and spices. Charcuterie is part of the Croatian culinary tradition in all regions. Food and recipes from other former Yugoslav countries are also popular in Croatia.
Croatian cuisine can be divided into several distinct cuisines (Dalmatia, Dubrovnik, Gorski Kotar, Istria, Lika, Međimurje, Podravina, Slavonija, Zagorje) each of which has specific cooking traditions, characteristic of the area and not necessarily well known in other parts of Croatia. Most dishes, however, can be found all across the country, with local variants.
Meat and game
Specialities from the grill are called s roštilja, those roasted on the spit s ražnja pečeno means roasted prženo means fried pod pekom means that the dish has been put into a stone oven under a metal cover. The cook puts hot coals on the cover so that the meal is cooked slowly in its own juices. Specialties cooked pod pekom include lamb, veal, and octopus. na lešo means boiled in broth or water (lamb, beef, fish)
Croatian meat-based dishes include:
Pork Miješano meso or Ražnjići (skewers) Zagrebački odrezak (Veal steaks stuffed with ham and cheese, breaded and fried) Šnicle (schnitzel) – breaded veal, pork or chicken cutlets Meso z tiblice – pork ham from Međimurje County Janjetina – roasted lamb garnished with Mediterranean herbs Pag lamb (Paška janjetina) Dalmatian lamb (Dalmatinska janjetina) Dalmatian lamb gets name protection in Europe becoming the 40th product from Croatia Croatia Week. Published March 8, 2023. Odojak – roasted suckling pig Fresh game from Dalmatia Turkey with mlinci (flat pasta, soaked in roast juices) Buncek – smoked pork hock, used in bean, sauerkraut or kale stews Leg of lamb à la Pašticada Leg of venison the count's way Wild duck with sauce Polpete, ćufte, faširanci – Frikadeller Roasted pheasant Kotlovina from Samobor (kettle with knuckle of pork and other meat and sausages) Boiled fillet of beef haunch with Sauerkraut Escalope à la Baron Trenk (spicy-rolled Schnitzel) Međimurje Goose (stuffed with buckwheat) Turopolje Goose (with corn semolina as a side dish) Purgerica Turkey (Christmas dish from the bordering region to Zagreb, turkey filled with chestnuts, apples, bacon, lemons, etc.) Krvavice, or čurke, blood sausages, made of blood and kaša Hladetina, a particular type of head cheese Edible dormouse
Seafood
Croatian seafood dishes include:
Squid – Croatian: lignje, grilled, fried, stuffed or prepared as stew and served with polenta Octopus salad – Croatian: salata od hobotnice; octopus can also be prepared brudet style, with red wine, or baked pod pekom Cuttlefish risotto – Croatian: Crni rižot Tuna Scampi – Croatian: škampi Common mussels – Croatian: dagnje Salted cod is imported, but dishes are very popular for Christmas Eve or on Good Friday. It can be prepared either as bakalar na bijelo (Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria and Kvarner, with olive oil and garlic, with or without potatoes), or as bakalar na crveno, in tomato-based stew, with potatoes. Fish stew – Croatian brodet or brudet (Dubrovnik and Dalmatia), best made with several type of fish (red rascasse, European conger, monkfish, European hake) Clams Sea spider salad Breaded catfish or carp Grilled sardines or other fish (na gradele) Salted anchovies or sardine (slana riba) are served as hors d'oeuvres or as a part of light supper with povrće na lešo, salads etc. Buzara (shellfish sautéed in garlic, olive oil, parsley & white wine) Date shells or prstaci are part of the traditional cuisine, but in the 20th century their extraction was banned as a measure of ecological protection
Stews
Stewed vegetables with a small amount of meat or sausages (varivo or čušpajz) is perceived as a healthy, traditional meal. Sour cream (in Northern Croatia) or olive oil (on the coast) can be added to the plate just before serving. Stewed meat dishes are often prepared by men in open spaces, following hunting and shepherding traditions. In Dalmatian urban cuisine, spices such as cinnamon and clove, Swiss chard (known as "blitva"), dried plums, dried figs, apples and other fruit are sometimes added to meat stews.
Slavonian čobanac (Croatian: Čobanac is a traditional meat stew originating from Slavonia and Baranja, located in the eastern part of Croatia. The dish is traditionally prepared by slowly cooking all of the ingredients for several hours in a large copper pot that is strung over an open fire.Typically, it consists of a few different types of meat, from veal and beef to wild game meat, along with large quantities of onions, and a special blend of sweet and hot ground paprika which gives the stew its characteristical rich and vivid color.) Varivo od graha – pork hock bean stew (often done as grah i zelje – with sauerkraut, or grah s kiselom repom – with pickled turnip strings) Gregada - seafood stew Varivo od mahuna – green beans stew Riblji paprikaš – also called fiš-paprikaš (spicy fish stew from Slavonia Slavonska riblja čorba (fish stew from Slavonia) Brudet (or Brodet) – fish stew Chicken stew Rabbit goulash Ričet, also known as jačmik, orzo Istrian stew (Jota) Pašta fažol – bean stew with small pasta Shepherd's Stew Feines Venison goulash with prunes Hunter's stew Wine goulash Sauerkraut stew Zelena menestra – traditional cabbage and meat dish – Dubrovnik and surrounding area Pašticada – Dalmatian beef stew with prunes and dried figs Tripe stew (tripice, fileki)
Pasta
Pasta is one of the most popular food items in Croatian cuisine, especially in the region of Dalmatia. Manistra na pome (pasta with tomato sauce) is a staple. The other popular sauces include creamy mushroom sauce, minced meat sauce and many others. Fresh pasta (, ) is added to soups and stews, or prepared with cottage cheese, cabbage, even with walnuts or poppy seed. Potato dough is popular, not only for making (gnocchi), but also for making plum or cheese dumplings which are boiled, and then quickly fried in breadcrumbs and butter.
Žganci – cornmeal dish in Slovenian and Northern Croatian cuisine, also known as polenta (palenta, pura) in Istria and Dalmatia Gnocchi, often served with pašticada or goulash Fuži, a typical pasta from Istria Šurlice and Makaruni, a typical pasta from Krk Needle macaroni Štrukli – baked or cooked filled pastry from Zagorje, Zagreb area. Krpice sa zeljem – pasta with stewed cabbage Šporki makaruli – traditional pasta with cinnamon-flavored meat sauce, from Dubrovnik and surrounding area Pljukanci — Istrian pasta rolled with one’s hands
Soups
Soup is an integral part of a meal in Croatia and no Sunday family meal or any special occasion will go without it. The most popular soups are broth-based, with added pasta or semolina dumplings. They are usually light in order to leave space for the main course and dessert to follow. However, cream or roux-based soups are also popular, and there are many local variations of traditional soups. In Dalmatia, fish soup with fish chunks, carrots and rice is commonly served.
Maneštra Veal soup with smoked meat Beef broth with vermicelli pasta Mushroom soup, especially with porcini Dill soup Zagorska juha with porcini mushrooms, bacon, sweet pepper Grahova pretepena juha, beans cream soup Prežgana juha Chicken soup
Side dishes
Sataraš (sliced and stewed summer vegetables) Mlinci (typical northwest Croatian roasted flatbread, similar to Caucasian flatbreads) Đuveč (baked summer vegetables, similar to ratatouille) Knedle (boiled dumplings) Mišanca (mix of wild plants and herbs)
Other
Zagrebački odrezak – breaded escalope stuffed with ham and cheese, type of cordon bleu Baron Trenck's steak - veal or pork stuffed with Slavonian ham, boiled eggs and ajvar, stewed on red onion with mushroom sauce Gulaš - made of meat and vegetables seasoned with paprika and other species Punjena paprika – peppers filled with minced meat (Turkish: dolma) Sarma – Sauerkraut rolls filed with minced pork meat and rice Arambaši from Sinj – similar to Sarma, but made with finely diced beef and without rice Lepinje – flat bread Wild truffles, served on pasta, risotto, or fried eggs (fritaja) Croatian olive oil (Maslinovo ulje) Paški baškotin – aromatic zwieback (rusk) from the Island of Pag Potatoes from the region of Lika (Lički krumpir) – high-quality, large, red potatoes Sauerkraut from the Varaždin region Cabbage (zelje) from the region of Zagreb Artichokes with peas or broad beans Slanina - cured slabs of pork subcutaneous fat with or without skin and with or without layers of meat Fritaja with asparagus Gorski kotar filling (pieces of ham with eggs and bread) Čvarci - kind of pork cracklings, with fat thermally extracted from the lard
Sausages and ham
Kulen (Kulin) – spicy pork sausage from Slavonia Češnjovka – spicy pork sausage with a harmonious garlic taste from Turopolje Kobasica – spicy, air-dried or smoked sausage (Hungarian: kolbász) Salami from Samobor Švargl from Slavonia Istrian and Dalmatian Pršut – dry-cured ham Panceta from Dalmatia Špek from continental Croatia Kaštradina – smoked mutton or goat meat Ombolo
Cheese (sir)
Paški sir – sheep's milk cheese from the island of Pag Farmers' cheese (škripavac) and curd cheese from the regions of Kordun and Lika Cheese from the Cetina region (Cetinski sir) Cheese from the Island of Krk (Krčki sir) Cheese from Međimurje (turoš) Cheese from Podravina (prga) Cottage cheese (eaten with cream, vrhnje) from Zagorje (sir i vrhnje, often seen as quintessential Croatian traditional food)
Savoury pies
Viška pogača is a salted sardine-filled focaccia from the island of Vis. Soparnik is a Dalmatian chard-filled pie. Duvanjska pita, made from thin phyllo dough wraps filled with potato and meat.
Pastry
Zagrebačka and Samoborska kremšnita Pita Pogača (farmers' bread) Povitica
Bučnica (summer squash and cottage cheese pie, can be savory or sweet) Zagorski štrukli (made with cottage cheese, sour cream and eggs, can be savory or sweet, boiled or baked) Zlevanka, simple baked cornmeal pastry with various fillings (e.g. cheese, sour cream, cherries, plum jam, walnuts, nettle) Varaždinski klipići
Sweets and desserts
Palačinke (crepes) with sweet filling (Hungarian: palacsinta, German: Palatschinken) Piškote/Piškoti — thin, light, sweet delicate, crispy cookie Baklava Kremšnita – vanilla slice or custard slice, is a custard and chantilly cream cream cake dessert Doboš — sponge cake layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel (Hungarian: Dobos torta) Šaumšnita – Zagorski štrukli – sweet pastry from northern Croatia Uštipci Fritule Knedle – also known as gomboce are potato dough dumplings, usually filled with plums and rolled into buttered breadcrumbs Strudel (Croatian: or ) with apple or curd cheese fillings Orahnjača and Makovnjača – sweet breads with walnut or poppy seeds Croatian honey Bear's paw