Cocoa-Croatian T
HIS week I’m looking back to a memorable holiday we enjoyed in September, when we visited Croatia for the first time. It certainly made an impression – what a delightful country!
We stayed in Dubrovnik, the incredible fortified city on the Dalmatian coast, known mostly these days for being the location of King’s Landing in the television series ‘Game Of Thrones.’
Standing atop the battlements looking out over the old town, it’s easy to see why it was chosen as a base for filming; I can’t imagine the view of the jumbled roofs and thick walls has changed much in centuries.
It sits between the beautiful clear blue waters of the Adriatic, fringed with pine forests and plunging cliffs, and the landscape climbs sharply away from the coast up to majestic peaks. It’s quite breathtaking.
We enjoyed exploring coves and bays, vineyards and olive groves, salt pans and mountain eyries.
The people are charming and welcoming, with that effortless command of English that always makes me feel slightly embarrassed – I did try to learn a few Croatian basics before flying, for politeness’ sake. And the food? Oh, the food is glorious. It’s an incredible melange of different styles and influences, which is understandable given Croatia’s location.
It’s a largely coastal country, so of course fish and seafood is ubiquitous and plentiful.
Octopus is particularly popular, cooked in hundreds of ways.
From just over the sea in Italy comes the use of pasta, olives, oils, capers and tomatoes.
Up from Greece comes the passion for kebab-style skewers, tangy salted cheeses, pomegranates, vine leaves and those lovely ‘dusty’ herbs like rosemary, dill and thyme.
And from over the hills in the Balkans come the stews, the dumplings, the stuffed cabbage, the dried fruits and cured meats – ingredients made to outlast harsh Winters.
So all this combines into a really exciting and unique cuisine. I came back with so many notes and ideas – for the keen cook it’s so invigorating to discover a cuisine with so many novelties and twists.
One thing I noted with interest is the Croatian love of the tangerine.
As we drove about, we noticed grove after grove of citrus trees, and they were almost exclusively lemons, limes and tangerines. Not an orange in sight. I always pop into a supermarket in a foreign country to see what the locals like to buy, and noticed with amusement that there’s no orange fizzy pop.
In Croatia, seemingly, Schweppes sell only tangerine fizzy pop.
It’s lovely, too, with that more aromatic flavour we tend to associate with Christmas time.
In desserts, too, the tangerine pops up all over the place, and this week’s recipe is my version of a dessert I enjoyed on holiday – a rich chocolate tart with a crunchy streusel topping flavoured with aromatic tangerine zest.
It’s a rich, rather decadent take on the chocolate/orange theme, but with that wonderful tangy twist.
And as we’re entering the season for those little fragrant citrus fruits, tangerines, clementines, satsumas etc, there doesn’t seem to be any reason not to try this luxurious tart.