Croatia is ‘flavour of the month’
BACK in 2015, one of the episodes in Rick Stein’s TV series From Venice to Istanbul featured Croatia and his version of three Croatian dishes. Coincidentally, 2015 was also the first year that we visited Croatia, although we stayed mainly on the coast, visiting Split and Dubrovnik but leaving the capital Zagreb and the “interior” of the country for another time.
Since then, Croatia has become “flavour of the month” (pun fully intended); described on some food websites as “one of the most exciting gastronomic destinations in Europe”. Croatian cuisine has been greatly influenced by the tastes and traditions of the different nations that have ruled the area throughout history and shares similarities with many of its neighbours, although Croatian dishes have their own interpretation and flavours. From the distinctly Italian influences along the Adriatic (Dalmatian) coast, famous for its seafood, to the inland regions where rich dishes show Austro-Hungarian and Turkish influence, full use is made of the excellent local produce, including world-class truffles, olive oil and wine.
I was reminded of all this recently while researching Croatian dishes to be part of a World Cup finalists-orientated buffet. We eventually chose two very different dishes; the first of which is a popular relish traditionally served with the little finger-shaped skinless sausages known as “cevapcici” — think İnegol köfte but with some pork and a lot more garlic in the mix. It is the sort of roasted and chopped aubergine and peppers dish that was known as “vegetable caviare” back in the 1970s, various versions of which are popular throughout the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Ajvar can be made with either red or green peppers. We opted for the green, which is slightly more sour than the red variety but the choice is yours.
1 large aubergine 3 large green or red peppers 2 plump garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice 5 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 225°C. Prick the aubergine several times with a fork and place it on a baking tray with the peppers. Roast for about 30 minutes, until the skins on the peppers have blistered and blackened slightly. Transfer the peppers to a plastic bag and return the tray to the oven for a further 15-20 minutes, until the aubergine is tender.
By the time the peppers are cool enough to handle, their skins should have loosened and they should peel easily. Discard the skins, seeds and ribs, and chop the flesh very finely and tip it into a mixing bowl.
When the aubergine is tender, transfer it to the polythene bag and then peel and chop it in the same way, discarding as many of the seeds as possible without throwing away too much flesh. Blot the aubergine well with kitchen paper and tip it into the bowl with the peppers.
Use a wooden spoon to stir in the garlic, lemon juice and oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. If you like a smoother relish, you can blitz the mixture with a hand blender. Ajvar will keep in the fridge for up to a week.
Apart from being a good accompaniment for cevapcici, köfte or pork chops, ajvar is also useful as a topping for bruschetta-style toasts or as a dip as part of a meze spread as a change from baba ghanoush.
Our other choice was based on a typically Dalmatian prawn dish. Buzara-style dishes are a type of stew where shellfish (most commonly prawns or mussels) has been cooked with olive oil, wine, garlic and breadcrumbs. Some versions include tomatoes and fresh herbs. You will also see the name written as “alla busara” or “na busaru”. Following Rick Stein’s lead, we added some saffron and chilli, which gave a lovely warmth and depth to the sauce.
3 tablespoons olive oil 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 medium onion, finely chopped 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes A pinch of saffron fronds Half a teaspoon pul biber (chilli flakes)
A generous pinch of salt Freshly ground black pepper 150ml dry white wine 12 large raw prawns, whole 1-2 heaped tablespoons breadcrumbs Chopped parsley to garnish
Heat two tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and stir in the garlic and chopped onion. Sizzle them for a couple of minutes, the stir in the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, saffron, pul biber and a pinch of salt. Cook for five minutes, stirring constantly so that the garlic and onions don’t burn, then pour in the wine and continue cooking for another couple of minutes.
Stir in 75ml of water and bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat and let the sauce simmer for 15 minutes. If it is reducing too much, add a splash more water.
While the sauce is cooking, heat the remaining oil in another pan and when it is really hot, carefully add the whole prawns and fry until they turn pinkishorange all over — it will only take a few minutes — then remove the pan from the heat.
Tip the cooked prawns into the simmering sauce and stir gently to ensure they are well coated. Add a good grinding of black pepper to the sauce, taste and add a little more salt if required, then stir in a tablespoon of breadcrumbs to thicken the sauce. The sauce should be medium thick (similar to a puréed pasta sauce), so add more breadcrumbs if needed.
Cook for a further three minutes, then remove from the heat and serve garnished with parsley.
The quantities above should serve two to three. Large raw prawns can be expensive, so you can use cooked and peeled frozen prawns instead; either the type sold here as “party gambas” or a mixture of those and small cocktail shrimps. Make sure they are properly defrosted and add them for the final three minutes of cooking only. If you increase the quantity of sauce, this can also be served as a rich and satisfying soup. All it needs is lots of fresh crusty bread on the side.