Tasting Croatia
The Adriatic Sea is honestly wonderous. The salty waters are home to some of the freshest seafood in the world so when it comes to flavor let’s just say their canvas is impossible to ruin. We first met with Zlatko, a Croatian home chef in Dubrovnik who not only makes delicious food but also distills his own liqueur to accompany his meals. He greeted us with sips of homemade Rakia (a traditional lemon wine liqueur), prsut (cured ham leg), fresh sweet tomatoes, anchovies, sharp cheese and fresh bread. For dinner we had charcoal potatoes with fresh thyme, lamb shoulder clow roasted for 15 hours and caramelized carrots. We shared stories, we laughed, we cooked; it was like I was sitting with old relatives being spoiled through food.
After gathering some fresh farm ingredients, we traveled over to Split to board a private boat where we met Chef Sandra, a charming boat chef who prepared 2 traditional meals a day for us. With each meal she was kind enough to let me join and walk me through the preparation. Some highlights included tuna carpaccio, farm fresh egg omelette with prsut and cheese, and a seared pork loin seasoned with Dijon mustard and served over a sweet tomatoes and carrot medley. It’s amazing how two people can speak different languages but be completely in sync when it comes to food; It is after all a universal language.
There were so many dishes we loved that it’s literally impossible to just choose one so let’s go with something simple, classic and traditional, Tuna Carpaccio in truffle olive oil with lemon zest and fried shallots. Try the recipe below.
