Croatia: We have the meats!

While the Adriatic coast is full of amazing restaurants serving some of the best seafood you’ll find anywhere, once you head inland you’ll find that meat is king! And the king of kings is pork! We’ve traveled to the beautiful homes of family and friends in some extremely small villages (the kinds of places that are on small one lane roads that you either know how to get to or you’ll never find it because road signs don’t exist). Without fail at some point during the visit a plate of pork will make an appearance, along with bread. The plate will always have a variety of items. It could have cheeses, or olives, or fresh cherries (when they’re in-season), it could have numerous little cakes, but some kind of pork is always there. Of course, beer and wine and rakija will be there too! Hospitality is an art form here!

The spread for visitors this time included homemade cakes, meat and cheese plate, fresh bread, some homemade cheese (upper right corner), beer and wine. This isn’t a meal, it’s just what comes out when company is over!

What’s interesting is that folks in the country will often raise a few pigs, or lambs, or chickens too. You never know what you’ll find around the next corner.

Have a spot to raise some pigs? Go for it! We came by this spot on one visit and then a year and a half later came by again and you’d never know that anyone had ever raised anything here. It was just grass.

While this might not look like much, you’d make a huge mistake if you miss this! This is ćevapi, which are little sausages made of ground meat (could be beef, pork, lamb or a any combination of these). Ćevapi is fantastic! For the best experience, you must have (1) the somun bread (the round bread you see above. not all places have this, particularly in Zagreb), (2) the bead should be fried in the fat of the ćevapi (as seen above, not as easy to find places that do this, particularly on the coast), (3) must have a ajvar (an eggplant and pepper spread), and (4) white onion. If all of those are present, you’re in the right place! You don’t have to eat the onion, but it should be there! We popped over to Bosnia for these. Tasty, but missing the ajvar! So sad :(

There are amazing places to eat everywhere in Croatia, but sometimes you have to know a local to find them! Our last trip to Croatia took us to Petrinja (about 35 minutes southeast of Zagreb), where we had an amazing dinner full of meat on a farm/restaurant. It was amazing!

Wild boar so succulent it falls apart at the slightest touch!

Chicken rolled and filled with cheese, peppers and spices, then deep fried!

Pork cutlets with a butter and herb sauce! Incredibly tender!

Of course, home cooking is often the best of all! This is a backyard cookout Croatian style! All the meats in an incredible stew over an open fire! The bread and beer are waiting inside! This has cuts of pork (multiple), chicken, and beef along with some ćevapi tossed in for good measure! Beans, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and a rich gravy! It was out of this world good!

“Croatia full of life” is the tagline that’s use a lot. It’s certainly true! It’s also full of amazing meat dishes that will have you reminiscing for years! Bring your appetite!