Sunday, February 23, 2014

rakija, venison, pizza, and coffee



I wasn't in Croatia long enough to sample a lot of its cuisine, but I did have a lovely meal at a little restaurant somewhere on the way to the Natural History Museum. I can't remember where I had read about the national drink, a liquor called rakija (not to be confused with Turkish rakı), but I was delighted to discover it on the menu in a wide variety of flavours. Rakija can be distilled from just about any kind of fermented fruit or herbs, but I chose pear (which was out of this world), while Pedro chose a soothing herbal blend.

Since we were in our typical away-in-a-land-of-pork mode, we selected a pork sausage appetizer, which turned out to taste just like a spicy chouriço— this made us a little homesick for Portugal.



The main dish had to be the venison stew that was offered, as we have yet to find any venison in Turkey— I don't know if deer is even eaten here, but I'm sure there has to be someone eating it in this large, varied country. The stew was ridiculously good and hearty, the perfect remedy for a chilled body, plus it came with pillowy gnocchi— yes, gnocchi.

I must admit that I had forgotten about Croatia's proximity to Italy, and it never occurred to me that there would be any culinary crossovers, but there was plenty of evidence of such a cultural blending— even though Italian eateries are a global phenomenon. This is why I did not feel guilty scarfing down a slice of pizza for lunch one day.



And the coffee, I wondered— would there be traces of the Ottoman's presence in a Croatian cup of joe, or would it lean more towards Italy?



It was espresso and fancy things done to espresso; smooth, and not as tough as the Portuguese version. I can easily drink a litre of filtered coffee on a school day, but can only stomach about two Portuguese espressos— several hours apart. But you know what they say about spoonfuls of sugar...



they help the café go down— especially when in the form of a sensuous gelato or cake!

7 comments:

dinahmow said...

Thank you.This goes well with my breakfast of poached egg on seed toast and black (filtered, but strong) coffee.

Rob Dunlavey said...

I simply must not read your blog right before mealtime! It all (and always!) sounds and looks scrumptious! And your bird drawing (part of it visible) is just the perfect complement.

szaza said...

You are most welcome, Dinahmow— a poached egg sounds real good right about now!

Thank you, Rob— the bird is an ancient pendant I found at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb. There are the meals I do not blog about too, like tonight's rice pilaf and tomato salad :)

Anonymous said...

You must have a high metabolism, szasa!! I love that coffee cup... cheers!

szaza said...

Haha! I think my high metabolism is slowing down as I age— just today the doctor asked if I put on weight since the last time I saw her. I blame this on the yellow and white horizontal striped shirt I was wearing.

Anonymous said...

Haha it is always the stripes! Somebody has taken all my pants and shrunk the waists - so rude!! And still, that bun with the sausage and mustard from a previous post made me want to get on a plane to Zagreb... ah well, steamed vegetables tonight! Lucky I love them too...

szaza said...

Yes I think it's lentils tonight again, and possibly the gym, which I have been avoiding for a month!