Croatian Gastronomy - Nostromo

02
lamBs rEarEd
on thE islands
of thE northErn
adriatic, and
from thE hintErland
of vElEBit,
arE spit-roastEd
in many rEstaurants
found
alonGsidE thE
road.
kvarner
Frutti di
mare and
fish are a
dominant
feature in
restaurants
along the
shores.
the dormouse is the gastro-specialty of this region. Today,
the uninitiated tend to look at them askance, but recipes
for their preparation can be found as
long ago as Apicius’ collection of recipes.
Nowadays, their flesh is mostly fried or
spit-roasted. The most delectable of all
is a young dormouse cooked over charcoal,
sometimes coated with corn flour.
Older ones are prepared in goulash and
served with polenta. Dormouse is served
in Kastav, Liganj, Lovranska Draga...
On Whit Sunday (one week after St.
Michael’s Day, September 29th) when
the hunting season opens the dormouse
becomes a gastronomic delicacy of the
first order.
u d i č
Salted leg of an older lamb or a sheep is
hung to dry in the bora (north wind), and
sometimes allowed to smoke for a brief
period. On Cres, leg of lamb thus prepared
is called udiè and is one of the
lesser known pearls of Croatian rural
gastronomy. The same method is also
practised around Dubrovnik, particularly
in Konavle.
GroBnički sir
Grobnièki sir, or cheese from the Grobnik range, is produced
from milk of sheep which graze on the mountain meadows
of Gorski kotar, in the villages above the Grobnik range.
14 croatian Gastronomy
This large cylinder cheese does not come in any uniform
shape since it is shaped by hand, without pressing. It can
weigh up to 20 kg. This is a distinctly salty cheese, which is
why in Rijeka they call it just that: salty cheese.
c h E E s E s o f t h E
K v a r n E r i s l a n d s
Grazing on the north Adriatic islands is very distinct, and
it yields a readily identifiable aromatic sheep milk. On the
island of Krk, people produce a small cheese weighing less
than half a kilo, locally known as formajela. Around Vrbnik
it is usually spherical, while above Baška it is square. If not
sold in its fresh form it is kept in olive oil for up to a year.
On the islands of Cres and Lošinj, cheese is larger and usually
with a higher fat content. Sometimes it is coated with the
residue of olives which remains after the oil has been pressed out
it is in this arEa that thE BEst scampi of thE
adriatic arE cauGht and prEparEd.