10-Day Croatia
Itinerary

Peka

Dalmatia's most revered cooking method — lamb, veal or octopus with potatoes, vegetables and olive oil placed in a clay or iron bell (peka), covered with embers and slow-cooked for two to three hours until the meat is falling-tender and the bottom forms a crisp golden crust; must be ordered 24 hours in advance; worth every minute of the wait.

Strukli

Zagreb's most beloved comfort dish — thin dough sheets filled with fresh cottage cheese (skuta), egg and sour cream, then either boiled (kuhani) or baked (pečeni) under a lake of sour cream until the top forms a burnished, bubbling crust; the baked version is Zagreb's greatest gift to winter; it has been granted EU protected geographical status.

Paški Sir (Pag Cheese)

Croatia's most famous artisan product — a hard, sharp sheep's milk cheese made from the milk of Pag Island sheep that graze on sage and bora-wind-dried herbs; the result is a dense, crystalline cheese with a pronounced salinity and herbal depth; aged in olive oil, it is the mandatory accompaniment to pršut (Dalmatian cured ham) on every Croatian charcuterie board.

Pršut

Croatia's most prized cured meat — whole pork legs air-cured in the bora wind of Dalmatia and Istria for 12 to 18 months; sliced paper-thin to reveal a deep red flesh with a rim of white fat; unlike Italian prosciutto, the Dalmatian version is rarely smoked and carries the salinity of the sea air; eaten with olives, Paški sir and maraschino.

Black Risotto (Crni Rižot)

Dalmatia's most dramatic dish — cuttlefish (lignje) cooked in its own ink until the rice turns glossy black and the squid ink gives a briny, mineral depth unlike any other seafood dish; finished with white wine, olive oil and grated Paški sir; eaten at every konoba on the Dalmatian coast; the ink stains your lips and you will not care.