Croatia

A Dalmatian one-pot rice dish in which cleaned cuttlefish and its own ink are cooked risotto-style with olive oil, garlic, and white wine until every grain turns uniformly jet black and carries a deeply savory, oceanic flavour.

A slow-braised Dalmatian stew of at least two mixed Adriatic fish species, layered bone-in in an aggressively reduced tomato-wine broth, never stirred during cooking, and served with polenta or cornbread.

Small round Croatian deep-fried dough fritters flavoured with rakija, citrus zest, and raisins, dusted with sugar.

Whole Adriatic sea bass or bream, grilled over charcoal embers and simply seasoned with olive oil, garlic and salt, served as a main dish.

A custard cream slice of thick vanilla custard, often topped with whipped cream, sandwiched between two sheets of baked puff pastry and dusted with icing sugar.

A spiced, smoked and air-dried Slavonian pork sausage seasoned heavily with paprika and garlic, matured for months and eaten thinly sliced.

A whole milk-fed suckling lamb, minimally seasoned with salt, slowly rotated on a spit over a live hardwood fire for three to five hours until the skin is shatteringly crisp and the interior meat is collapse-tender.

Bone-in lamb and root vegetables slow-cooked in a shallow iron dish sealed beneath a domed cast-iron or terracotta bell (the peka), buried in glowing wood embers that heat the dish from all sides simultaneously.

A Croatian (Dalmatian) dish of lamb and potatoes slow-roasted under a peka — a domed iron or terracotta lid buried in hearth embers.

A thick Istrian one-pot stew of beans and vegetables enriched with cured pork, slow-cooked into a hearty soup-stew.

A cold Croatian Adriatic salad of tender boiled octopus dressed with olive oil, garlic, parsley and lemon.

A hard, aged sheep's-milk cheese from the Croatian island of Pag, prized for the salty, herbal character imparted by sheep grazing wind-salted island pasture.

A Dalmatian feast dish of beef larded and marinated, then slowly braised in a sweet-sour sauce of red wine, prošek, prunes, and vinegar.

A Dalmatian slow-roast of lamb, veal, or octopus packed with root vegetables and aromatics inside a heavy iron bell-shaped lid (also called peka) that is sealed with hot embers piled on top, trapping steam and radiant heat to braise-roast the contents until fall-apart tender.

Skinless minced-meat fingers (ćevapi) grilled over charcoal and served with flatbread, onion and ajvar in the Balkan roštilj tradition.

A Dubrovnik baked egg-and-milk custard set over caramel and flavored with rose liqueur, turned out so the caramel glazes the top.

Sarma is a traditional Balkan dish of fermented or fresh cabbage leaves rolled around a seasoned mixture of minced meat and rice, slow‑braised in a smoky broth until tender.

A large, thin, double-crusted Dalmatian flatbread enclosing a single layer of seasoned Swiss chard, baked on a hearth and finished with garlic-infused olive oil.

A Croatian dish of thinly stretched dough filled with fresh cottage cheese, then boiled or baked under cream.

A baked Croatian dish of thin stretched dough filled with fresh cottage cheese, rolled, cut into pillows, and baked under cream until golden.

Šurlice are hand-rolled hollow pasta spirals from the Croatian island of Krk, traditionally served with a slow-cooked lamb (or goat) ragù.

A rustic potato soup from the Croatian Zagorje region, enriched with sour cream and often dried or smoked meat for a hearty peasant starter.