10 Zagr eb a nd its surr ou nding s nurture an enviable gastro culture with one important feature: it is a bourgeois cuisine, in many ways different than the rural, which shows the art of food preparation in all its glory. Thus it is not the most important whether a dish originates from Zagreb, but the way it is prepared and enriched with culinary finesse.
When you look down upon Zagreb Dolac market, one of the most panoramic views of Zagreb, built in the 1930's to free the central city square of stalls that had been previously located there to sell food products, it is immediately clear that Zagreb's paunch is a sumptuous and magnificent exhibition of the best Croatia has to offer. All Croatian regions pour their best exhibits into Dolac, thus capturing the national gastronomic richness and high levels of gastro culture in their region. Dolac market is a 'must visit' for all tourists, many of whom no longer have the opportunity to enjoy such a luxurious presentation of food in the open in their own country, accompanied by the folk elements that indicate the regional origin of foods and their uniqueness.
All Croatian regions are represented at Dolac, from those who gravitate to the city as a vast market for the demanding consumer, to those further away, for whom distance is no obstacle as they are proud to offer their products in this cult place.
A dairy department, a modernly equipped fish selling area, the part above-ground which looks like a vast tapestry of fruit and vegetables and the part inside the building on the ground floor with butchers and other food stores, offer consumers a choice of their favorite food and many housewives specifically decide their daily menu on the spot at Dolac inspired by the daily selection of foods.
Besides Dolac, there are other markets in the city center which offer the richest variety of food, but each quarter of Zagreb also has its own neighbourhood market. Although large shopping centers completely changed the system of supply and consumption of food, the food market, as a key concept of tradition and gastro culture in this area, survived this modern battle and retained its essential characteristics.
Just a brief glance at the Dolac and other markets convince us that the Zagreb area cultivates great gastro culture, interspersed with many regional influences, but with one important feature: it is a bourgeois cuisine, in many ways different than the rural, which comes to show the art of food preparation in all its glory. Thus it is not the most important whether a dish originates from Zagreb, but the way it is prepared and enriched with culinary finesses.
Zagreb's cuisine inherited the best of regional cuisines, so on Zagreb's table, one will find excellent Mediterranean specialties as well as delicacies from Slavonia, select Zagorje meals and menus of neighbouring countries.
Sunday lunch could serve as a good overview of Zagreb's cuisine. Beef or veal soup with homemade noodles, followed by veal or pork roast with potatoes, green salad, lamb's lettuce or arugula, and for dessert apple strudel or strudel made from some other fruit, could be considered typical, almost a conventional family Sunday lunch, but equally other combinations are as common as well.
After ajngemahtes - aromatic soup with chicken liver dumplings - usually is followed by fried chicken with mashed potatoes, lettuce, or beetroot. Dessert might be pancakes or šnenokle, kremšnite- a cream cake bought in Samobor, home of these native sweets; or poppy cake, walnut cake or some other sweet delights. Those who prefer light - er meals will go for a Mediterranean menu, for example, fresh fish purchased early in the morning from one of Zagreb's well-stocked fish markets, which can be prepared in the oven, na gradele (on a special grill) if the host owns one, or boiled. The fish is usu - ally served with chard and potatoes seasoned with olive oil. For an appetizer fish soup and octopus salad can be served, and for the des - sert fritters, which were already very wellknown in continental cuisine or rožata for those families brave enough to try to prepare this Dubrovnik specialty. If, for any reason, the prospect of fish was not satisfactory, the Mediterranean alternative is always available - cooked meat with vegetables, tomato salsa or horseradish mixed with grated apple.
The fascination with young lamb is not just a Southern tradition, it is equally eaten with enthusiasm inland too, and it is considered an highly esteemed and favourite food in Zagreb's gastronomy too.
Zagreb's cuisine comes with the usual range of demanding, expensive and pretentious menus to traditional local dishes such as stuffed peppers with mashed potatoes, stews from cabbage, leeks and other vegeta - bles, sarma, pork-tripe, pasta with cabbage, chopped steak known as polpete or faširanci, beans with sausages and smoked meat, ričet (vegetarian stew based on beans and barley), beans with turnips, ajnpren-soup (egg soup), wine stew, etc.
Some of the best Croatian restaurants are situated in Zagreb; they are of various cu - linary genres and different price categories, such as the luxurious Zinfandel in the Hotel Esplanade, restaurant Dubravkin Put, appre - ciated Mano in the authentic surroundings of Gliptoteka, Apetit (in two locations) with an imaginative menu and expertly selected range of wines, legendary Okrugljak with a great menu closest to the concept of Zagreb's cuisine, which, with its outdoor terrace, the murmur of the brook and the sound of an old spinning mill, evokes the spirit of old Zagreb and offers visitors an extraordinary experience, not just a culinary one.
Among the esteemed and popular Zagreb restaurants there are also: Balthazar with its meat and fish delicacies, Vinodol located in the city center, Balon in an area where this restaurant is very much needed, lovely Prasac in Gornji grad (the Upper Town), Gallo in a renovated Art Nouveau palace in Donji grad (Lower Town), Gračanka Kamanjo a popular restaurant of the same name as its chef, a nice Triologija kod Kamenitih vrata, Carpaccio in Tesla St, Lari i penati in Petrin - jska St, Laščinska klet, Kod Pere on Šalata and Purger in Petrinjska St offering classic Zagreb and home-style dishes and local cui - sine, and many other restaurants that meet high hospitality criteria. Eastern cuisine is strongly represented in Zagreb's cuisine:
Popular Grilled Dishes in Zagreb
grilled dishes such as kebabs, burgers and other meats are very popular and are part of a regular offering in many restaurants.
In Zagreb's surrounding areas, there are several attractive restaurants with a typical range of continental dishes, some of which are Zeleni papar, Gabrek, Špilja and Slavagora in Samobor and restaurant Špiček in Zaprešić with exceptionally creative cuisine based on traditional foods.
Zagreb is the Croatian gastronomic capital which has recognised all the qualities of regional cuisines and put them in its offer, in a wide range from the highly sophisticated bourgeois cuisine to the charming folk ones which have kept rural authenticity. Open to a wide range of culinary achievements, from central European to Eastern, Zagreb can be regarded as an important stop on a gastronomic journey through Europe.
Zagreb is a world metropolis where you can taste specialties of domestic and international gastronomy. Due to transport links and a favorable climate, nutritional raw materials come to Zagreb's marketplace from across the region, but the typical range from the immediate surroundings of the town is strongly present as well.
Zagreb is the ideal location, so that within a few hours, fish from Adriatic fishing nets arrive at the fish market, fish from nearby rivers and fungi which are abundant around the hillsides of Zagreb. Slavonia and Baranja areas provide a variety of grains and products based on wheat, corn, buckwheat
The markets are full of top quality fresh foods because Zagreb is the place where all meals are prepared with the freshest ingredients. Quality assurance guarantees the pleasure of food, but also a good balanced diet.
A large number of restaurants with international cuisine meet the most complex culinary desires and it is very unlikely that a specific course in Zagreb cannot be found. Zagreb is a city in which dishes are prepared with olive, pumpkin seed oil, apple cider vinegar and wine and meet high nutritional requirements, but also you will find dishes prepared in good old lard, goose fat and spiced with red paprika.
The specifics of Zagreb's cuisine are also: extravagant menus where they include caviar, Istrian truffles, lobster dishes, simplicity and accessibility, which feature buckwheat, corn ground at the mill, pumpkin, sauerkraut, nuts, apples and strawberries; country-folk regularly offer on the markets products that are part of the diet of them and their families - cottage cheese with homemade cream, eggs from hens that live outdoors, cured meat products prepared in the traditional way.
Local Groceries and Traditional Dishes
Mushrooms Pumpkin Strawberries Hazelnuts Buckwheat
d i s h e s
- Pumpkin
- Smoked trout
- Kotlovina (meat, veggies and
- sausages cooked in a cauldron
- in the open)
- Corn bread
- Soup with mushrooms
The area around the capital city of Zagreb abounds in excellent locations suitable for the production of quality wines. The slopes of the mountain Medvednica offer good conditions for the vineyards and the town itself, where the grapes traditionally grow (until the advent of phylloxera, vineyards were located in the very center of town, on Kaptol and above the main square!). Even today there are vineyards on the edge of the city, but the eastern slopes of Medvednica (the city of Saint Ivan Zelina) and the slopes of Plešivice on the south enable the residents of the Croatian capital and their guests to enjoy superb wine.
At only thirty kilometers from the bustling city modern vineyards are planted with varieties known to the world, modern technology is applied, so the area is still highly prized for the quality, especially of white wines. In order to popularise these industries the wine roads opened and Plešivička and Zelinska roads opened in 2001, and since 2009 the Wine Road of Zagreb City. So, to all visitors, in addition to beautiful scenery, Zagreb offers excellent gastronomic delights - lots of traditional dishes and high quality wines. In recent times, the city authorities have organised special wine events, the celebration of Martinje (St. Martin's, the holiday when traditionally grapes turn into wine) to taste and occasionally sell county brands - wines made from traditional varieties, portugisac and kraljevina.
Wine Production Conditions in Zagreb
The City of Zagreb is situated on the eastern and southern slopes of Medvednica, its gentle slopes offer a favourable configuration for growing vines. The slopes of Plešivica, with its famous Roman amphitheater has been immersed in this wine culture for centuries, as well as Zelina area which traditionally focused on the production of grapes and wine. That is the result of excellent natural conditions, with sunny, warm and airy elevated vineyard locations, a sloping and south-facing terrain. According to Croatian legislation the wine vineyard area belongs to two subregions Plešivica and Prigorje - Bilogora, temperatures are around 11 °C on annual average. The soil is of a diverse composition: in vineyards it is lighter and permeable, and rainfall is regular - amounts ranging from 850-1000 mm per year with very a favourable schedule throughout the year. These conditions are very suitable for obtaining high quality and excellent white wine, and traditionally the most cultivated is the white variety. In recent decades, almost all the known varieties of the world were introduced and some indigenous types are being revitalised, so the region now offers many labels of mostly varietal wines.
wines
This region has a relatively large number of manufacturers in small areas, but in re - cent years, several family wineries have en - larged into medium size, with the associated amounts of wine for the Croatian market.
Wine Varieties and Key Producers in Zagreb
In the last hundred years in the majority of the Croatian mainland, including the Zagreb area, the dominant variety is Ries - ling, the variety originating from Western Europe, but, in this region, it has been do - mesticated and very well accepted. It is a multipurpose variety; it generally gives good quality table wines from the regular harvest, but often yields Prädikat wines of the highest quality too. Its wines are fresh, aromati - cally discreet, of a moderate fullness and strength, a basic wine of the large number of manufacturers.
Lately Chardonnay has assumed dominance in the younger vineyards; in these production conditions it is rich and full, often wine with a high percentage of alchohol, of me - dium intensity and with a floral-fruity nose. It manifests many varietal qualities here, and although they are usually strong character wines, climatic conditions make it special and quite different from most wines of this variety, especially in warmer areas. Riesling has had its own place in Zagreb for a long time, so it is often found in the local vine - yards. Undoubtedly, many manufacturers have nurtured the high quality features, and these have a very nice nose, noticeable fresh - ness and full flavour, often accompanied by residual sugar. Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris are common in the local vineyards, due to earlier ripening these varieties are very suit - able. The freshness and a very nice aroma usually adorn these wines, which usually are marketed as dry, medium strength, but of noticeable fullness.
Silvanac and Sauvignon Blanc varieties are also widespread in recent years and are highly sought after wines, primarily due to a very nice floral and fruity aroma, and from Traminer, traditionally, excellent dessert wines are produced. Late and selected har - vests, often ice wines, are mostly obtained by vinification of overripe grapes of this variety, and these are wines of exceptional characteristics - highly aromatic (intense aromas of honey, overripe and dry fruits), and usually with more residual sugar. Less common red varieties are led by the worldfamous Pinot Noir, but attention should be paid to Portugizac, a red variety, which has long been cultivated in the Zagreb area and whose wines usually come on the mar - ket very young. Many are inclined to call it Croatian Gamay Beaujolais, modeled on the French wine regularly offered on the market in November, in the same year of harvest. Young Portugizac has excellent characteristics as a young wine,bringing to - gether a growing circle of admirers, and in November, Portugizac days are also organ - ised, when the wines of this variety are pre - sented. In this way, the city authorities are trying to encourage young people to enjoy the culture of wine as in neighbouring countries, supporting its planting and the protection of its wines as a county brand. Zagreb County in recent years prompted the protection of another brand, Kraljevina wines, indigenous varieties of this area. Often it is a basic wine of Zelina, very fresh, light and easy to drink, a favourite with local residents as a daily beverage. Major manufacturers are Jarec family, Jarec-Kure, Puhelek, Puhelek-Purek, Kos, Kos-Jurišić etc. In the vineyards of Zagreb and its sur - roundings some other indigenous varieties can be found, such as Plavec žuti, Šipelj, Ranfol etc., but they are rarely produced separately.
Larger manufacturers are Badel 1862 (Kur - ija Nespeš, and they produce Riesling Rajn - ski, Chardonnay, Traminac and Sauvignon Blanc), Mladina Inc. (a number of wines, best known for their Riesling and Muscat Ottonel) and Božjakovina Inc. (wines under the brand name of sv Jakob - Pinot Gris, Traminac, Riesling). Other vine growers produce wine mainly on family farms, of which some are more successful and have now grown into small wineries. Most of them are located in the area of Plešivice and among the important and sought-after, award-winning wines, the Tomac family should be noted (excellent Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, a few sparkling wines and in recent years as a rarity - wine from amphora) and Korak Family (Chardonnay, Portugizac). There are also Ledić wines (Por - tugizac, Pinot Noir and Traminac) and sev - eral family cellars - Agro Režek (Portugizac, Rizvanac), Zdravko Režek (Silvanac zeleni), Kunović (Rhine Riesling, Chardonnay). In St. Ivan's Zelina most manufacturers are also small family farms, and apart from the Kraljevina, the ones to be noted are Riesling (Kos-Jurišić), Sauvignon (Puhelek-Purek) and Pinot Blanc (Stjepan Jarec). Very near to the center of Zagreb, wines are produced also by the University of Agriculture in Za - greb, offering to the market Chardonnay and Traminac (Zlatarevo zlato /Goldsmith's Gold) Riesling (Dora Krupićeva) and some other wines from grapes grown in the Jaz - bina college grounds.