Lika is a region of untouched nature and re-discovered indigenous cuisine
Overview of Lika Karlovac
Did You Know? Lika's Culinary Highlights
In the national gastronomy, the potato from Lika has reached the status of a cult ingredient. Lika is an ideal area for cultivation of it, from its climatic features to its soil composition. White and red potatos from Lika are of unattainable quality. Chefs say that its quality provides for it to be served as a side dish, but also as a dish on its own.
This is one of the least populated regions in Europe, whose untouched landscape is cut by the motorway, linking the continental parts of Croatia to the towns on the Adriatic, and being perhaps the most beautiful and exciting motorway in Europe. This area has not been fully revealed as a gastronomic heaven, where the preparation of food is based on healthy nutrition and ancient recipes from the area.
When we say "Lika", we usually immediately think of trout, a noble and extremely tasty river fish, living in the mountainous springs and unpolluted rivers. It is the gastronomic trademark of this region, whether it is being prepared on the grill, in a stove with potatoes and herbs, or breaded in corn flour.
Wild trout, whose quality and taste differ from the domesticated one, lives only in clean waters and Lika, with its low population and untouched nature, crystal clear rivers, such as Gacka, and clear mountain springs, represents an exceptional area in the whole Europe.
The trout contains a small amount of cholesterol and is recommended to people suffering from heart and vascular diseases, and in dietary therapy. As a source of valuable proteins, the trout, even if consumed in small quantities, satisfies the total daily need for essential amino acids, and is recommended to everyone who is under greater physical or mental strain.
In the national gastronomy, the potato from Lika has reached the status of a cult ingredient. The incomparable quality of the white and red potato from Lika, depending on whether it is intended for cooking or roasting, brooks no argument among chefs and nutrition experts. Lika is the ideal area for this food, due to its climatic features and the composition of the soil.
It is unsurprising that the potato is plentiful in the gastronomy of Lika; it features equally in cooked and baked foods, and not only as a side dish, but often being the core meal. Potato police are particularly popular - those are thin slices of potato, salted with coarse sea salt and then baked in the oven. The best oven for baking this type of potato is either an old wood-stove, or a bread oven. This baked delicacy can be covered with sour cream or any other dairy product, and is eaten in combination with the famous cheese from Lika, škripavac (squeaky cheese, similar to Haloumi cheese), made of cow milk. It merits the name because of its grainy structure and the sound it makes when being eaten.
Smoked cow cheese is also very tasty. Before the motorway was built, this cheese and other delicacies of the region were sold on stands by the road side.
Lika is an agricultural and cattle-breeding area and only recently has become a tourist destination, and an ideal area for the cultivation of healthy food. Dairy products from the countryside households provide the quality which comes from excellent pastures, especially around Mt. Velebit, which are rich with aromatic herbs, and in the cattle-breeding tradition of this area.
Lika is equally attractive regardless of the season. In the summer, this is an area with comfortable freshness, while in winter, when its inhabitants are cut off from normal communications and the rest of the world particularly those living in the farthest mountainous areas, it offers a unique atmosphere. Such a climate influenced the development of a specific gastronomic culture, adjusted to the conditions of the season and even sometimes to the extreme weather conditions. During the winter, another speciality of Lika is put on the table. It is pickled cabbage / sauerkraut, combined with dry or fresh meat, mostly pork or young beef, sausages and other smoke-dried meat products.
The lamb from Lika is also one of the gastronomic features of the region, and it matches the quality of the lambs from the islands. It is prepared in the same way as in other areas, either on a rotisserie, in an oven with potatoes, under cripnja (steel or clay dish), or cooked with vegetables. The quality of the pasture, specifically on the northern hillsides of Mt. Velebit, guarantees the development of quality sheep-breeding and cattle-breeding in general.
The forests of Lika are a true treasure trove of different edible foods: mushrooms and
During the stay in Lika, one should try different types of home-made honey, produced by excellent beekeepers in the pastures and forests of Lika.
wild fruits, such as blueberries, wild raspberries, blackberries, etc. The orchards of Lika grow apples, pears, plums and walnuts. During the mushroom season, this forest meat presents an important part of the nutrition of the local population, but it also became more popular in the restaurants and country farms, which have quickly adjusted to the specific tourist needs. A tourist searching for the authentic offering of food and drink will find a unique destination in Lika, not often found in Europe. Internet pages offer traditionally-built houses in Lika, with modern equipment, suitable for a stay in an oasis of quietness, in fresh air and surrounded by untouched nature.
The National Park Plitvica Lakes, a main tourist center of this region, is a unique natural phenomenon with international fame, visited by millions of tourists from all over the world. The whole experience is complemented with the specialities of Lika cuisine on offer in the region's restaurants.
As Lika touches the Gorski Kotar, the gastronomic influences of the two regions are interconnected. Lika, in the same way as Gorski Kotar, is an area with a hunting tradition, and game is frequent on the menus of the local cuisine. It is prepared mostly with bacon being inserted into the meat of rabbit, doe or wild boar, and left for a few days in a marinade. Afterwards, adding spices, it is cooked on a slow fire, and served with bread balls.
During a stay in Lika, one should certainly try different types of home-made honey coming from pastures and forests, produced by supreme beekeepers from Lika, known for their expertise in picking the best locations to position their beehives.
Speaking of sweet foods, the Lika menu will reward with the simplest desserts, made of just a few recognisable ingredients, such as Lika fritters. Raised dough is fried briefly in hot oil, and served with a coating of fine sugar.
The variety on offer in the restaurants in Lika, from the National Park Plitvice Lakes (Borje), to the Gačanska konoba (wine cellar of Gacko), Ćamara, Braje, Makija, Zlatne potkove, etc., is complemented with the cuisine by the sea, with Boškinac hotel, restaurant and winery (close to Stara Novalja), on the Island of Pag, as the most distinguished, being one of the leading small luxury hotels on the Adriatic coast. The variety makes this region an ideal area for oeno-gastronomic adventurers. In combination with the fresh air and luxurious nature, the local folk specialities are given royal gastro qualities.
Lovers of home-made brandy (rakija) should not miss the šljivovica (plum brandy) from Lika, made in a traditional way, which the hosts are very proud of.
Lika people are very hospitable and will share all they have with their guests, from smoke-dried meat delicacies to cornmeal mash with sour cream.
Ever since European motorcyclists started discovering the charms of the less famous regions, Lika has been attractive to these adventurers with its landscapes and cuisine.
Sometimes it is fishing on the Gacka River, and at other times, it is the winter atmosphere with lamb on the rotisserie in the fireplace, or warming up next to an old wood-stove, while meat with pickled cabbage is being cooked, or Lika potato police fried on top of it. An eventful and gastronomic stay in Lika transforms into a long remembered experience.
Health Benefits of Lika's Cuisine
The traditional cuisine of this region is strongly in touch with nature, and its main base is in the forest fruits and different river delicacies.
The main nutritional determinants are in forest fruits, which thus have stress-reducing benefits.
Consumption of the traditional meals of this region, rich in taste and aroma, bring plentiful phytochemicals, herbal sterols and other eliminators of bad symptoms resulting from stress.
Blueberries, blackberries, cornelian cherry, wild strawberries consumed in small amounts free your body from free radicals and offer pleasure regardless whether consumed fresh, in jams and marmalade or as ingredients in cakes.
This area is famous for its cattle breeding and it offers meat dishes with the aroma of rich, green pastures.
Local Groceries and Ingredients
- Blueberries and blackberries
- Trout
- Basa (catfish)
- Wild game steak
- Mountain mushrooms
- Sour milk
d i s h e s
- Organic marmalade
- Home-made bread
- Deer backstrap with blueberries
- Soup from Lika (with lamb's
- liver)
- Žganci (white and yellow
- cornmeal mush)
Wine Production in Lika
This tourist region of Croatia stretches from the low area north of Karlovac, over the mountainous areas of Lika and Velebit, to the sea. There are not many vineyards here. They are found only in the area of Ozalj and Vivodina, and in the coastal part of the region, including a part of the Island of Pag. The continental lowlands and mountainous areas, which make up the major part of this tourist region, are not suitable for profitable wine-growing, mainly due to low winter temperatures. Nonetheless, the southern and western hillsides of the Žumberačka Gora, and slopes of Mt. Velebit, from Senj to Starigrad, covering a narrow coastal area, are the regions where we can find grapevines, but only in smaller, family farms, without a significant economic presence. Wine-growing has been increasing there too lately, and the production is attracting more attention. In the Ozalj-Vivodina area of winegrowing fields, a wine route has been recently opened with the attempt to bring it closer to visitors and promote wine with the rich gastronomic offering. On the Island of Pag, whose western part belongs to this tourist region, the grape-vine is traditionally cultivated and the offer includes the famous cheese from Pag, along with the wine. The cheese is part of the regular assortment of the island's products, and a part of the everyday menu of its inhabitants.
Wine Production Conditions in Lika
The largest part of the region takes in the mountainous area, and includes the central mountainous massif with no favourable conditions for grape-vine growing. An exception is in the warmer, southern and western areas of the Žumberačka Gora, where the average annual temperature is an acceptable 10-11 °C, with an average precipitation of about 1100 mm/year. In the coastal part of the region, due to the closeness of the sea, there are much better conditions in terms of temperature, but strong sea winds, unfavourable geological relief and lack of available agricultural areas in this area, limit development and growing. The western part of the Island of Pag, and especially the area around Novalja (Novaljsko Polje), offer favourable conditions to the grape-vine and wine-growing here is a traditional industrial sector. The climate is Mediterranean with plenty of sun and high temperatures (an annual average of > 15 °C), and despite the high total annual precipitation (> 1000 mm/year), summers are always dry. The areas along the sea are less favourable due to the lack of fertile soil and the presence of (salt) posolica, which, carried by strong winds, can cause significant damage.
Wine Varieties and Producers in Lika
At the Ozalj-Vivodina wine growing fields, we find some typical continental varieties - the inevitable graševina, aromatic white sauvignon and yellow Muscat, as well as Rhine Riesling, chardonnay and pinot. Among the red varieties, besides the pinot, there are also frankovka, portugizac and zweigelt. Smaller family wineries prevail. In recent years, they raised the quality of their wine and are now winning prizes at various exhibitions. The most notable wine producers today are Frlan (grey pinot, yellow Muscat), Ivan and Darko Vrbanek (chardonnay), Wine cellar Vivodina, Mirko Vrbanek, and others.
On the Island of Pag, and in the rare coastal vineyards, the native varieties are grown, such as gegić, maraština and plavina. In recent years, new varieties were introduced, those which found their place in these rather mean conditions: chardonnay, which gives the wine typical fullness and strength, white sauvignon, which loses a part of its light notes, normal in continental wine growing areas, but gains the note of mature fruit, and usually delights with the fullness of taste. Cabernet sauvignon and merlot have also become a part of the assortment and manifest a large part of their potential - they give intensively coloured wine with a pleasant bouquet and significant fullness. Unfortunately, there are not many producers who produce wine for the market, since this is usually a family production with a limited amount of wine offered to buyers during the summer holidays. Still, we should mention the winery Boškinac in Novaljsko Polje. This is a producer with a contemporary approach to wine growing and a very quality offer. This is a medium size cellar, situated within the hotel, and wine can be tasted exlcusively there. They produce several wines, and it is worth mentioning the excellent pairing of cabernet sauvignon with merlot, recently listed among the best Croatian red wines. The blend of chardonnay, sauvignon and autochthonous gegić is very interesting. This is a wine produced in a contemporary manner, and many would agree that this is a successful mix of bouquets and tastes of these very different varieties. Otherwise, gegić receives special attention by the producer and it gets offered as a variety wine, produced in several ways.