Valamar Blog

Light, simple, fresh, not too spicy, boiled, grilled, cooked under the embers – these are just a few of the first associations that go through a person’s mind when Dalmatian cooking is mentioned. Fresh fish, sea food, Swiss chard and cooked vegetables, tomatoes, prosciutto, olives – the series of associations goes on. It is very interesting that all the healthy eating pyramids, as recommended by leading world nutritionists, look as if they have been based on the Dalmatian diet – full of fish, olive oil, fresh vegetables, a glass of wine with ones meal etc. All this has already been present in Dalmatian cooking for centuries, and today we will recall three traditional southern dishes – one fish dish, one meat dish and one sweet.

1. brodet – a traditional Dalmatian fish dish made in folk kitchens, which today is served in many exclusive restaurants. Ingredients: a mixture of different fish (eel, scorpionfish, dentex, bass, mackerel), flour, olive oil, garlic, onion, white wine, parsley, wine vinegar, tomatoes, salt and pepper.

It is best eaten with polenta.

2. pasticada – a meat dish that is made in a variety of different ways in Dalmatia, where each one is a story in itself. Beef loin is the traditional basic ingredient of meat pasticada. However, nowadays we can come across a number of variations that use other types of meat (chicken, game etc) or even tuna or vegetarian pasticada. In order to not get embroiled in the debates about what ingredients should be used in a true pasticada, we will just say that each Dalmatian house has their secret ingredients, and that they are all the best. However, it would be difficult to imagine one without olive oil, onion, parsley, wine (or Prosecco) and a bay leaf.

3. rozata – Dalmatians don’t like to complicate things with their sweets. Rozata, a favourite sweet in southern Croatia, belongs to the category of “simple, effective, tasty”. To make this delicacy, all you need is some sugar, eggs, milk, (eventually) vanilla sugar and a cooked and then well cooled mixture of cream and caramel.