The flavours of our destinations 2: The Istrian “supica”
Wed, Jul 4, 2007
In my post “The flavours of our destinations 1: The island of Krk”, I wrote a bit about the flavours of our biggest island. Among others, I dedicated a few sentences to the past times, when the inhabitants of Krk lived a far more modest life than today Istria has a similar story. When you take a look at the menus from the olden times and compare it to the most common dishes today, you can learn a lot about the local way of life. What did an average table look like in the past, and what it offers today and what are the dishes that survived over time and can be seen even today on Istrian plates?
In the subsequent texts we will talk about all of those top-quality delicacies that Istria has to offer. Then there is a whole range of dishes and foodstuffs crowned by the flavour of his majesty – the white truffle. At the beginning, we choose however to go back a little to the past, to the story about the Istrian “supica”. What is the Istrian “supica”? It is a simple, but at the same time, exceptionally powerful and nutritious meal that has survived through all those years and remains even today an omnipresent symbol of a way of life.
Picture a cold winter’s day, temperature is somewhere around zero degrees centigrade, after a hard day’s work, the family is gathering to eat their supper. Wine is being brought from the cold cellar, the main ingredient of the Istrian “supica”. And here goes the story. So…, you take the “bukaleta” (typical wine jug), you pour some red wine in it, Teran or Borgonja, you add a few drops of olive oil, some pepper and in the end – you throw in a slice of toasted bread. The “supica” is all done and ready to warm up the hard-working family after a cold day.
The Istrian “supica” is an interesting dish in many ways and precisely because it has, well I think it’s a safe bet, an important sentimental value for the Istrian people. It has become one of the hallmarks of Istria, and today in many Istrian restaurants and taverns you can taste it, just as they used to prepare it in the old times.
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by: Tomislav Kovac