Come for the Wine: Split

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Croatia Part 3- Šibenik Caressed by the Sea

Šibenik has everything I love--It's low key, on the sea, and close to Bibich. Our visit was a marathon of eating; from the wonderful seafood at Dalmatino, to the sublime wine and food parings at Bibich, and finally dinner at Restaurant Marina in Skradin, where we feasted on roasted lamb and vegetables prepared in the traditional peka method in which the dish is covered and placed under hot ash and embers for baking.

Here is a glimpse of Sibenik's natural beauty and brilliant cuisine, plus a few shots of Waldo from Where's Waldo drinking rakija! {Note: If the video cuts off on the sides you may need to click through to view it on You Tube directly.}

Upon arrival in Šibenik we checked into Hotel Jadran situated in the middle of town and directly on the promenade where you could practically reach out of your room and grab a glass of wine from one of the many sailboats docked along the seawall. We took a stroll around town with our knowledgeable local guide Vanja Dadić, who had a great sense of humor and was a good sport with all our antics. After a climb to the top of Fort St. Michael for a panoramic view, it was time for lunch at Konoba Dalmatino.

To say we were spoiled by the bounty of fresh seafood in coastal Croatia would be a gross understatement. I've never had anything close to the supreme delights of the sea that I had in Croatia. The classic seafood repast at Dalmatino was an ode to freshness and simple preparation. The mussels, oysters and clams were just hours out of the water.

Our congenial host Mr. Vinko Pilizota (above at left) was dressed in traditional costume and chef Sinisa Cular seemed happy to be preparing dishes for guests with such hearty appetites as ours.

We started the meal with a few shots of Travaricia rakija a grape brandy infused with a blend of aromatic herbs. I never found out what herbs the Travarica had in it, but I detected hints of juniper, currents, sage and rosemary. Dalmatino also serves as a wine shop and I was happy to peruse the walls of so many “new to me wines” in between each course.

Apparently mussels are best served when the moon is full and lucky for us the moon was in it's fullest phase and mussels were the specialty of the house at Dalmatino. The broth of the mussels was incredibly delicious and I greedily dabbed it up with chunks of bread. It's hard to believe it was only parsley, garlic, olive oil and tomatoes. I’m sure there was some other secret ingredient, but no one was giving it away. We had some interesting wines too, including a Debit and a Maristina. The particular Debit we had was strange to me, I found the flavor flat and it seemed slightly oxidized, but the Maristina was bright and lemony with great acidity for the oysters.

The relaxed atmosphere at Dalmatino is like going to your best friends house. (The best friend who knows how to cook, has a great stash of wine, and owns cool hats that is.) We felt so comfortable and at home we found it hard to extract ourselves from the table. But nature called...no, not that kind of nature call, the real dirt and rocks kind of nature call; we were off to visit the waterfalls at Krka National Park. Afterwards we had a dinner date in Skradin at Restaurant Marina. Fortunately all that rushing water stimulated my appetite for the third time that day.

The folks at Restaurant Marina were very welcoming, and we got an up-close view of the peka process in action through the giant plate glass window in the kitchen. The savory lamb at Marina was just the ticket to take the chill off the night air. Later we sampled some sweet wines with dessert and the winds kicked up dramatically. We held tight to our glasses as the patio canopy whipped above our heads and toasted to a day of memorable meals.

P.S: Recently I heard scientists made a startling discovery that the universe was expanding at a rate faster than the speed of light, sounds crazy right? Well I can tell you it’s nothing compared to the rate of speed my waistband was expanding in Croatia.

Links to all Croatia Series Posts:

Croatia Series Preview

Croatia Part 1: Bibich Dégustation

Croatia Part 2: The Splendors of Split

Croatia Part 3- Šibenik Caressed by the Sea

Croatia Part 4- Zadar, The Perfect Date

Croatia Part 5 - Pilgrimage to Pag: Land of Paški Sir

Croatia Part 6 - Istria--Truffles, Olive Oil, Prosciutto & Wine!

Croatia Part 7: A Taste of Zagreb

Eli's Caffé in Zagreb--Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Croatia Part 2: The Splendors of Split

A dash of red pomegranates to the left, a slash of blue sea to the right, and straight-ahead, looming high in the distance, a salt and pepper ridge of limestone and granite cliffs. That was my first glimpse of coastal Split. Before my trip I read many travel articles comparing Croatia to other places, such as Italy. But in Split the sun seemed brighter, the mountains closer and sea's horizon was filled with the undulating shapes of distant islands. After arriving at our hotel I took a little walk around the beach area. The vibe was very familiar but altogether different, not quite Italy, not quite Greece, it was a mish–mash of its own. Croatia was not the new Italy as I'd read--I’d say Croatia is the new Croatia!

Dinner Konoba Varos

I was a little worried about what my first meal in Croatia would be like after I met Ivan, a Croatian living in California near Sacramento, who was on my flight from San Francisco to Split. Ivan told me he was bringing a suitcase full of Jiff peanut butter and Oscar Mayer bacon on special request for his friends and family. I was confused why people who lived in a country that supposedly had some of the best food in the world would desire peanut butter filled with partially hydrogenated goo and bacon shot throughout with nitrites and sodium phosphates. But within a few hours all my concerns were alleviated as I had the first in a series of great meals that set the tone for the rest of the trip. I chalked up the Jiff and Oscar Meyer to those odd hankerings people get for foreign foods. It's not so much that it’s good, but it's different.

The first night in Split we dined at Konoba Varoš where I got to know our driver Dino and the other four journalists on the trip. Ordering was pretty simple, you have two choices: Grilled Fish or Grilled Meats. Or just tell the waiter to bring it all!

For starters we had the following:

Salata od hobotnice -- Octopus salad with boiled octopus and onions dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. We had this many times over the next several days and I never tired of it. So fresh and simple and delicious with a crisp white wine like Pošip.

Salane srdele –Salted sardines with onions.

Dalmatinski prsut and Ovcji sir—Prosciutto with cheeses and olives.

Mesni carpaccio-- a carpaccio of raw beef fillet on a bed of rocket greens and drizzled with a sauce of olive oil and balsamic, lemon juice and covered with Parmesan cheese. Yum-o-rama.

We also had a platter of grilled meats that included the most succulent little things called cevapis that look like breakfast sausages, but are a far cry from Jimmy Deans. Cevapis are not encased like sausage, but more like rolled kabobs of beef, lamb or pork. There were also pljeskavica, small meat patties like hamburgers that were grilled with just a bit of seasoning and served with my new best friend - Ajvar. Ajvar is the fiery orange-red condiment of choice made from grilled peppers, eggplant and garlic that adds a piquant dash of joy to anything you slather it on.

For an entree we had gnocchi with beef. The gnocchi was light and fluffy, the perfect vehicle by which to sop up the dark sauce covering the braised beef. Asked how exactly the dish was made, we were told the beef was marinated in olive oil and wine for 24 hours and the sauce was made with plums, prunes, pears, and vegetable stock. When pressed for more details the waiter merely said the sauce was a secret process. “It’s a process.” Hmm… we would be hearing that a lot in the days to come.

Desert-- Palacinke (pancakes) filled with tresnja (cherry) Sir (creamed cheese) and Jabuka (apple). I skipped desert, but I must admit I would have been very happy with a bowl of Ajvar.

Wines

Pošip Čara 2010 from Korčula and Plavac Mali ivanDolac 2007 from Hvar. The Plavac Mali was a most versatile wine--deep dark berry flavors, spicy with good tannins--it was perfect with the hearty meat dishes and surprisingly good with the seafood too.

I know what you may be thinking-- how did I possibly eat all this? Well I’d been up for close to 30 hours and I had to make up for lost calories.

Scenes of Split--

The next day we met up with a local guide also named Dino, and took a walking tour of Split.

A trip to the fish market foreshadowed lunch as we walked past the various offerings. Next we explored the walled section of town and toured inside the former palace in historic Split.

One odd thing I noticed in Croatia, I saw very few policemen. In other countries the tourist areas are full of armed officers in uniform patrolling the perimeter. Maybe the cops in Croatia are all in plain clothes, but nevertheless, I felt very safe everywhere we went. Except for one fleeting moment in Split, when a huge block of a man came trudging towards us from across a plaza. I was struck by his size and he literally looked like Frankenstein, a solid oblong mass of flesh and bones with squared off head and shoulders. His wrists cocked backwards as he walked as if he were paddling through the air. Of course my first instinct was to take a photo, but as he moved closer something told me that was not a good idea. It felt like an invisible energy field was spread out before him and everyone scurried aside to make way.

Lunch --Restaurant Šperun

At Šperun we enjoyed a fresh array of mixed grilled seafood and some amazing anchovies. If you need just one reason to come to Croatia—let it be the anchovies at Šperun. Their bright sea flavor with a trace of olive oil, lemon juice and garlic will have you clapping your hands like Flipper at SeaWorld.

Resturant owner Zdrakvo Banovic, who had a movie star air of Clark Gable about him, stated his goal is to serve an eclectic menu of authentic dishes based on Mediterranean cuisine that present Croatia as its own particular place with grilled meats such as lamb, and fresh fish dishes like his black cuttlefish risotto. He does not offer tiramisu. “Our identity is Croatian, not Italian and our cooking is representative of the region,” said Banovic.