Marinated anchovies, Dalmatian style
Following my gastronomic tour of Dubrovnik and the Elaphite Islands, I thought it would be fun to have a Dalmatian-themed week. I say Dalmatian, rather than Croatian, because like many other European countries, in Croatia each region has its own distinct culinary traditions. Wikipedia highlights that the most notable differences are between mainland and coastal regions, influenced both by history and the differences in the selection of foodstuffs. Mainland cuisine has its early roots in Slavic cookery and more recently Hungarian, Viennese and, to a lesser extent, Turkish cuisine, “while the coastal region bears the influences of the Greek, Roman and Illyrian, as well as of the later Mediterranean cuisine – Italian and French”. With regards to foodstuffs, as one might expect, Dalmatia and other coastal regions rely heavily on seafood, while hearty meat dishes are more prominent in the interior.