Dropping Roklan off at day-care the other day I noticed the kids running around the playground with familiar brown seed pods – though I have never seen them in Perth before. The pods come from a carob tree – a rarity here, but numerous in Dalmatia – where they are called rogač.

Today carob is used as a chocolate substitute – historically the drought-resistant plant has served many purposes – mainly using the powder made from the skin of its seed pods, but the seeds themselves were useful as well.

In ancient Egypt, carob was used as a sweetener.

Saint John (the Baptist) is said to have survived in the wilderness by eating them – giving the plant another name – Saint John’s Bread. During WW2 the Maltese and Greeks used the pods as extra sustenance.

The Venetians are responsible for the most of the carob trees in Dalmatia – they fed the meal to their galley slaves – not only is it high in carbohydrates, but, and probably, more importantly, in the bilge of a ship where toilet-breaks were discouraged, if a lot of it is eaten it causes constipation.

Julie found the recipe below for Carob Cake on allrecipes.com. (To make carob powder, take the pods, remove the seeds and then roast and grind up the husks.)

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup honey
2 eggs
1 banana, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup carob powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup honey
1 cup dry milk powder
1/4 cup carob powder
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease and flour a 20cm square pan. Sift together the flour, 1/3 cup carob powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup butter and 2/3 cup of honey until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the banana and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the 3/4 cup water. Stir in chopped walnuts. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

To make the frosting – in a large bowl, cream 1/4 cup butter and 1/3 cup honey until smooth. Blend in the milk powder, carob powder, 1/4 cup water and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until smooth and spread on cooled cake.

In Dalmatia, the powder is mixed with water, and then distilled to make a spirit – rogačica.

The cake goes well with good Dalmatian dessert wine – maybe Prosek Hektorovich from Tomič’s winery on Hvar Island.

Finally, for what were the discarded seeds used? As a standard unit of weight measurement for precious stones and gold – and Ceratonia siliqua, the plant’s scientific name, evolved into ‘carat’ – our measurement of diamond size…

Hearing about our search for the best local trout meal, our crazy Aussie Croatian friends, Jen and Jude from Perth, took us to their favorite weekend noshery, Konoba Izvor in Žrnovnica.

Izvor means source or spring, and the Žrnovnica River appears from the limestone just up from the restaurant. Locals can be seen hiking up the path below the terrace with empty bottles to fill – beats paying for the same water in the supermarket. In amongst the greenery and with the sound of the stream it is easy to forget you are only 10 minutes from Split.

We liked the food so much we went back 2 weeks later.

The Konoba is run by Nana Mateljan and its best to book ahead on the weekend – telephone +385 (0)91.785.6913 or +385 (0)21.472.020 (Nana speaks 5 or 6 languages).

A young Australian Croatian living in Zagreb, Ivan Srpek, started a wine import/export company, Bin 19, a couple of years ago.

He threw a party in Fabro Restaurant, on Murter Island, the other night to introduce one of his clients, Bartolović Wines, to the local restaurateurs.

Bartolović Wines is a new family run winery near Požega, in the northern Slavonia region. We have mentioned other wineries in the area in a previous Croatian wine story.

Fabro prepared a tasting menu to accompany the various wines. In order we had -

Graševina – Welsh Riesling
Pinot sivi - Pinot Grigio
Rajnski rizling – Rhine Riesling
Chardonnay
Pinot crni – Pinot Noir
Kaptol – a blend of Merlot, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon

Their Chardonnay was very interesting – the winemaker chooses to stir up the lees into the wine as it matures which gave it a creamy, vanilla aroma and mouth feel.

Ivan mentioned that the local edition of Playboy will be doing a large piece on the vineyard – good thing I buy it for the articles!

I’m not going to sugar coat it – it would be a difficult task to find rougher towns in Europe than some of the towns of Dalmatinska Zagora, such as Sinj, Trilj and Imotski.

But there are still hidden gems out behind the hills to be discovered. Take Restaurant Premijer.

Having given up searching for a restaurant recommendation between Sinj and Trilj, we took a gamble and decided to try it for lunch.

The first pages of the menu were given over to the specialties of the house. The restaurant had researched food from the period (late 2nd Century – early 3rd Century) of Roman Emperor Diocletian, a local lad. The main source was a text written at the end of the 3rd Century by Caelius Apicius.

Dishes included -

Cucurbitis Farsilibus – Zucchini Stuffed with Veal Brains

In Ovis Hapalis – Eggs with Pine-nut Sauce

Piscibus – Roasted Trout with a Sweet Herb Sauce

Globos – A Dessert with Honey

Muslum - Wine with Honey

They also offered other local foods – Aklie went for the Grilled Frogs with Pršut (prosciutto).

Split celebrates its patron saint’s day – Sveti Duje (Saint Dominus) – every 7th May. Duje was martyred in Salona’s arena by Diocletian. Restaurant Premijer, during the day, hosts, in the field next to the restaurant, an annual Romans versus Dalmatians soccer match, and, in the evening, they prepare their Roman food for a feast held in the basements of Diocletian’s Palace.

If looking for a unique souvenir from Split, I would go with what Dalmatians do best – wine and olive oil.

For wine, Vinoteka Bouquet is the best place to go shopping. The manager, Denis Bižaca, is not only very knowledgeable about Croatian wine, but can explain it all in English. The shop is 50m from our laundromat (just around the corner – opposite the fountain). I took Cameron Hewitt, from Rick Steves, there several years ago and he has been using Denis as a reference ever since.

The same owners also run Enoteka Terra, in Bačvice. Its a wine bar/bistro, with an excellent steak tartar and dried bear sausage. The wait staff are helpful with selecting wine to accompany each of the small dishes.

Uje – The First Croatian Olive Oil Shop inside Diocletian’s Palace sells many local products – including very good oil. It can be found between Vočni Trg and the Pjaca (the main square).

Easter has traditionally been a more important holiday for Croatians than Christmas. They enjoy organizing large family gatherings in their villages, to eat and drink in the sun of the first warm Spring days.

We went to visit my grandmother’s family in the small town of Raščane, in the Dalmatian hinterland.

Whilst there the discussion turn to pršut. Pršut is local name for cured ham – similar to prosciutto crudo from Italy.

Before refrigerators arrived in the hills, so that fresh meat could be eaten on Christmas Day, about a week prior, the pigs, that had been fatten-up the during the year, were slaughtered. The exact timing depended on the weather – the pigs couldn’t be killed when the warm, humid jugo was blowing – as the meat would rot quickly – but the villagers had to wait for the first bura, the cold, dry, Continental wind, to blow.

Today, this tradition continues. The meat for the Christmas feast is put aside and the rest is then cured. To cure it, the pork pieces are put in salt with large stones placed on top. The salt and the pressure push out any moisture. The curing process lasts up to 3 weeks.

Then, unlike prosciutto crudo, Dalmatian pršut is smoked afterwards in the rafters of small rooms. The smoke room of a village house, like that of my late grandmother, above, in abandoned Gornje Raščane, were attached to the side of the main building. They didn’t have chimneys, but the smoke from the fire would waft up through the rafters and stone shingles, smoking the meat as it went.

A small fire has to be lit every day for 4 months. Depending on which wood used, different flavors can be produced. The pršut can then be kept for 3 years, in a dry, cool space. During this time is will become coated with a nice green mold – don’t worry, this means all is ok.

Pršut is made from the shoulders of the pig – panceta is the cured belly and pečenica is the cured back. Sausages were also produced using the intestines – basically none of the animal was wasted.

Many vegetarians ask us where in Split can they find a good meal. (Meat forms a large part of a Dalmatian’s diet – whether its fish, lamb, veal or pork – many restaurants will look at you cross-eyed if you request a meal without it!)

But there is one place in town that offers excellent vegetarian fare – Makrovega. Its located just around the corner from the laundromat in Varoš. A daily meal is prepared which always includes soup, a main meal (with brown rice or tofu) and a side salad. At the front counter is a large selection of incredibly healthy cakes and slices.

Especially during the summer, Makrovega makes for a refreshing alternative.

Art&Čok is a gourmet sandwich shop which was recently opened by Peco recently right next to Split’s fish-market.

(In Croatian ‘and’ is ‘i’ and ‘Č’ is ‘Ch’ – so the shop is ‘artichoke’.)

Peco spent 20 years in the UK and has brought all his knowledge back home, producing sandwiches filled grilled vegetables, roasted pork, marinated chicken, etc. His telephone number is 021.346.003 – keep it handy when here as he will soon be offering take-away soups and salads.

]]> http://blog.ourcroatianlife.com/new-sandwich-shop-in-split-artcok/feed/ 0 http://blog.ourcroatianlife.com/mondo-claudios-restaurant-in-the-ny-times/ http://blog.ourcroatianlife.com/mondo-claudios-restaurant-in-the-ny-times/#comments Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:32:00 +0000 Braddock Family http://blog.lifejacketadventures.com/?p=621

Our friend in Motovun, Claudio, recently took over management of the restaurant that was known as Barbacan but he renamed Mondo. We mentioned it previously as one of the places to dine in Istria. The New York Times journalist, Kabir Chibber, agrees with us in his recent article in the newspaper’s travel section, giving Claudio’s efforts the ‘thumbs up’. Its great to see recognition for a local restaurant in such a newspaper.

The other day it was abalone. Sometimes we get some crayfish.

The night before last we caught Australian herring, and grilled them on the barbecue with a little lemon juice. Herring, which bear no resemblance to their European counterparts, are the first fish little West Aussies, like Aklie, learn to catch. There’s millions of them and they hit hard at anything – even bits of coloured drinking straws.

Another staple in our (and all West Aussies’) seafood diet is the blue manna crab. The shallow waters of the region teem with them. The easiest way to catch the crabs on a warm summer’s evening to to snorkel off the beach and simply grab them – but gloves are needed as they can can nip.

The crabs are cooked by dropping them into boiling salty water (add several good hand-fulls of salt to the pot) for 5 minutes. Last night we then added them to a spicy seafood pasta sauce. Dinner was washed down with a Flametree Wines SBS – the cellar is literally across the road.

Tonight we are thinking about octopus ceviche.