Croatian Cuisine Essay

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Croatian cuisine is known to be very diverse, as there are many different cooking styles throughout the country. The traditional dishes that are prepared by the Croatians have old origins. The ingredients and the preparation techniques used by the people that live in the mainland are different from the ones that are used in the coastal regions. Many influences affect the Croatian cuisine. The mainland areas have been affected by the Slavic nations, the Hungarian, Austrian and Turkish cuisines, while the coastal areas influences of old civilizations, such as Greeks, Romans and Illyrians. In the mainlands of Croatia most meat cooking techniques are derived from old traditions, for example smoking, curing, drying to preserve meats for prolonged period of time and also making sausages. As for the coastal areas of Croatia the ingredients are a lot more seasonal and fresh. On the coast there is lots of fish and seafood that can be either dried, smoked or grilled. With most of the fish being quite small they usually grill fish whole with the head still intact. One of the most common traditional way to cook ham in Croatia is to cure then drying the meat for 9-18 months. Basically the meat is salted then hanged to dry in a cool place for months. In Dalmatia the meat is also smoked using different types of wood to achieve different flavours. The Istrian version is salted and seasoned with combination of spices and hung to dry in the fresh air. For prosciutto to qualify as Dalmatia prosciutto it must be produced in the region of Dalmatia, must have a certain salt content and the color should be fairly dark and dry. The northwestern Croatia has a Hungarian influence dating back to the Hungarian empire. Meats including lamb and pork are roasted on a outdoor spit. A lot of Croatian roadside restaurants cook using this concept. While motorist pass they can see the pig or lamb

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