Can Croatians lower their salt intake to less than 12 grams per day?
A seafood risotto and turkey with gnocchi. These were the healthy highlights served at a business gathering held in the city of Pula. Podravka’s gastro-team, which is to be credited for these tasty gems on the menu, has been working hard in the past years to promote healthy food in Croatia via its Cooking Show and other avenues. Although the primary goal is to present Podravka’s products to the public, which really should not be a difficult task as this is Croatia’s largest food manufacturer, healthy habits are another important feature within their concept, reports Poslovni.hr on March 5, 2016.
The Cooking Show in Pula featured Podravka chefs Zlatko Sedlanić, Zoran Delić and Marko Peras, who belong to a team of five regional Podravka chefs covering the entire Croatia. This time around, the team leader was Zoran Delić who hails from Crikvenica. “The current trend is to decrease the salt intake. Statistics show that daily intake of salt in Turkey is 16 grams per person, while in Croatia that number amounts to 12 grams. The approximate general ‘healthy’ European standard is 6 grams. The meals we are promoting represent an attempt to bring a healthier diet closer to Croats”, he said.
“I am aware that most of the people coming from the continental part of the country will think that these meals lack in both salt and spices. However, here in Istria and in the Hrvatsko Primorje region, we are used to this kind of diet”, Delić added.
Elaborating a bit on the region-specific foods, he added that “Croats have different dieting habits. In this region, the diet is based on olive oil and fish, and a lot of vegetables. I would especially mention sardines and anchovies, which are healthier and, in my opinion, even taste better than white fish. As for the meat, the poultry and beef are preferred, while pork is mostly consumed in the form of prosciutto and pancetta.”
Delić has several media projects under his belt, including his show Lunch for Tomorrow, while 300.000 regular visitors of Podravka’s portal Coolinarika can see his specialties and recipes.
