One of my top finds on our recent trip east was the Vrhunsko (Excellent) Vukovarsko Cooperative Food and Wine Garden and Shop. If you were looking for a symbol of the new Vukovar, then this was it. Around 20 top producers of local products have come together to offer the finest gourmet products the region has to offer, direct from the small local producers.
Located in the city centre on the main route of the November 18 Remembrance Day Parade, I spent quite a bit of time with the fabulous team at the shop, and it was a strange contrast sipping a glass of refreshing Grasveina as we took a break from filming as the estimated 50,000 participants walked by.
We will be doing a LOT more on this wonderful place and the personalities who run it in the coming months, but I was very pleased to notice that the wine garden was featured on national television earlier this week on the popular RTL show, Dinner for 5. Below is the report from 24 Sata. Photos are from the cooperative’s Facebook page, as I don’t have permission to use the ones from the show. Great place, check it out on Facebook, and feel free to order from their online shop.
Igor’s burger surprise in “Večera za 5”: The food was so greasy, it was dripping all over”
As a gift, the contestants received products from the cooperative where Igor works, which made everyone happy. As a special surprise, they sang famous Slavonian songs on karaoke.
Today’s host in the Vukovar edition of “Večera za 5 na selu” was Igor, an agricultural technician, who served his guests a Black Burger, the Šokačko-srijemski Steak and Drunken Crepes. Some people didn’t like the appetizer, while others loved it, the main dish was mostly well received, and the wine chateau crepes didn’t sit equally well with everyone. Despite having prepared interesting dishes with a lot of effort to prepare dinner, Igor only scored 35 points and missed out on taking the lead.
He greeted his guests with plum brandy (šljivovica), pear brandy (viljamovka) and cherry liqueur and they toasted for a good dinner and even better company. “The best choice of aperitif so far, I adore viljamovka,” said Marina, and the others praised the brandy. For starters, they ate burgers with black Slavonian pig bacon. Everyone liked the wine that the host served, however they had some objections to the meal. “Grease was dripping all over, I don’t like it when it’s too greasy,” said Marina, while Nenad disagreed: “Tasty, good, juicy, greasy, yummy… I swallowed it in three bites.”
The host then brought out two main dishes in one – veal steak and stuffed breaded pork steaks in a sauce, and everyone noticed how nice the plate looked.
“It’s hard to describe. It was as if I had tasted a ray of sunshine, as if I had tasted a piece of paradise…, the mushrooms, the sauce… It was very, very good“, Lorena praised the main course, and Marina and Nenad found it tasty even though they found the pasta to be a bit much. “The veal steak was fine, though it could have been a little less cooked so that it preserved a little of that juice. You can tell he made an effort, so thumbs up for that”, concluded Mario.
Dessert was wine chateau crepes. Nenad especially looked forward to that because his mother used to make it for him, while Mario found that his plate was too full. “It was difficult to start eating the crepes without having the chateau overflow” he said, adding that the chateau was unfinished. The others thought it was delicious.
As a gift, the contestants received products from the cooperative where Igor works, which made everyone happy. As a special surprise, they sang famous Slavonian songs on karaoke.
Lorena and Nenad rated Igor’s dinner with tens because they thought everything was great – the food, wine, ambience and the mood, while Marina and Mario were more critical – Marina didn’t like the appetizer because it was too greasy, so she rated it with an eight, and Mario said, “I rate it with a seven because the appetizer was too greasy, the main course bulky, and the dessert was average.”
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