January 23, 2018 – Continuing our in-depth look at 2018 European Best Destinations nominee the island of Hvar, a closer look at one of the most important aspects of the tourism experience -food.
Have you ever picked a lemon from a tree?
No? I hadn’t either until I moved to Hvar in 2003. There is something divine about pouring a gin and tonic for pre-dinner drinks on the terrace, then popping just outside the front door for the mandatory lemon. Total freshness.
It was one of my first lessons after I moved to Hvar. In the local shop in November, I laughed internally as a Brit in front of me could not understand that there were no tomatoes in November, for ‘it was not the season.’
How very odd, she says, we have them 12 months a year back home.
The vegetable cycle is one of the big differences between Hvar and back home. In the UK, one has 12-month availability of pretty much everything, but the trade off is in terms of quality. When I first moved to Hvar, the lack of availability of things caused huge frustration, until I finally learned to celebrate the seasons. For when something is in season, the freshness and taste is like nothing one can find in the supermarkets back home. After some time, I find myself looking forward to the wild asparagus and spring onions in Spring, endless tomato salads in Summer, and 101 things to do with mandarins come November.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvDSKvP_5TE
Before I moved to Hvar, I had probably consumed less than a litre of olive oil in my life. Now there are lunches where I feel that almost a litre goes into a salad. Dalmatians love their olive oil, and now I do too, especially having been through the process of the annual family olive harvest.
The family olive grove. The family field. If you live on the island, you will have a family connection to the soil. Sending one of the kids to pick a lettuce for the evening salad is such a natural thing to do, as is risking your health tasting the home-made rakija and wine of neighbours and friends, usually delivered in those wonderful recycled plastic bottles.
Hvar is a culture of barter, where an electrician will do some work in a fisherman’s house and return with a bag of fresh fish for lunch. It is a lifestyle, and with the endless sun, fine local wines and relaxed lifestyle, highly addictive, if you have the time to enjoy it. As a cuisine, Dalmatia is outstanding, with a few simple essentials – the finest, freshest ingredients, both from land and sea, delicious and simple home-made recipes handed down by grandmothers. And time to enjoy.
They say that a fish swims three times in Dalmatia – first in the sea, then in olive oil and finally in wine at the meal. Quite a life.
The Mediterranean Diet is one of the healthiest in the world, and in 2013, Hvar’s Mediterranean Diet, along with Brac and several locations in other countries around the Med, was inscribed as Intangible UNESCO Heritage – see the video above for more.
The freshest fish and seafood from the Adriatic, the freshest herbs, spices, fruit and vegetables from the island’s fields. More than one restaurant on Hvar sources all its food from these two local sources.
Hvar has its own signature fish dish, gregada – watch it being made in the video above.
The island’s cuisine also offers many wider Dalmatian specialities, and for true authenticity, head to the inland village restaurants of Velo Grablje, Dol, Svirce, Vrisnik, Pitve and Humac. Peka, pasticada, octopus salad and other Dalmatian delights are all the rage.
Hvar also has its very own cookie, made to an 800 year-old recipe, one of the many traditions on Hvar that date back centuries. Learn more about Starigrojski Paprenjok here, and then watch a master at work – Anita from Vrisnik, as she decorates this tasty and very popular Hvar souvenir.
Simple, fresh, wholesome and wonderfully healthy – Hvar cuisine is a worthy addition to the quality of this magical island.
Why not try it? And don’t forget to pick that lemon from the tree.
Not voted for Hvar as the 2018 European Best Destinations yet? You can do so here.
