Moving to Zagreb has given me a different perspective on life in the capital. Whereas I previously came to visit the city and enjoy the increasingly diverse offer it has, as a resident, I now have one eye on what there is to explore in the region. There is a lot!
With a green ring of nature, tradition, culture, gastronomy, wine roads, and adventure tourism available in Zagreb County (much more on the excellent Around Zagreb website), there is plenty of family fun to be had just 20 minutes from home. Arguably the most popular day trip destination is the gorgeous historic town of Samobor, accessible by bus, and a 20-minute drive west of the capital.
Just how popular it was I discovered on the first week of 2022, when we decided to go and explore the town, try the famous Kremsnita, and see what Samobor had to offer in the way of restaurants. According to the recently released Gault & Millau guide for Zagreb and Zagreb County, it seems that there was plenty of choice of quality eateries, with 3 Samobor restaurants featuring in the top 12 in Zagreb County.
The town was packed! On the first weekend of the year, and restaurants were full, with people queuing to get in. It seems that quite a lot of other people also had the idea to grab a spot of weekend lunch out of the city. Come back during the week, we were advised, there are far less people, and the atmosphere was much more relaxed.
(Photo by Ivan Tibor Grujic i Marivo)
We managed a good lunch and then headed to King Tomislav Square for perhaps the most popular thing to do in Samobor – trying the famous Kremsnita. Protected and listed in Croatia’s Register of Cultural Goods, it consists of two layers of puff pastry and fluffy custard cream. The only two places serving the authentic Samobor-style kremsnita are located on the square: U prolazu pastry shop and Livadic cafe.
But while Samobor Kremsnita is undoubtedly the town’s most famous product, there are some other indigenous treasures well worth exploring.
(Photo Zagreb County Tourist Board)
Meat lovers should seek out Samobor’s very own authentic sausages, known as Samoborska cesnofka, or cesnjovka. This is a smoked sausage with a combination of chopped pork, beef, or veal and pork fat. As the name suggests (‘cesnjak’ means garlic in Croatian), additional ingredients include garlic, white wine, black pepper, salt and hot paprika. Served in pairs after being stuffed in pork casings, the sausages have a smoky and garlicky taste.
Every good sausage tastes better with a spot of mustard, and here too, Samobor has its own local delicacy. Samoborska mustarda it thought to have its origins with the French occupation of 1808-1812, when locals were taught how to make it. The unique Samobor mix is made from mustard seeds, sweet wine must, grape jam, salt, and sugar, emitting a peppery and fruity taste to compliment the traditional Samoborska cesnjovka.
(Photo Samobor Tourist Board)
Every good meal deserves a quality aperitif, and Samobor has its own, called Bermet. It is both sweet and bitter and to make it, red wine needs to be aromatized with wormwood, selected herbs and spice. The story goes that the drink came here with the French soldiers, when this area was a part of Napoleon’s Empire. Yet, there is some proof that it predates the French and that the local pharmacists produced it as a remedy before the French came. The most famous producer is the Filipec family. Their lovely tasting room and shop are just around the main square. The family also produce an excellent Samoborska mustarda.
There is one more Samobor speciality to try before you start your journey back to Zagreb, a delicacy which became a protected EU brand last year (as previously reported on TCN) – Rudarka Greblica. The savoury pie and its name date back to the 16th century and have their roots in what used to be the local mining industry in nearby Rude. ‘Greblica’ was the Croatian word for a traditional ask rake tool.
This dish can be best described as a savory pie with cheese filling, neatly wrapped between two thin layers of dough. The filling is occasionally enriched with other ingredients such as walnuts, green onions, or leeks, and before baking, the whole pie is smeared with sour cream.
Rudarska greblica, thanks to the geographical protection it now enjoys throughout the European Union, can be produced exclusively in Rude and surrounding villages and is available at Bakery Nikl, which is the only certified producer of Rudarska greblica.
And having tried all the local delicacies, take a stroll along the river of this picturesque historic town, just one of the wonders you can find in Zagreb County, a short drive or bus ride from the capital.
To learn more of the magic of Samobor, check out the Total Croatia Samobor in a Page guide.
