Tuna, sushi and wine festival is held in the Dalmatian town of Zadar, and in 2017 it will be held for the third time. It will take place in early February, this year lasting for five days, February 1st until 5th. It is organized by Zadar Tourist Board, City of Zadar, Embassy of Japan to Croatia, Croatian Ministry of Tourism, Croatian National Tourist Board, Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Zadar County Tourist Board and NPO JCEA Japanese-Croatian Exchange Association – so, quite a strong team of organizers for quite an experience at the festival! However, the key person for this festival is Ms Jelena Yamasaki, head of the Japanese-Croatian Exchange Association from Osaka. She has been successfully working for the past 20 years to build a bridge between Japan and Croatia, promoting and presenting Croatian tourism, culture, art, original Croatian products and souvenirs at various fairs and events throughout Japan and by organizing Croatian promotional events in Japan.
So, what exactly is the link between Zadar, tuna and Japan? 3 out of 4 tuna farms in Croatia are in the Zadar archipelago, and most of tuna they manage to produce gets exported to Japan (one of the farms is in fact owned by a Japanese company). Tuna export to Japan from Croatia is worth almost 50 million Euros annually, and it amount to almost 90% of all Croatian export to Japan! So, this festival is in a way a great event to finish the tuna season (almost all tuna sales to Japan take place during the winter months), and for the public to learn more about the riches being bred in Croatia and exported to Japan to create incredible meals. The festival has an educational component, as prominent Japanese chefs come to Croatia to teach Croatian chefs on the mastery and art of sushi, and also present sushi-making to the public. It also includes exhibitions, workshops and presentations of the various aspects of Japanese culture, such as origami, aikido, bow and arrow use etc. During the festival several restaurants in Zadar will have tuna specialities and Japanese cuisine week at affordable prices: Foša, Kornat, Dva ribara, Kaštel, Pjat bistro, Hotel Niko, Fragola, Papica burger, Sabunjar, Pet bunara, Šime, Skoblar tavern, Roko, Zadar Airport, Hotel Mediteran. And the final event of the festival will be the gala dinner, at the Zadar Arsenal, a former large port warehouse recently converted into multipurpose 1800 square meter “indoor town square”, a wonderful location for such events.
Of course you’re wondering by now, what is the wine component of this event? A new gastro-oeno brand, ToroCro Maguro & WineCro will be promoted, as a combination of two brands already known in Japan, Zadar tuna and the wines from the Kraljevski vinogradi vineyards, located less than 10 km from the centre of Zadar. This new brand will emphasize both tuna and the wine as the indigenous products of Zadar and Dalmatia (Kraljevski vinogradi grow pošip, crljenak and plavac mali, all indigenous varieties to Dalmatia), and show the value of synergy of those two products. And of course, the meals prepared by the Japanese chefs will be paired with various wines at the dinner, showing various possibilities for creative pairings of excellent tuna and wine.
