Zadar's current taste of Italy will move from the waterfront to the market on Monday.
We're usually all about promoting (okay, maybe being a bit pushy, even) Croatia's rich and deeply varied cuisine, from the rugged Dalmatian coast to the flat fields of Slavonia. I don't profess to know a great deal about food, and I'm far from an expert on it, but Croatia boasts such a varied regional cuisine that it would be insane to miss out on it, just as the late, great Anthony Bourdain once said as he sang the country's praises during a visit several years ago.
With that being said, Italy doesn't do too badly either when it comes to tickling the tastebuds, and Zadar is the place to be at the minute if you want to experience some regional Italian cuisine.
As eZadar writes on the 9th of June, 2018, exhibiting all things Italian from region to region, the small yet wildly popular market project entitled ItaliaFest is bringing Zadar's residents and visitors a variety of rich Italian gastronomic products and specialties. The stalls will remain on Zadar's waterfront until the end of the day, and from June the 11th to June the 17th, they'll be moved to continue at the city market.
On aesthetically pleasing and well decorated stands, the exhibitors are winning over Zadar's residents by representing their respective regions of the boot shaped country just across the Adriatic by offering typical local food products and dishes. They include the following:
Tuscany: Cured meat products (pork and beef varieties) as well as wild boar meat; dried ham, cow and goat cheese, and sheep's milk.
Umbria: Cured meats, both fresh and dry cheeses.
Basilicata: Cured meat products, cheeses and bread.
Puglia: Cured meats, cheeses, sauces, vegetables preserved in oil and vinegar.
Calabria: Cured meat products, cheeses, noodles (spicy pate in sausages, spreadable), sauces, vegetables preserved in oil and vinegar, and bread.
Campania: Cured meats, cheeses, pasta and bread.
Sicily: Almond cakes, canola, marzipan, nougat, various dried fruits, arancini (stuffed rice balls in bread crumbs, not the Dubrovnik orange sweets!) pizzas, and hand-made grissini.
Sicily: Olives, sun-dried tomatoes, various pickled vegetables (onions, garlic, peppers etc) and much more.
