ZAGREB, November 18, 2019 - "Croatian Desserts: 50 Authentic Recipes to Make at Home", the first English-language cookbook of Croatian sweets by Andrea Pisac, was launched at the Bulldog gastro pub in Zagreb earlier this week.

The 224-page lavishly designed book includes 515 photographs and easy-to-make recipes for 50 traditional cakes from all regions of Croatia and the Adriatic islands. It features recipes for both well-known cakes, such as walnut and poppy-seed rolls, and lesser known ones, such as Kaiserschmarrn.

The author said she selected the most representative cakes, bearing in mind that many readers do not live in Croatia and all ingredients are not always available to them. She said the recipes are easy to follow both by those who weigh the ingredients on scales and those who measure them with cups or spoons.

The book was initially published as an e-book, and this year Pisac started her own publishing house and issued the print version. The cookbook is the result of years of her research of traditional and self-sustainable cooking and her culinary passion.

Pisac said that her cookbook is yet another authentic Croatian souvenir, noting that one of the ways of getting to know a country and its culture is through its gastronomy.

Pisac is a doctor of anthropology, writer and travel blogger. She is the recipient of a City of Zagreb award for her contribution to the promotion of Croatian culture.

More cooking news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

The flavours and scents of the Mediterranean will dominate Hvar from 22 to 25 May 2019. World-famous international and Croatian chefs will gather at a unique international festival celebrating Mediterranean food, which has been included in the UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. Hvar, one of the most beautiful Adriatic islands, the island of living heritage whose cultural treasures are also part of the UNESCO list, will become the gourmet centre of the Mediterranean, reports Jutarnji List on April 17, 2019.

While the Hvar’s Pjaca will host a Mediterranean marketplace with all the traditional products, such as olive oils, cheeses, jams and various desserts, the best restaurants will offer Mediterranean/Dalmatian dishes prepared by local and foreign chefs. The top chefs from Spain, Italy, France, Slovenia, Albania and Croatia will present their specialities and show what is common to Mediterranean cuisines and what makes each one of them unique.

The special guest of the festival is Bee Satongun, the best female chef in Asia in 2018, as selected by the elite list of 50 Best Restaurants. Bee Satongun, the chef of the Paste restaurant in Bangkok with one Michelin star, has devoted her culinary career to the renewal of traditional Thai cuisine.

She shares this approach to gastronomy with chef Hrvoje Zirojević, one of the best Croatian chefs, holding the title of the 2019 Chef of the Year according to Gault&Millau Croatia. Together they will prepare an exclusive dinner at the Laganini restaurant on Palmižana.

The Taste the Mediterranean masterclass workshop will be held by Fabricio Vežnaver, the 2019 Big Chef of Tomorrow, Vesna Miletić, the 2019 Traditional Cuisine Chef, and Biljana Milina, the 2019 Chef Confectioner, as well as other recipients of Gault&Millau Croatia titles.

The participants will have the opportunity to learn from Spanish chef Vicente Patin, one of the best chefs in Valencia from the Saiti restaurant, which has the BIB Michelin label, and from the Italian chef Marcello Trentini from the Magorabin restaurant in Turin with one Michelin star. Igor Jagodič, the 2019 Chef of the Year according to Gault&Millau Slovenia will also take part, as well as chef Sokol Prenga, the ambassador of the "new" Albanian gastronomy, and local Croatian representatives: chefs Sandra and Dane Tahirović from Split, Nataša Vukmirović, Tonči Jerković and Igor pl. Živanović from Hvar.

A long-time friend of the festival, chef Lionel Levy, the owner of three Gault&Millau toques and one Michelin star, will present Provence as the region at the heart of the world's largest French gastronomy project, the Good France event. He will be joined by Japanese-French chef Ippei Uemura, the 2017 Young Talent as selected by Gault&Millau France, who will demonstrate the Japanese fish cutting and processing techniques.

The programme will also include tastings of the best wines from Spain, Italy and, of course, Croatia. The Masciarelli wine tasting workshop will be held by Mira Šemić, a renowned sommelier and director of Gault&Millau Slovenia, while Siniša Koceić and Alen Gulen, the wine culture promoters from Winebox from Split, will present Spanish wines.

This year's Taste the Mediterranean festival will also present the Mediterranean through the aspect of its cultural landscape. The rebuilt Arsenal will host a series of lectures on sustainability and ecology and the preservation of the UNESCO-protected intangible cultural heritage of islands, nutrition and the Mediterranean lifestyle, ecological agriculture, the fishing traditions, dry stone walls, and decorations of Mediterranean interiors.

The Taste the Mediterranean festival is a unique opportunity to get to know global culinary stars at one location and get the latest on the original Mediterranean diet and lifestyle. The detailed programme of the Taste the Mediterranean festival can be found on the internet. Make sure you book dinners, lectures, wine tastings and workshops in time.

Translated from Jutarnji List.

More Hvar news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, February 19, 2019 - Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli on Tuesday underlined the importance of gastronomy and excellence in gastronomy professions in enhancing the quality of Croatian tourism.

Speaking at Open Day of Aspira college in Zagreb, Cappelli said that today it was perhaps even more honourable to be a chef because gastronomy increasingly motivated people to travel. He said Aspira and its gastronomy study programme in Zagreb and Split as well as the 100 students who enrol in it every year confirmed the validity of such studies.

Cappelli recalled that the Tourism Ministry had awarded 370 scholarships this year in cooperation with more than 20 tourism companies and chambers, saying jobs in tourism were increasingly in demand in Croatia and abroad.

The minister said he hoped more schools, both private and public, would offer gastronomy programmes in the future, especially in about two years when competency centres, teaching tourism and gastronomy, among other things, with more practical work, became operational.

The Aspira college operates in Split and in Zagreb, where a gastronomy study programme was introduced two years ago. The college also teaches tourism and other programmes. About 450 students enrol at the two schools every year, including 100 to study gastronomy.

The annual tuition fee at Aspira is 30,000 kuna for the tourism study programme and 40,000 kuna for the three-year gastronomy programme.

More news on the Croatian tourism can be found in the Travel section.

At the Kotanyi Gourmet Club in Zagreb, the co-operation between Kotányi and the world's leading guide Gault & Millau Croatia was announced. Chef Vjeko Bašić, the 2018 Chef of the Year of Gault & Millau Croatia, prepared a special four-course menu for the occasion: bonito confit with pickled shallots, Pag curd gnudi with nutmeg and sage, mullet with tomato salsa and aromatised polenta, and osso buco and risotto Milanese.

The Kotányi company has launched a new line of Kotányi Selection spices, which represent an exclusive selection of the most exquisite flavours and are a result of many years of passionate pursuit of the best spices.

The announcement of cooperation between the two global brands, Gault & Millau and Kotányi, was supported by a young team from the Aspire University College with which Kotányi has launched a co-operation. Kotányi will provide spices for Aspire students’ classrooms, while students will take part in professional workshops in order to specialise and raise their knowledge to a higher level.

This was also an announcement of the gala event that will be held in March at Hotel Esplanade Zagreb, where the second edition of the Gault & Millau Croatia gastronomic guide will be launched, accompanied by the presentation of culinary Oscars for 2019.

More cooking news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

On March 5, the Esplanade Hotel in Zagreb will host a major culinary spectacle. The chef of the best hotel in the city, Ana Grgić from the Esplanade Hotel, and Igor Jagodić from the Strelec restaurant in Ljubljana, both award-winning Gault&Millau chefs from Croatia and Slovenia, will prepare a gala dinner for 150 chefs from restaurants who have been selected by the prestigious gastronomic guide. The event will also mark the announcement of the best Croatian chefs for 2019.

Gault&Millau, one of the two most prestigious gastronomic guides in the world and the only one which has a special edition for Croatia, presents annual trophies to chefs who have distinguished themselves with their cooking and culinary philosophy. These are not necessarily chefs of the most elite restaurants but chefs who are creative, who do not follow gastronomic trends, who are innovative but respect the tradition of their regions, who know modern culinary techniques but cook with a great deal of emotion and "have a feel" for ingredients.

This is the vision of the Gault&Millau guide which has always been trying to discover new talents and has been advocating for unconventional cuisine for over fifty years. It was the duo Gault&Millau who in 1972 invented the concept of nouvelle cuisine and launched a revolution in the French gastronomy.

This year's Croatian winners of the Gault&Millau trophy will be declared at a gala event organised on the occasion of the release of the guide’s second edition. The long-awaited night of culinary Oscars, which was the largest gathering of Croatian chefs last year, will be held at the hotel’s Emerald Hall.

"How many did we get?" is the most common question asked by restaurants for which the Gault&Millau chef caps represent a confirmation of their quality and a strong incentive to be even better. The 2019 Croatian edition of Gault&Millau will evaluate 150 restaurants and 70 POP venues, and present 111 wines and 25 leading hotels from all over Croatia. The guide is bilingual (in Croatian and English) and is intended for both the local fans of good food and fine wines and for foreign tourists who are increasingly looking for destinations which offer wine & gourmet experience, and Gault&Millau offers them honest reviews of restaurants of all price categories and for different occasions.

“The luxury is in quality, not in price,” is the motto of Gault&Millau, which has gained credibility and international prestige thanks to its independent, competent and anonymous inspectors, who assess restaurants for quality according to strictly defined international standards. Apart from the printed guide, all restaurants will be presented on G&M's website (2,000,000 global users and 6,000,000 views) and the free G&M app (500,000 global users).

Recently, Gault&Millau has gotten new owners. Jacques Bally, formerly the director of the Ducasse advisory division, has replaced former President Côme de Chérisey at the head of the company. He and his investors, led by Vladislav Skvortsov, took over the respected French company with the intent of strengthening its international network. "I will remain faithful to the original values and principles established by the founders of Gault&Millau, popularising the nouvelle cuisine. We are preparing major projects in France and abroad," said Bally.

More culinary news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

January 24, 2019 - The VBZ publishing house has presented the most recent culinary book by the gourmet chef, writer, poet and historian, Veljko Barbieri.

Barbieri wrote his first articles a long time ago, in the legendary Polet magazine in Zagreb, and has written numerous novels, travel books, short stories since. As an author and gastro-writer, Barbieri has worked with many Croatian, Italian, German and Slovenian weeklies and magazines since the 1980s and his columns have been turned into numerous books and cooks that have seen significant success and received prestigious national and international prizes, with those from Gourmand indeed being some of the most prominent ones. Also notable are the award at the Barcelona Book Fair for the Best Food Literature (2003) and the Best Book on Mediterranean Gastronomy won in Sweden (2005). He is also a prominent TV presenter, a winner of literary awards, a journalist and even an actor. But, most of all, Barbieri is a witty, smart, joyful hedonist who in this book – as in his first cookbook of a similar format published 16 years ago – acts as a photographer as well.

For Barbieri, Veliki Kuharski Kanconijer (The Great Cooking Canzoniere) represents a kind of a crowning achievement in the field of food writing, in which he, in his trademark way, examines and promotes gastronomy through highly enjoyable articles written at a high literary level. Barbieri leads his readers and admirers of authentic dishes on a journey through stories from the culinary world, accompanied by numerous recipes.

In the book, you will meet a Mayan princess and the creator of the world together with a recipe for the Aztecs chicken, Mediterranean sand smelts from small nets, evil wizards and beet with the Russian borscht or Russian beet salad; you will taste Renaissance pastries and a modest but savoury radish, carrot and pumpkin stew. There are also potatoes from the “dark soil”, oxtail totems, the chickpea from the Cicero brothers. Also, a medieval steak and a divine rescuer – radish from old stories, glazed lamb in champagne and an egg – for the end.

The book includes the original author's photographs, as well as examples of artwork and illustrations in which gastronomy takes centre stage because the author experiences gastronomy through art and history.

We can be sure that Veliki Kuharski Kanconijer has all the prerequisites to become another of Barbieri's bestsellers, which will find its way to the shelves of many kitchens and homes, where it will undoubtedly have a special place.

It seems that Gypsy Table, a unique concept of top-quality dinners whose location is hidden until the final moment, has really conquered Croatia. The author of the idea is Richard Gruica, the ultimate gastronomic maestro and a visionary who has dedicated his latest edition of Gypsy pop-up dinners to women.

Inspired by his mother, the gastro-director this time brought together a strong female "cast" of chefs, artists, winemakers and other entrepreneurs in the world of food, wine, beauty and fine spirits.

At the very beginning of the year, on Friday, January 4th, Gypsy Table saw its third Zagreb edition, which again delighted the guests. After having fun the last time at "Katran", with acrobats, fire-breathers and fortune tellers, this time the location was the Avant Garden restaurant, which offered chic industrial experience to the guests.

As usual, the dinner started with welcome drinks, the Kraljica sparkling wine by winemaker Ivana Puhelek and cocktails mixed by Lori Brnčić and Gordana Muktić, inspired by the Santa Clara liqueurs, the Gin Mare and the 1724 tonic. The MC (mistress of the ceremony) was our well-known jazz singer Ines Tričković, who greeted the guests with a beautiful a cappella performance of La Vie En Rose.

The first course was a snack made with lard of black Slavonian pig, salad and sourdough bread, and chef Petra Plantak paired this dish with the 2017 Wild Skins wine, produced by the well-known winemaker and the Master of Wine, Jo Ahearne, who personally presented her wine. The second course consisted of black pudding with coleslaw black radish salad, red cabbage and a sauce made of cumin and a jam of purple onions, pomegranates, red wine and carob breadcrumbs, paired with 2013 Zinfandel by the Bura-Mrgudić winery. Antonija and Marija Mrgudić presented the wines.

The third course, tuna goulash with polenta by Ružica Jukučić, was paired with the 2014 Ahearne South Side Plavac Mali, while the fourth course was named “Crispy and Fragrantly" and consisted of lamb confit in olive oil, the Luganina sausage, barley, pumpkin cream and chickpea puree. The delicious meal was accompanied by the Bura-Mrgudić 2016 Plavac Mali Sivi, a Plavac Mali "mutant" macerated for four days and made by just three wineries in Croatia.

Throughout the evening, famous illustrator Maya Beus, whose background is with the international fashion houses, was making portraits of guests – each costing about 200 kuna. The income went to charity, more precisely to the Autonomous Women's House Zagreb (AWHZ), a feminist organization with the mission of providing support and assistance to women who have survived violence and of empowering women's position in the society.

The end of the evening was marked by the creation of famous Croatian pastrycook Petra Jelenić, the Great Dame Pumpkin. Antonija Nikolić paired it with the Spanish 75 cocktail, designed by the owner of "50 A Burger and Champagne Bar" Adena Lavin. The dinner was also supported by Ivana Urem Marohnić (the famous Korica bakery in Zagreb), Bosiljka Belić (excellent extra-virgin olive oil Oleum Viride), Sanda Martinčević (+ Gligora cheeses), Ana Teskera and Maja Šepetavec (Brlog craft brewery) and Irena Bastijanić (Poeticacao) whose sweet delicacies were given as presents at the end of the dinner.

All ladies were wearing clothes designed by Iva Karačić. 

MaliParty was the event space designer, while cocktails were also supported by Althaus and Hug & Punch Coffee Co, both female owned companies.

More news on the culinary events in Croatia can be found in our Lifestyle section.

The enchanting holiday atmosphere of the Zagreb Esplanade Hotel, with lots of charm and great pastries prepared by chef Ana Grgić and the Esplanade pastry shop according to the original recipes by Vilma Vukelić, hosted the official launch event for a book by Maroje Mihovilović, “My Grandma Vilma’s Pastries”. The book's subtitle, “The Sweet Taste of Austro-Hungary”, introduces us to the sweet history of the Central European table culture and the spirit of the times.

The book was presented at the renowned Zagreb Esplanade Hotel, in a beautiful holiday atmosphere. It is a cookbook, but also a book about history, the table culture, the author's family, and the forgotten habit of enjoying tea parties and pastries. The event was held in the afternoon and brought together many people from the world of media and gastronomy.

Berislava Picek 

It all began when a prominent journalist and writer Maroje Mihovilović found a forgotten and almost a hundred-year-old notebook from his grandmother Vilma, in which she wrote down her pastry recipes. Thanks to the book editor, journalist and writer Željko Žutelija, the notebook has been turned into a book about pastries, but also about the spirit of the times when our grandmothers and great-grandmothers lived, in collaboration with the pastry shop of the Esplanade Hotel headed by top chef Ana Grgić.

The story about grandma Vilma is an interesting one. Although she was a writer, she used to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and the grandchildren loved her because she taught them about everything, telling them stories and – most importantly for the children– preparing pastries and cakes, such as tasty sweet pies, strudels, floating islands and isler cakes. The damaged and partially unreadable recipe notebook was shown by the book editor and Esplanade’s long-time friend Željko Žutelija to Ana Grgić, who decided to accept the challenge and try to “reconstruct” the recipes and recreate grandma Vilma’s pastries.

Esplanade

“These pages hide a treasure – both of words and of tastes and smells, as well as beautiful photos by Berislava Picek,” said at the beginning of the event Sanda Sokol, Esplanade’s marketing manager and public relations director. “Thanks to Maroje Mihovilović and the Profil publishing house, on the initiative of Željko Žutelija, who firmly believed that only the Esplanade pastry team headed by chef Ana Grgić can prepare grandma Vilma's pastries, we have recreated the spirit of a peculiar time period, civic culture and culinary and pastry traditions which we as a hotel belong to. All this is evidenced by the impressive history of the Esplanade Hotel,” Sokol explained.

“My Grandma Vilma’s Pastries”, a glorious time-machine composed of words, photos and authentic tastes of delicious desserts, was also discussed by the author Maroje Mihovilović, chef Ana Grgić and editor of the Profil’s edition Željko Žutelija.

Esplanade 

“Vilma Vukelić, nee Miskolczy, was a writer, translator, intellectual, wife and mother of four children, a strict housewife and an excellent cook. She wrote eight novels, memoirs and many poems, and she also left behind a notebook. As soon as I found it, I realized that it was a culinary and cultural treasure from the time when, in the late 19th century, she used to prepare Central-European-style pastries at the Miskolczy family kitchen in Osijek. I am happy that the recipes from this notebook have been presented in the book and revived by the top Croatian pastry shop of this hotel,” said Maroje Mihovilović.

About the Author

Maroje Mihovilović was born in 1945 in Zagreb. He graduated in history and English language studies from the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. He began his career as a journalist in 1968 as an associate at Studentski List. Starting from 1974, he worked for Večernji List, and from 1975 to 1991 he was a permanent associate and editor of the Start magazine. From 1989 to 2005, he was a regular foreign policy commentator of the Ljubljana daily newspaper Dnevnik, while from 1993 to 2007 he was a correspondent for the British BBC radio from Zagreb. He was one of the founders of the Nacional weekly in 1995, where he was an editor until 2011, and in 2007 he was one of the founders of the College of Journalism. Since 2012, he has been an editor at the Profil publishing house where the edited some fifty books. He is the author of books “Horrible Polygon – Indochina” (1987), “Professional Journalist” (2007), and “We the Children of Solferino” (2017), in which he explored and described the dramatic history of his family in two centuries and on four continents.

Esplanade

About Chef Ana Grgić

This young, but experienced chef has been working at the Esplanade Hotel for 20 years. She has been the chef de cuisine of Zinfandel, one of the best restaurants in Croatia, the charming French-style Le Bistro, and the Esplanade Catering for almost seven years. Ana continues the tradition of the Esplanade’s cuisine, following the best global trends in high gastronomy. Her innovative, creative and imaginative menus have fascinated numerous guests and celebrities from Croatia and abroad in recent years, as well as members of various royal families, such as the King and Queen of Sweden, the Japanese Prince and Princess, the Prince of Saudi Arabia, the royal couple from Denmark, and many others who have not remained indifferent to Ana’s ingenuity in preparing meals.

Ana has received a series of recognitions and awards for the personality, excellence and style of her cuisine. Several prestigious publications have nominated her for the title of the woman of the year and the person of the year. In 2013 and 2016, her risotto was named by the famous Guida Gallo guide as one of the 101 best risottos of the world. Ana's style of cooking and her personality have brought her the opportunity to take part in the popular TV show “Celebrity MasterChef” as a member of the jury.

In addition, Ana is proud to be an ambassador for the Fish Forward project in Croatia, which is part of the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) initiative, to be an example and raise the awareness of consumers about the global ecological and social consequences of fishery product consumption.

Ana has been named as the Great Chef of Tomorrow by the Gault & Millaut Guide, with a special emphasis on respecting the seasonality and quality of ingredients and on the consistency and carefulness in crafting her dishes.

In 2018, Ana won the Chef Rotisseur title by the prestigious international culinary society Chaîne des Rotisseurs, whose aim is to connect enthusiasts and professionals from the culinary world.

The Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) and Great British Chefs (GBC), the leading culinary organization gathering over 200 of the UK's top chefs, organized an interactive event in London to promote the potential of Croatian cuisine and wine and dine scene as an important part of the Croatian tourist offer. The event featured some of the British Michelin-starred chefs, reports Večernji List on November 21, 2018.

“This is a continuation of excellent cooperation with Great British Chefs, which aims to promote the Croatian gastronomy on the large and important British market. It is also an opportunity for British colleagues to see for themselves the knowledge and skills of Croatian chefs, but also the quality of our local ingredients and top quality wines. The fact that Croatia has a great potential and a good image in this market was confirmed by the response of many leading media outlets who covered the event, including Mail on Sunday, Sunday Times, Independent, Financial Times, Telegraph, The Guardian, BBC and ITV,” said HTZ director Kristjan Staničić, adding that this year there has been more than 852,000 arrivals and 4.4 million overnight stays from the British market so far, which is 8% more than the last year.

The event, featuring the cuisine of central Dalmatia, was held at the well-known London restaurant "Radici". As part of the programme, one of the best Croatian chefs, Rudolf Štefan, the owner of the Michelin-starred "Pelegrini" restaurant in Šibenik, was introduced to the British media.

“This event is a great opportunity to demonstrate what we have learned in collaboration with GBC and the fantastic chefs. I am glad that the HTZ has decided to support this project which further proves that Croatia is not just a country known for its cultural and natural beauties, but also a country of excellent food and great hosts,” explained Štefan.

The programme also featured stars of the British culinary scene, Francesco Mazzei and Tom Aikens, who recently stayed in Croatia where they were introduced to the local gastronomy traditions. The British duo prepared dishes inspired by the culinary journey during which they discovered authentic Dalmatian culinary traditions of Split, Šolta and Šibenik.

“I am delighted to be able to take part in this event to present our knowledge and experience of the Croatian gastronomy, for now in London, and soon in the whole world,” said Mazzei, while Aikens praised the work of Croatian chef Štefan. “A lot of countries have a passion for gastronomy, but the way Rudi represents Croatian cuisine is unique,” concluded Aikens.

The comments by the British guests showed that the event was a success. Chris Leadbeater of Daily Telegraph emphasized that Croatia was already recognized worldwide by its excellent restaurants and chefs, but that Rudi's approach to food was an invitation for further exploration of Croatian gastronomy. Natalie Bloxham of ITV said that during the event she had gained insight into another part of the Croatian story and that she would soon visit our country.

Positive impressions have also been confirmed by Ollie Lloyd of Great British Chefs. “We have succeeded in achieving what we wanted to do with this event, which is to have two top British chefs use Croatian ingredients and thus show what they have learned about Croatian gastronomy. All this would not have been possible without good cooperation with one of the best Croatian chefs,” said Lloyd, adding that Francesco Mazzei is a significant player in the London restaurant industry and also a TV star with frequent appearances on BBC and ITV television shows. Tom Aikens is the youngest chef with two Michelin stars and the owner of a restaurant empire that spans several continents.

For more on Croatian cuisine, click here.

The Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), in cooperation with the Croatian Chamber of Crafts and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, will organise the Croatia 365 Gourmet educational workshop which will be held on November 20 at the Hotel Turist in Varaždin. The workshop will present the latest trends in the food and wine segment as well as in marketing. Some of the participants are Michelin-starred chefs, reports Večernji List on November 19, 2018.

“I am very excited about the fact that Varaždin will be among the host towns of these workshops. Promotion of tourism in the continental part of Croatia is one of the main goals of the Croatian National Tourist Board, and this workshop is just one of many activities that we are carrying out in order to improve the quality in important segments such as food and wine tourism. This is also a great opportunity for all tourist workers and gourmets to get to know the tips and trick from some of the world’s top chefs,” said HTZ director Kristjan Staničić, adding that similar workshops had been successfully held in towns such as Zagreb, Opatija, Vukovar and others.

As part of the workshop, the participants will have an opportunity to attend a lecture on “Seafood, algae and their pairing”, held by chef Giuseppe Mancino, who holds two Michelin stars for the Il Picollo Principe restaurant in Viareggio. Mancini's lecture will include show cooking based on seafood and algae. “My cuisine is a blend of creativity and the classical approach. We try to rework typical dishes without changing traditional flavours,” Mancino said.

The lecture on “La Capinera as a treasure of the Sicilian cuisine rebuilt with intelligent and innovative creativity” will be given by chef Pietro D'Agostino, the holder of one Michelin star from the La Capinera restaurant in Taormina. His lecture will include a theoretical part about restaurant operations, as well as a practical part.

A lecture on “The impressive dessert for beautiful memories” will be given by Bruno Pastorelli, the pastry chef at Assiette Champenoise in Reims. His lecture will also include the preparation of some of his signature recipes. Chef Bruno is a real pastry genius and is the founder of the famous ELDA pastry school in Spain.

Maurizio Dante Filippi will present the lecture “Sommellerie: a passage through the senses for the pleasure of guests”, which will focus on the effective communication of wine history, as well as on the ways how to present the tastes of Croatian wines to guests who are unfamiliar with the wine varieties and regions of Croatia.

The programme will include a lecture on marketing by Gabriel Vasquez. Vasquez will discuss the possibilities for branding a specific area or destination through food. “Local and regional food provide additional value to the destination and thus contribute to the competitiveness of the geographic area,” said Vasquez.

The same workshop is taking place today at the Kompas hotel in Dubrovnik. It has brought together more than 80 participants.

For more on Croatia’s cuisine, click here.