October 9, 2021 - To promote Split and Dalmatia as a leading Mediterranean food, wine, and travel destination, the Taste the Mediterranean Festival headed over to Radmanove Mlinice, Arsana Tasting House, and Cetina river canyon for an authentic experience of Croatian Mediterranean identity and traditional Dalmatian gastronomy.

The TTM Festival is finishing strong. For the last day of the 4-day festival, the participants departed from Briig Boutique Hotel in Split at 9:30 am and arrived safely in Omiš and were received by Arsana Tasting House. There, they were greeted with traditional food and wine including soparnik, prosciutto, and Dalmatian wines Pribidrag from Vinarija Mimica and Debit from Vinarija Ante Sladić. 

Naturally, visiting Omiš would not be complete without exploring the Cetina river. The gloomy weather did not stop the guests from having a wonderful time in one of the most beautiful attractions in Dalmatia - the beautiful canyon of the Cetina river. "Even the rain couldn't spoil the spirit of our chefs", said one of the event coordinators.

To fully experience the rich history of Dalmatian cuisine, TTM headed over to the famous restaurant Radmanove Mlinice where they were treated with traditional Croatian food from appetizer to dessert. The menu consisted of fritule (Dalmatian fritters), fried frog legs with tartar sauce, salted and marinated anchovies, olives, and white-wine braised octopus with olive oil, garlic, and parsley. Since a traditional Dalmatian meal would not be complete without serving peka, the restaurant served veal "peka" (under the lid) with potatoes and salad as this afternoon's special main course. Radmanove Mlinice also showed the invited guests and chefs how traditional homemade bread is prepared using peka. 

Since two of the main goals of the TTM festival are the exchange of experiences with other Mediterranean countries and education for students and professionals in the hospitality and restaurant industry, chef Ippei Uemura of Tabi Restaurant, Marseille, who won the Young Talent of the Year Gault & Millau France also conducted a masterclass for the students of Jure Kaštelan High School in Omiš.

After a fun day outside of Split, the TTM Festival team returned back to Split to prepare for the last part of the programme which includes exclusive dinners in restaurants Zrno Soli which will be hosted by chef Stjepan Vukadin and Zora Bila which will be hosted by Chefs Sandra and Dane Tahirović. The exclusive dinner specials of TTM Festival were proven to be a hit and were enjoyed by all attendees. 

Also as part of the Taste the Mediterranean festival, the Split Restaurant Nights runs until tonight. This event offers tourists and locals special 3-course Mediterranean-Dalmatian menus including wine which is offered at promotional prices in 15 participating restaurants. The restaurants include Restaurants Atlantida, Bajamonti, Brasserie on 7, Bokeria, Corto Maltese, Dujkin dvor, Fantažija, Konoba Fetivi, Konoba Marul, Laganini, Mazzgoon, Pandora Greenbox, Portofino, Sidi bar and Šug.

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October 8, 2021 - What better way to start the day than with a taste of handmade chocolates?  Thankfully, the Taste the Mediterranean Food Festival brings one of the best chocolatiers of France - Maitre artisan chocolatier Claude Krajner to Split. A look into his masterclass with 15 aspiring culinary students from Aspira University College.

The day was sweeter than usual in the building of Aspira University College where the brilliant creator of Le temps d'un chocolat in Marseilles, France, chocolatier Claude Krajner, conducted a special cooking workshop with students from Aspira University College. The class was eagerly attended by at least 15 culinary students and was organised by TTM Festival in cooperation with Aspira. Since Claude is French with Croatian descent, the workshop was held in French and Croatian. 

Photography by: Princess Prkić

Claude Krajner received the title Maitre Artisan Chocolatier in 2015 and is recognisably one of the best chocolatiers in France. He is also a member of the prestigious Academie Nationale de Cuisine and Disciples Escoffier International. His passion for artisan chocolates began at an early age so he naturally pursued the culinary world and built his experience from working in the best restaurants in Paris and later on proceeded to the Canary Islands where he worked at Les Moulins de Paris in Lanzarote as a pastry chef. Chef Claude is also a permanent lecturer at Villa des Chefs, a highly-regarded culinary school in Aix en Provence where short courses and masterclasses are regularly offered by famous chefs and confectioners. The famous chocolatier also creates personalised chocolate products for big companies including Swarovsky, Palais des Thes, and Kartell. Since 2010, Claude Krajner has served as Vice-president of Chocolatiers et Biscuitiers de France - French masters in the art of chocolate and dry cookie making. 

Photography by: Princess Prkić

The masterclass was not just a theoretical lecture, but the culinary students of Aspira were also hands-on in assisting the guest chef. At 4 PM today, Tonči Drije, the head of gastronomy and practical workshops at Aspira University College will also take part in "Learn and Make Your Dreams Come True", a panel event by TTM Festival, in Briig Boutique Hotel. This event was organised by Mediterranean Women Chefs, an international group dedicated to improving the role of women in gastronomy. Other panelists include pastry chef Tea Mamut of Patisserie O'š Kolač, Split, chef Deni Srdoč of restaurant Nebo Hilton, head of Raise the Bar Academy Kruno Rozič, and chef Nikolina Putica.

Photography by: Princess Prkić

As part of the Taste the Mediterranean festival, French chocolatier Claude Krajner will also be a guest chef in an exclusive dinner hosted by chef Stjepan Vukadin of restaurant Zrno Soli which boasts a Michelin plate and 3 Gault & Millau toques. Other guest chefs include Chef Anastasios Paraskevaidis of restaurant Hotel Mount Athos in Ierissos, Greece, and Chef Jure Tomič of restaurant Debeluh in Brežice, Slovenia. 

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A real novelty on the Croatian gastronomy scene, R'n'B Weekend Festival is taking place this weekend, May 23rd until 26th in Zagreb, at a fantastic location of the HAZU Glyptotheque (Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences Glyptotheque), located at the address Medvedgraska 2 - in the heart of Zagreb Upper Town. Organised by the same people who have been in charge of the most prominent Croatian media festival, the Weekend Media Festival in Rovinj, Restaurants and Bars Weekend Festival have decided to organise a food and drinks festival in Zagreb which aims to be the best in every aspect. And to make the best festival in a tourist country, you need to have a team of the best people around helping with the organisation: Marin Nekić, one of the best bartenders and mixologists in the country, Mate Janković, a well-known Croatian chef, Matija Belković and Matija Hrkać from Cogito Caffe and Hrvoje Petrić, food writer and consultant will each help make the festival as good as it can be. 

The schedule of the festival has been published on their website, so you can see for yourself that there will be numerous various events organised at the location, bringing forth many aspects that go into having a thriving restaurant and bar scene in a country. More than 20 panel-discussions with best Croatian chefs, bartenders, coffee masters and winemakers will be held each day of the festival. What is the new gin? What were the last 20 years like for some of the best Croatian winemakers? Is there such a thing as Croatian street-food? Can music make you stay in a restaurant longer and spend more money? Those are just a few questions that will get answered during the festival in Glyptotheque, and in the Kaptol Boutique Cinema theatre (which are really close to one another), where some of the discussions will be held. 

The festival will also hold one of the biggest celebrations of Croatian restaurants, as Michelin stars and recommendation ceremony will be held as a part of the R'n'B Weekend Festival. There will be several masterclasses as well, where you will get to taste the combinations of chocolate and various drinks, learn new techniques, taste wines by Agris, Fakin, Feravino, Griffin, Kopjar, Meneghetti, Petrač, Roxanich, Vino Bora and others. Some of the chefs at the Festival will be Robert Hromalić, Tea Mamut, Tvrtko Šakota, Goran Kočiš, Pag's Boškinac crew, Tedi Chiavalon and many others.

Within the R'n'B Weekend Festival, a special event for those who enjoy coffee is also organised, called Zagreb Coffee Weekend, where some of the biggest names in Croatia and the world will make the best speciality coffees. One name stands out: Scott Rao is one of the world's leading coffee experts, who will hold a masterclass in roasting coffee in Zagreb! 

On Thursday the festival will open with an opening party where Marin Nekić will make impressive welcome cocktails, and Brewery Lane, a section of the festival dedicated to craft breweries will also open. Food-wise, on Friday you will mostly be able to have sea-food dishes, on Saturday meat will be in the spotlight, and on Sunday you can have a Hangover brunch with a lot of "comfort food" to help you recover after all the parties taking place on Saturday evening. And who is in charge of all that partying: numerous DJs, local bands and a performance by Horse Meat Disco, which will take place in the Garden Brewery. They will finally show the audience in Zagreb why their performances in Tisno during the summer have become so popular, showing us all there is to know about the disco music.

You can get the tickets for all of those (and many more!) events of this festival at Entrio system - daily entrance is 75 kn, all three days of the festival cost 150 kn, and you need to purchase additional entry tickets for certain masterclasses. 

The Istrian gem gets deserved praise for three beloved manifestations

Quick – name the first gourmet items that come to mind when Istria is mentioned! What did you come up with? Wine? Olive oil? Truffles?

In Pula this weekend? Consider yourself lucky.

Listen up, food lovers: the quaint old mill in Solin town is about to house a mouthwatering manifestation on Saturday, September 2!

The festival aims to preserve traditional cuisine and promote local food producers

Vibrant, coastal Poreč is holding two, well-paired events this weekend; an Arts event, ‘Mosaic City’ celebrating the valuable mosaic sculpture of the Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basilica, inscribed on the UNESCO's World Heritage List; and an entertaining ‘Wine Nights’ event, bringing together an array of winemakers, local delicacies, renowned Istrian wines and musical performances.