Tales of East European Travel, Culture & Food (… With Occasional Diversions to Africa & Beyond)
From 7th to 17th March, Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, will celebrate its annual Restaurant Week festival. The event enables visitors to the city and locals alike to dine at some of the finest restaurants in the capital for a fraction of the usual cost (100 Kuna for a three-course lunch or dinner). The festival was founded by photographer Ozren Drobnjak.
From 7th to 17th March, Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, will celebrate its annual Restaurant Week festival. The event enables visitors to the city and locals alike to dine at some of the finest restaurants in the capital for a fraction of the usual cost (100 Kuna for a three-course lunch or dinner), as well as providing special brunch and cocktail offers. The festival was founded by photographer Ozren Drobnjak.
Check out the participating restaurants at the Zagreb Restaurant Week’s official site.
This November (2013) a fabulous new store opened in Zagreb, offering everything from stylish accessories, children’s toys, kitchenwares and home interiors, all produced by Croatian designers.
The shop, Take Me Home, is situated in the city’s Upper Town and is the perfect place to pick up a momento or gift, as well as supporting local innovators and creators. Plus, the shop’s curators favour products made from recycled materials, so you can keep your eco footprint down.
Tomićeva 4 Zagreb / Tel: +385 1 79 87 632
For more information visit www.takemehome.hr
Zagreb is one of my favourite cities in the world. It’s a gorgeous capital, with delightful architecture and a buzzing nightlife scene, not to mention some excellent restaurants (click here to read more about Purger and Restoran Katedralis). So I was rather excited to find out that this March (2013) the city will host its very own restaurant festival. Participating restaurants (and there’s a lot!) will give visitors the opportunity to enjoy a three course meal and a glass of wine for just 100kn (£12). What a bargain!
Restaurant reservations can be made from 1st March at midday and the festival runs from 8th to 17th March 2013.
For information on which restaurants are involved and more on the festival itself visit www.tjedanrestorana.com
This year there will be some spectacular sights to behold in Croatia’s capital, Zagreb with the return of the Time Machine event on 23rd April to 24th September. During the event participants will dress up as distinctive characters to celebrate the culture and heritage of the city.
People visiting Zagreb should head to the Upper Town to see an unusual figures, from singers of old parlour ballads to peasant women from the village of Sestine. There will also be waltz and tango music at the pavilion in Zringjevac Park which is a great way to join in with the celebrations. Book your trip now!
Last week Ukrainian airline, AeroSvit, the biggest in the country, launched its new route between London’s Gatwick Airport and Kiev. The airline will be flying five times a week to the Ukrainian capital, catering for both leisure and business travellers. It is hoped that once travellers land in Kiev they will visit other regions such as Frankovsk, Lugansk and Odessa. It is expected that around 65,000 passengers will fly from Gatwick to Kiev this year on the new AeroSvit route.
Since BAA sold Gatwick Airport to to Global Infrastructure Partners it has gained no less than 18 new routes including airberlin flight to Hamburg and Nuremburg. easyJet has also launched a new route from London Gatwick to Zagreb this year – the airline’s third route between London and Croatia.
However, Wizz Air attempts to maintain its premier position as the number one airline carrier from London to Eastern Europe, this year opening a new route to the Macedonian capital, Skopje. This brings the number of Wizz Air routes from London Luton to the region to 23.
So, it looks like if you want to travel to the region there’s never been more flexibility! Long may it continue!
Festival 25 FPS is organised by the Association for Audio-visual Research 25 FPS. This year’s Festival takes place at Student’s Centre in Zagreb, Savska 25 between the 21 and 26 of September. 25 FPS denotes the number of full video frames per second as used in the European PAL video system, in contrast to film’s 24 or NTSC video system’s 30 frames per second. The festival is supported by the Office of Culture City of Zagreb, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Ministry of Culture Republic of Croatia and Student Centre University of Zagreb.
This year’s program is as follows:
Abrahams Anna, Desert 79: 3 Journeys Beyond The Know World, 2010, Netherlands
Aroonpheng Phuttiphong, A Tale of Heaven, 2010, Thailand
Barić Dalibor, Pain so Light that Appears as Tickle, 2010, Croatia
Bizri Hisham, A Film, 2010, USA
Boord Sophie, Fur, 2010, Australia
Brehm Dietmar, Verdrehte Augen – 2. Videoversion, 2002-2008, Austria
Cailleau Guillaume, H(i)J, 2009, Germany
Clark Mary Helena, Sound over Water, 2009, USA
Cornelissen Robbie, The Labyrinth Runner, 2009, Netherlands
De Clercq Anouk, Oops Wrong Planet, 2009, Belgium
Diop Mati, Atlantiques, 2009/10,Senegal / France
Dufour-Laperrière Félix, M, 2009, Canada
Dumora Pierre Edouard, What the Blind See, 2009, France
Epcar Zachary, The Salariat in Parts, 2009, USA
Gerhardt Joe, Jarman Ruth, Heliocentric, 2010, United Kingdom
Gierke Milena, Kröten, 1997-2008, Germany
Gonzalez-Foerster Dominique, Noreturn, 2009, France
Goshima Kazuhiro, Aliquot Light, 2009, Japan
Grecu Mihai, Centipede Sun, 2010, France
Hansen Inger Lise, Travelling Fields, 2009, Norway
Hayama Rei, Kodomo ga Mushi no Shigai wo Umeni Iku, 2009, Japan
Herzog Werner, La bohème, 2009, United Kingdom
Horan Devin, Boundary, 2009, USA
Huang Ya-Li, Dai Yi Ming Zhi De Shi Wu, 2010, Taiwan
Jamie Cameron, Massage the History, 2009, USA
Jiwarangsan Chaisiri, Small Village and Its Remains, 2009, Thailand
Johann Lurf, Zwölf Boxkämpfer jagen Victor quer über den großen Sylter Deich 140 9, 2009, Austria
Julier Pauline, Noé, 2010, Switzerland
Klahr Lewis, Wednesday Morning Two A.M., 2009, United Kingdom
Knapp Manuel, information of decay, 2009, Austria
Lee Hee Won, Phone Tapping, 2009, South Korea
Lefrant Emmanuel, Parties visible et invisible d’un ensemble sous tension, 2009, France
Lemieux Karl, Mamori, 2010, Canada
Marte Sabine, b-star, untötbar!, 2009, Austria
Meštrović Marko, Nespavanje ne ubija, 2010, Croatia
Miller Peter, Portrait, 2009, USA
Oyama Kei, Hand Soap, 2008, Japan
Prouvost Laure, Monolog, 2009, United Kingdom / France
Robinson Michael, If There Be Thorns, 2009, USA
Sakalauskas Rimas, Synchronisation, 2009, Lithuania
Sanvincenti Davor, Rijeka, 2009, Croatia
Smith John, Flag Mountain, 2010, United Kingdom
Stewart Alexander, The Battle of the Stand-Stills, 2010, USA
Todd Robert, Groundplay, 2009, USA
Wada Atsushi, Wakaranai buta, 2010, Japan
Wiebe Richard, Aliki, 2010, USA
Woloshen Steven, The Homestead Act, 2009, Canada
Wood Sarah, For Cultural Purposes Only, 2009, United Kingdom
For more information visit 25fps.hr/2010
Struckli is a real comfort food for me but something one can really only enjoy when in Croatia or Slovenia. Naturally, I am of the opinion that the best Struckli is made by Mira, my friend’s Grandmother on stormy summer nights in Kranjska Gora. There is nothing better than eating some struckli, doused in some sugar, playing Slovene Rumi, or Tarock and watching the thunder and listening to the lightening.
However, last summer in Zagreb I enjoyed a hot, steamy dish of savoury struckli at a lovely slastičarna. Unfortunately, on my trip to Zagreb this trip, I ran out of meals to eat any but I was lucky to stumble upon it at the airport! I decided to make the most of the time waiting for the plane back to Gatwick and ordered a baked savoury struckli. (Warning: Struckli takes 40 minutes to prepare/cook so if you are in a hurry for your plane, best not to order it just in case).
Struckli is often described as a boiled version of strudel but I do not think that really does it justice.
Štajerska (Baked Struckli) Ingredients
For the pastry
500g flour
1 egg
salt
1 tbsp oil
A little luke warm water
Ingredients for filling
225ml cream
375g cottage cheese
1 1/2 eggs
100g sugar
Handful of breadcrumbs (to thicken the filling)
Instructions
Make the filo pastry dough by combining the flour, egg, oil, salt and water
Allow the pastry to rest for 30 minutes
Prepare the filling by mashing cottage cheese, adding cream, egg yolks and breadcrumbs
Whisk the egg whites and sugar and fold carefully into the filling
Roll out and stretch the dough across across a board and roll out on floured cloth
Spread filling over dough, if the filling is too thin, add more breadcrumbs
Use the cloth to roll the struckli into a roulade
Lift struckli onto greased baking tray
Cook in oven on moderate heat (200 degrees Celsius) for 40 minutes
It may need to be covered half-way through cooking process
Good accompanying wines include Chardonnay, Renski Rizling, Sauvignon
I have visited Purger twice now, and on neither occasion have I seen a non-Croat there. One waiter speaks no English and the other only understands the basics which for me, is always a good sign. I tend to believe that if the locals like a restaurant and it is not full of tourists, you are probably guaranteed a good meal. With Purger, this is definitely the case. From the outside one may be hesitant to enter but on negotiating your way through the restaurant one is finally met with a secluded courtyard, the perfect city getaway. The only problem, and it really is not a problem, is that this restaurant’s menu is not merely vast, it is excessive. It is difficult to decide which type of the seemingly endless options of veal, pork, beef, fish, chicken to choose.
The portions at this restaurant are comparable in size to that of the menu. The Vinksi Gulaš, a veal goulash unusually made with white wine and less paprika than the traditional Hungarian or Transylvanian goulash. Served in a large metal bowl, it is easy to think it would be impossible to finish every morsel but, as is the case with the food served at Purger, it is simply too delicious to leave a mouthful. The goulash is served with potatoes but you will want to make use of the dense, cornmeal bread to mop up the excess thin sauce.
The Naravni Samobor is a thin veal escalope doused in garlic and grilled, apparently a tradition associated with the nearby village of Samobor. The veal was beaten incredibly thinly and required very little effort to eat and the meat simply flaked apart on entering my mouth. For a garlic lover, this platter is simply heaven.
The only slight disappointment was the Svinjski Kotlet, a grilled pork cutlet which while was rich in flavour, was unfortunately a little tough. Nevertheless, the great taste made up for the minor disappointment.
Side dishes include potatoes, french fries, rice, croquettes, and a variety of large individual salads which add a useful, refreshing element to one’s meal. The beetroot is fresh and will make one never want to return to that pre-prepared from the supermarket, and the tomatoes are juicy with thick flesh and a truly wonderful taste.
The wine list boasted all the usual local wines including Vinarija Dingač, Pelješac, Kvalitetno vino, Vinogorje Pelješac, 2007. The wine was heady, smooth and velvety, a perfect accompaniment to the rich meal.
Purger
Petrinjska 33
Zagreb
Tel: 4810 713
