Sarah Ćosić, born in Canada, living in Croatia: After living here for almost a decade, I’ve grown to love certain products, so I wanted to share a few in case you’re visiting (or living in) Croatia. Do you love them too? … Today we went to visit Baka Jagica and she shared her delicious recipe for Strukli (a classic home cooked dish from the Zagorije region in Croatia). Everything was made from scratch, and Baka Jagica walked us through her famous recipe. Strukli is one of my favorite Croatian dishes and this recipe didn’t disappoint!
Category: Croatian Cuisine
Croatia shining in 2020
I am sure that many of you, like me, have lived about ten lifetimes this year, the most chaotic, stressful, unpredictable and scary perhaps ever. But we are still here, hanging on, and hoping for better things. But 2020 was not such a disaster for everyone. In fact, if you take a step back from all the doom and gloom and try and look on the brighter side of life, there is an awful lot of positivity to celebrate, especially if you are Croatian. In an effort to balance the understandable depressive posts on the web, here is an ode of recognition to 25 things which made Croatia shine in the pandemic year of 2020. On the photo, an amazing cat-like Croatian island.
Yoko Nishii between the Dobro Restaurant in Tokyo and Tokamachi
By the end of 2019, distinguished Japanese pianist Yoko Nishii has visited the city of Tokamachi, which is the seat of “Croatia – Japan Friendship House”, completed in 2012. Except for having the purpose of cultural center, it also serves for preparations of Croatian sportsmen for the forthcoming 2020 Summer Olympic Games to be organized in Tokyo. Yoko Nishii has visited Tokamach for completing the material for her newest CD, which will contain pianistic works of Rachmaninov. She was surround by a small team of professionals, because everything had to be registered under the best acoustic conditions.
Vladimir Novak: Croatians in America, fascinating photomonograph published in 2018
 Vladimir Novak (1928-2016)
Vjeko Martinko director of Hotel Villa Astra in Lovran celebrating his 70th birthday in October 2017
Vjeko Martinko, director of the Hotel Villa Astra in the town of Lovran, Croatia, celebrated his 70th birthday with his friends and colleagues, including his schoolteacher Ana Ujević. As always, Vjeko is full of energy, fresh ideas and challenges for the future. The celebration was held in a peaceful and very pleasant environment of the hotel and the surrounding beautiful park, filling us with a special energy and enthusiasm. Hotel Villa Astra is one of the trademarks of Croatian private entrepreneurship, offering its guests a unique place for creative rest in a friendly atmosphere, where one feels like at home.
Dubrovnik Restaurant 4th Annual Farm to Table Celebration
Dubrovnik Restaurant will be hosting its 4th annual Farm to Table celebration on Thursday September 28th, starting from 6:30 p.m. and going to 11:00 p.m. The celebration will feature food and wine from local farmers. Music will be provided by Klapa Astoria. A complimentary Croatian gift is included and there will be raffle prizes. Admission is $50 per person.
Darko Varga 1956-2017 distinguished Croatian publicist
Darko Varga, 1956-2017, born in the city of Osijek, grown up in the town of Dalj, attended High School in his native city, and completed his studies in Electrical Engineering at the University of Zagreb. From 1993 till 2000, he served as director of HEP (Croatian Electric Supply) in the region of Baranja on the NE of Croatia. He was active in revitalizing Croatian villages as well as ecotourism in Baranja, ravaged in the early 1990s during the Serbian aggression on Croatia. Also, he was an indefatigable promoter of cultural traditions of the region. His latest work on an impressive monograph dealing with the cuisine of the noble Croatian family of Zrinski, has been published in 2015 on the occasion of 450 years since the legendary Siget Battle in 1566.
Drago's Restaurant a part of close-knit Croatian community in New Orleans
Drago and Klara Cvitanovich opened their restaurant in New Orleans in 1969. They set out to offer delicious seafood and a good time to guests for a reasonable price. At that time, they couldn’t even imagine how many guests would become. Drago’s now has more than 400 employees who help us carry our legacy forward. In the weeks after Katrina tornado, their restaurant gave away more than 75,000 free meals. In March 2017, Nenad Bach visited Tommy Cvitanovich, the son of Drago and Karla, who is currently leading the company.
Beautiful Croatia founded and directed by Amanda Grbavac organized an event in New York on 26 April 2016
Beautiful Croatia will be hosting stylish and unique events throughout the year. With over 15 years of experience in events, Beutiful Croatia also offers an event management service, to help make your destination dream event a reality. Beautiful Croatia presents all this to you with style, lots of love and happy spirit. On travels around the world, there was always one country that stood out for me like the brightest gem, it stole my heart and never let me go. That country was Beautiful Croatia. On the photo Sylvio Roubertto Kovacic, haute couture fashion designer, Amanda Grbavac founding director of Beautiful Croatia and Robert Grgurev, President of Startas USA.
My Little Piece of Land exhibition of Croatian farmers in Auderghem, Bruxelles, on 4th March 2016
We have the pleasure to invite you to the exhibition My little piece of land , in which farmers from Croatia talk about their life and how they work in harmony with nature. The Exhibition Opening 4th March 2016, 4:30 pm, DG Environment, Avenue de Beaulieu 5, B-1160 Auderghem, Bruxelles, Belgium. The opening includes the buffet, tasting of the first bottles of rediscovered Croatian white wine variety Palagružonka from the island of Vis. The exhibition was created by Suske consulting in cooperation with the Croatian agency for environment and nature. On the photo Marija Martinko, Zagreb, a member of the organizing committee.
Lovre Stavun linking Croatia and Japan via his native city of Zadar
Lovre Štavun is a young Croatian tourist guide living in the city of Zadar, who is very fond of Japanese language and culture. It is even more impressive that he learned Japanese without visiting Japan yet! In his article, that he wrote in English and Japanese (sic!), he discusses the possibilities of offering completely new contents for tourists visiting Croatia, with emphasis on his native Zadar. “How many natural wonders does the country of Croatia possess, but those same wonders are rarely ever offered as something of value to Japanese tourists.”
Nenad Bach Newsletter October 2015
Nenad Bach: Several months passed like a wink and here we go into another Fall or should I say Autumn of 2015. There is no perfect moment to start a family, build a home, produce an album or finish the Newsletter… I am trying to finish this Newsletter for the last few weeks and finally today is the day. I will try to remember at least 5% including a performance with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra and visit to the Emergency Room in Croatia. I am searching for boredom but can’t find it. Here are few Events I would like to share with you.
Bunjevci Croats from Backa and their Christmas traditions expressed in straw and cakes
Straw work is a unique naive art form which originates from the rich folk art of the Bunjevci-Croats settled in the north of Bačka. In Tavankut, a village near the town Subotica, the self-taught women nourish and preserve this naive art skill by entwining beads and making paintings out of straw which portray specific motifs and themes from the life of the Bunjevci-Croats. Also, delicious and richly ornamented Christmas cakes called božičnjak are prepared. On the photo Christmas cake by Dubravka Vrbljanac. With this article we wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Dubrovnik Restaurant to celebrate first anniversary on August 28, 2014
Dubrovnik Restaurant located in New Rochelle, New York will celebrate its first anniversary on August 28, 2014. Dubrovnik serves Croatian dishes and gets its name from owner Zeljko “Jerry” Tomic’s hometown. The first annual celebration will have limited seats and will be by reservation only. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.
Ane Strazicic Rodriguez: Traditional Croatian Cuisine From the Region of Dubrovnik
Ane was born on the Croatian island of Mljet, where she grew up in a fisherman’s family, which instilled in her a love for cooking. After moving to the United States in the late 1980’s, she married a professional chef from Puerto Rico, Luis Rodriguez, and had two children, Alberto and Michelle, who loved their Mom’s cooking and inspired her to compile the recipes from her native region in a cookbook. Story by Susanne Metz.
My Little Piece of Land attractive brochure about Croatian farmers published by Suske consulting in Germany
The project “My Little Piece of Land”, initiated by Suske consulting, Germany, focuses on visual and written portrays of 14 farmers from protected areas in Croatia and their favourite places in the landscape. The “favorite places” will be presented with a traveling exhibition in public buildings nationwide. This accompanying brochure offers more information about the farmers using original quotations regarding their approach towards farming, relation to the landscape, every day work, farming traditions, the beautiful and the difficult side of being a farmer in Croatia and more. On the photo Marija Martinko, a member of the project team.
Joso's Croatian Seafood Restaurant in Toronto in Stephen Holt's interview with Leo Spralia
Stephen Holt interviews Leo Spralia at Joso’s, one of Toronto’s top Seafood restaurants, during the Toronto International Film Festival as broadcast on the Stephen Holt Show. Sept.’02. The restaurant serves food prepared in Dalmatian way from Croatian coast. Owned and operated by Leo and Shirley Špralja and founded by Joso Špralja in the 1960′s, Joso’s restaurant has achieved continuous success of over 36 years in business and is considered a landmark of the Toronto hospitality scene. It has been visited by numerous celebrities, like Mike Jagger, Paul Newman, Jose Feliciano etc.
"Croatian Cuisine" is the first mobile app to feature indigenous Croatian recipes
“Croatian cuisine” is the name of the new Croatian mobile application in the form of an inventive culinary guide that primarily helps users find their way through indigenous and traditional Croatian dishes. This mobile application is entirely a Croatian “product” – under the authorship of Andreja Horvatić, the application was developed by two Croatian companies Interactive1 and Grafikon. It is available via the App Store and Google Play.