You say buzaru, I say buzara...

Buzaru, buzara, buzzara, bouzzara ... there seem to be 101 ways to spell this word, which as an English speaker makes it hard to decide which one to use. Buzara is the most common on English websites, but many of the Croatian pages use buzaru, which suggests that buzara is an English translation for the purposes of pronunciation (since it doesn’t actually mean anything in English, so there can’t really be any other reason for changing the word).

In my recent post, 101 ways to eat octopus salad I said that buzara seems to refer to seafood cooked in white wine with garlic, breadcrumbs, parsley and, in some cases, tomato. Thanks to the Google website translator, I can now say this with more confidence and add that it is most commonly made with skampi (scampi) or dagnje (mussels).

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Zapecena Riba, hrvatski for baked fish

I had originally intended to spend this week celebrating the last of the summer sun by recreating all my favourite seafood dishes from my week in Croatia. However, there was a slight flaw in this plan: seafood, or lack thereof.  

I work 9 to 5 and the only decent fishmonger in my corner of London is open 8.30 to 5, which doesn’t leave a very large window. So I have had to make do with Sainsbury’s, which means sacrificing not only on flavour and freshness, but also on range. I didn’t really expect to find octopus or scampi on the Sainsbury’s fish counter, but I thought mussels would at least be a safe bet. Well, apparently they are out of season at the moment, although I have read other sources that suggest otherwise. I hope to make it to the fishmongers this weekend, but in the meantime, rather than substitute ingredients for the dishes I had planned, I have decided instead to find some alternative Dalmatian recipes to suit what was on offer.

Of the various recipes I found online, this one was the most reminiscent of the food I experienced on the Dalmatian coast; fresh produce cooked simply with minimal seasoning so that the flavours speak for themselves.

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Marinated anchovies, Dalmatian style

 Left: anchovies in Sipanska Luka, Sipan. Right: my version at home

Following my gastronomic tour of Dubrovnik and the Elaphite Islands, I thought it would be fun to have a Dalmatian-themed week. I say Dalmatian, rather than Croatian, because like many other European countries, in Croatia each region has its own distinct culinary traditions. Wikipedia highlights that the most notable differences are between mainland and coastal regions, influenced both by history and the differences in the selection of foodstuffs. Mainland cuisine has its early roots in Slavic cookery and more recently Hungarian, Viennese and, to a lesser extent, Turkish cuisine, “while the coastal region bears the influences of the Greek, Roman and Illyrian, as well as of the later Mediterranean cuisine – Italian and French”. With regards to foodstuffs, as one might expect, Dalmatia and other coastal regions rely heavily on seafood, while hearty meat dishes are more prominent in the interior.

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Simple and delicious smoked mackerel pate

 I can’t believe I ever used to buy smoked mackerel pate from the supermarket when it is so damn quick and easy to make.

A few months ago, the boyfriend and I went on a rather uninspiring daytrip to Maldon. Why? That is a very reasonable question and one I put to him quite bluntly at the time:

“Why Maldon?

“I thought it would be nice to get out of London”

“But why Maldon, what is there to do or see in Maldon?”

“There’s a river and a quay, we could have a picnic.”

“There’s a pond and heath in Hampstead, we could walk there and save the drive.”

 “The sea salt you like comes from there.”

“I have some here.”

... and so forth.

Anyway, you know who won. The boyfriend knows that throwing food into the equation usually tips the balance in his favour, so he offered to buy me lunch. Had I known the choices I would be presented with upon arrival in Maldon, I would have stayed put. However, one good thing was to come of this lack of culinary choices. Mackerel.

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