Zagreb-Flavoured Picnic

But you’re bound to get hungry and especially thirsty sooner or later so lying on a blanket in a park inevitably turns into a picnic. Well, let’s make it a locally-flavoured picnic! Big lake parks like Jarun or Bundek are the ideal spot, as well as the spacious and shady Maksimir Park, home of the Zagreb Zoo. But if you’re centrally located and don’t want to move too much, they could be a bit out of hand. In downtown area, Zrinjevac Park is the obvious choice. Grab your basket and hit Dolac Market (or any other) to fill it with local picnic goodies for a day of leisure and pure hedonism.

“Assortment of cow’s milk cheeses directly from the market”. Image credit: TZ Zelina

Picnic should be a no-cook event, which means you should not be doing anything complicated with your food. Let’s keep things simple. Save all those pies, quiches, souffles and elaborate salads for some other occasion. The first thing you need, the foundation, is good bread. From the vast selection available at Zagreb’s numerous bakeries, choose something with a local touch, like homemade cornbread bought from a kumica at Dolac Market’s indoor dairy section, or kajzerica roll at one of the big bakery chains. To stay true to the theme, you have to have a bit of sir i vrhnje - combination of fresh cream and cottage cheese, one of Zagreb’s iconic dishes. When it’s chilled properly, even mixed with some herbs like chives, or spiced up with sweet paprika, it makes a nice and refreshing spread. But beware, it won’t hold long on high temperatures. Speaking of dairy, you can’t go wrong if you buy some no-name young smoked cow’s milk cheese from the old ladies at the markets. Or you can have a piece of Dragec, now a protected product of Zagreb County. It’s a traditional semi-hard full-fat cow’s milk cheese that comes in five versions.

“Samobor salami, delicious cured pork sausage”. Image credit: TZ Samobor

As far as meat products go, we’re really blessed in that department. First, pack just a bit of pressed čvarci (pork crisps made from lard) to nibble on. Then you need cold cuts, at least two kinds. Bacon could be tricky for warm and sunny days, so it’s better to stick to more durable cured sausages like the famous Samobor salami made by Igomat, another trademark product from Zagreb surroundings. Add some of their dry češnjovka sausage and boiled ham, or Grof dry-cured ham made by Kudelić. The more, the tastier. How about a local relish with that? I suggest organic Hrenada by Smid - thick horseradish-based sauce, not too spicy, and refreshing enough. And now for some fresh, juicy veggies... The markets are full of local tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers so there should be no problem in finding the best combination. The same goes for fruits, it’s the high season for berries, cherries, apricot and peach, and even the strawberries are still lingering. To finish the whole thing off, we need something sweet. And what better than a nice crispy strudel with seasonal fruits? If you want to stick to classics, have some zlevanka or gibanica (traditonal cakes with cottage cheese) from Dinara bakery, or a filling orehnjača (walnut roll) from Kuraž artisan bakery, just avoid creamy cakes.

“Freshly baked cherry and apricot strudels”. Image credit: Taste of Croatia

When it comes to drinks, there’s now a really wide choice of local craft beers and crisp white wines, the only problem is how to keep them cool. For an alcohol-free option, I suggest the beloved elderflower cordial. Otherwise, nothing beats a glass of gemišt, local version of white wine and sparkling water spritzer. Local light and crisp whites with a slightly higher acidity, like Graševina or Kraljevina, are just perfect for that. Anyway, picnic is like Tetris - the combinations are limitless, it’s addictive and fun is guaranteed, so make best use of your outdoors days in Zagreb.

“Kraljevina, native grapes from Zelina, ideal summer wine”. Image credit: TZ Zelina

Header image credit: Zagreb Tourist Board

Author: Taste of Croatia