Little Miss Zagreb Strawberry

Somewhere during April or in early May, everybody is so desperately craving for strawberries that even the toughest of us buckle under pressure and make the typical mistake of buying the first wave of imported, mass-produced, early strawberries that hit the markets at that time. They seem pretty, but don’t really have the right flavour, which is why we call them “plastic strawberries”, leaving only the taste of disappointment in your mouth. For those who have patience, reward is waiting just around the corner - the first local, sweet, fragrant and juicy strawberries everybody was dreaming about the whole winter. Croatia has some really excellent regions for growing strawberries, and one of the best-known among strawberry-friendly places is Zagreb’s surroundings. Finally, in the middle of May, the day comes and suddenly there’s an invasion of local strawberries all over the city. You can’t escape even if you wanted to try. One of the smartest farming and food branding projects in Zagreb is actually all about strawberries - Jagodica purgerica. Jagodica meaning little strawberry, and purger being the local, colloquial expression for someone born and raised in Zagreb.

“Stand with Jagodica purgerica strawberries in front of Dolac market. Image credit: Taste of Croatia

Supported by the local government, strawberry farmers from Zagreb County and Zagreb’s rural suburbs united and organized a direct sale of their fine produce on dozens of wooden stands scattered all over the city throughout the season, from the best locations on busy street corners in the downtown area to distant neighbourhoods and green markets. To be part of Jagodica purgerica brand, all these growers set up a high quality standard and have to maintain it. Their strawberries are always fresh and fully ripe because it literally takes just a couple of hours for the picked fruits to reach the buyers in Zagreb. By buying them, you don’t only get some of the best strawberries available within your reach, you also choose a very eco-friendly and sustainable option, and support a local family farm. This will be the third season that the citizens of Zagreb can find Jagodica purgerica produce, and by now people have already built trust and got used to a certain standard.

“Hugo cocktail with strawberries, easy to make, even easier to drink.” Image credit: Da mi je nešto slatko

So, what do we do with all those lovely strawberries we are lucky to have in and around Zagreb? Besides savouring them in enormous quantites on their own, there’s no single typical recipe. Yes, fresh strawberries with whipped cream are always popular, and many restaurants will have that. Pairing them with crisp and easy-drinking sparkling wines from Plešivica and Zelina regions is also very welcome. Far-sighted cooking enthusiasts will already start making wonderfully sweet jams at home. Hopefully, some of those jars will remain to last through the winter. Strawberry-flavoured ice creams are available all year round and taken for granted, but to find a place that makes an old-school ice cream from scratch, using fresh strawberries and real cream, that’s pretty rare. Orijent patisserie in Maksimirska Street is one of those. With the rising popularity of artisan cocktails, strawberries are now entering the hipster scene, so be hip while sipping on a strawberry gin-tonic or Hugo. The majority of the fruits will inevitably go to sweets. Pastry shops and patisseries will have their hands full making either well-known recipes or inventing new creative ways of using strawberries in desserts. In the sweet department, strawberries pair well with vanilla cream, cream cheese, meringue, whipped cream, yoghurt, almonds, chocolate... One of all-time favourite cakes is a beautiful creation called ledeni vjetar (translates as icy wind), a rich, creamy, multi-layered strawberry meringue cake. Requires time and good skills to prepare at home, but if you need a simple family treat, you can’t miss with the good ol’ strawberry shortcake.

“Strawberry version of the popular ledeni vjetar cake, from Torte i to patisserie. Image credit: Taste of Croatia

At some point you’ll probably be fed up with omnipresent strawberries and you’ll want to switch to upcoming summer fruits, but just remember how eager you were to take a bite into them a month ago and how sad you’ll be when you’ll have to say goodbye until next spring. The conclusion is an easy one: There’s never enough of fresh strawberries while they’re in season.

“Strawberry and vanilla cream cups from Mak na konac patisserie. Image credit: Mak na konac

Header image credit: Taste of Croatia

Author: Taste of Croatia