Zlatni Medvjed

Strudels are the most practical and always available mountain dish. Thin layers of stretched dough filled with sweet or savoury mixtures are crispy on the outside and juicy inside. They’re most often made with seasonal fruits like apples, cherries or plums, or with fresh cheese.

Gibanica is a traditional dish made with phyllo dough and layered fillings. It can be savoury or sweet. The Sljeme version is a rich dessert, with multiple layers of fillings – apples with cinnamon, fresh cheese and ground hazelnuts cooked in caramelised milk.

Any spoonable dish thicker than soup, with lots of vegetables and legumes – sometimes grains or meat – is called varivo in Croatian. It’s warming and wholesome, with ingredients that change with the seasons.

A dish of long-simmered rolls of fermented cabbage leaves filled with a mixture of ground meat, rice and spices is the most popular winter food. It is served in the flavourful broth they were cooked in, with paprika and chopped cabbage, and always with mashed potatoes.

A thick and simple stew made from beans, with some onion, carrots, smoked meat and spices, is the most common hiker’s meal. It’s available year-round and especially comforting in winter with added sausage or smoked pork and sauerkraut.