Goodbye to Kosovo

Miracle of Nature

One more post about food and growing things in this region and that's it. I promise. I have been amazed over and over at all the grapes, olives, pomegranates, citrus fruits and figs that grow in this area. I checked and it appears that it is on roughly the same parallel that the central Oregon coast is on, however, I don't remember ever seeing anything growing there like all this. One of those big mysteries of life, I guess.
Nevertheless, listen to me when I tell you that the figs that grow here are something entirely different from any other fig I have tasted before. The ones I had in the past just seemed like so much mush. So when the lady who rented us a flat in Trstenik gave us this bowl full of figs and grapes I thought it was a really nice gesture but didn't get too excited. However, the next day Tom took a nap in the early afternoon and I was starving after being at the beach for the past three hours. So I decided to try the fruit she gave us. Oh, my good heavens....it wasn't just hunger that made me gulp down five figs one right after the other. These were incredible. Ambrosia. Food of the gods. I never did convince Tom to eat any of them, but it was just as well. More for me. Ha.

Pure Paradajz

I don't think it is a coincidence that the Serbo-Croat word for tomato is paradajz which is pronounced almost exactly like our word paradise. I know I have probably bored some of you to death in the past with my goings-on about the tomatoes in eastern Europe. Don't ask me why, I'm just telling you that tomatoes here taste like tomatoes, even in the off season. Those hard balls of orange whatever we get in the US are NOT tomatoes. Imposters, every one!
Anyhow, I have more than once thought about this delicious Napoleten salad we had last year when we were in Trstenik and it was just as good this year. The tomatoes were so warm and ripe right off the vine, they were almost like stewed. And the cheese they put in this salad....kind of like mozzarella, only a thousand times better! Notice the little anchovies. Never ate anchovies in my life until I got this salad and guess what? They added just the right amount of saltiness. Pure paradise, I'm telling you. I'm also including the photo of the fish. You all know I've never been a big "fish person", either. Unless it was canned salmon made into salmon croquettes or my mom's fried catfish, I more or less turned up my nose at fish. Well, this sea bass was KILLER! And I mean that in a good way. Marko recommended it, and I guess I was so weak from hunger when we got there, I said okay. So he brought it to us, filleted it for us right at our table and it was incredible. And one of several cats who hang around the tables was the happy beneficiary of the heads. We all had the best meal ever. And here's one more photo of wine and then I'll stop.

Fair Warning to California

It seems that the entire Peljesac peninsula that Trstenik and Orebic are on is being planted with grapes. We have really enjoyed the fantastic wines that are being produced not only in Croatia, but Montenegro and Macedonia as well. I wish I could bring back a case of Plantaze wine from Montenegro. Poslip wines from Croatia are really, really good, too. In Trstenik is the Grgic winery and we went for a wine tasting when we were there last summer. Some of you in California may be aware of Grgic wines as Miljenko Grgic started a winery in northern California many years ago after working for Robert Mondavi for a time when he was a young man. He returned to his native Croatia in the mid 1990's and opened a winery on the hillside right above Trstenik.
Just a couple of photos you might enjoy. Wish you could enjoy the wine! When I get back to California next week I will try to find the time to shop for wine from this region.

Korcula, the Mini Dubrovnik

Marko, the guy who waits on us at our favorite (and one of only three) restaurants in Trstenik, the Konoba Feral, is also very knowledgeable about the Dalmatian Coast. He really encouraged us to go to Korcula one day and said we would enjoy it even more than Dubrovnik. He did not steer us wrong. We drove 30 minutes to Orebic one day and took a ferry to Korcula Island, about a 20 minute trip. We disembarked in the town of Korcula and it is fantastic. I took about 200 photographs that day if that gives you any indication. These two photos are just simple little walkways through one part of the walled city but I think it gives you an idea of how beautiful it is.