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Tasting Istria - one bite one sip
When I think about Eastern European food, images of heavy stews, boiled potatoes and slabs of flavourless meats come to mind. However, a four day trip to Istria showed me I had much to learn.
Gastronomic Istria
Food features very prominently in Istrian life. Istrian food delivers an array of tastes and flavours, that reflect its diverse history, geography and climate. And the sourcing, preparation and delivery is often a family affair with sometimes many generations involved. However, 'Mama' rules over the čripnja, a large earthen-ware pot, food is cooked over a fiercely hot, fire-clay oven using cinders.
Over four days, my fellow travellers and I dined on diverse Istrian
cuisine, based on traditional recipes of aromatic herbs and spices, seasonal vegetables,
freshly caught seafood, locally reared meat and world-renowned olive oil.
An Istrian food and wine lesson
Marko Morgan, owner of Konoba
Morgan in the small town of Buje, had one aim, to introduce us to istria through simple dishes based on authentic Istrian recipes.
All his ingredients are seasonal and locally sourced, and appeared in the form of seven dishes. The dishes were prepared by Marko and his mother, in a kitchen that was dominated by a čripnja.
Our starter was a small tower made from two cheeses (one was sheep's cheese) sitting atop thinly sliced wild asparagus, mild in flavour and abundant in Spring. This was served drizzled in honey, which give it an interesting sweet bitter flavour. And of course there was wine.
We
were fortunate to have the company of some of Mato Matić
, director of
Roxanich, one of Istrian's most prominent wine producers. For each
wine, Merlot, Teran, Malvazija and Rose, Mato gave us a brief history, overview of how each is produced, and the best dishes to serve with them.
As we ate, we were told to indulge in an Istrian tradition, when eating one has to 'take one bite then one sip', something I followed to the letter.
After our starter came a dish I wasn't sure I would be eat, Istrian Ox cheeks. 
Though a little slimely, I prayed the creamy sauce would fool my my gag reflex. They down a treat, plus the wine helped.
The ox theme contained, as we were served medium cooked tender wild oxen slices, wild oxen slices with a square of polenta, and yet more wild oxen, this time with home-grown greens. It may seem that we overdosed on ox meat, but with the different side dishes it didn't taste like it. Thankfully, there weren't any vegetarians amongst us.
Then as I thought I didn't have room for another dish, along came dessert, 
and I always have space for dessert. Marko didn't let me down, the dessert
was a delicious slice of almond tart, delicately placed on a large spoonful of peach mousse. In keeping with Istrian traditional, and who am I to offend our hosts, I sipped Prošek.
Prošek is
a pleasant, peach flavoured dessert wine, a perfect way to end to a meal and my first day in Istria.
One more for the 'Istrian' road!
Addresses:
Konoba Morgan. Bracanija 1 Buje (052774520).
Roxanich d.o.o. Kosinozici 26. 52446 Nova Vas (+385 52 421 367. www.roxanich.hr
Part two ... Tasting Istria - from sea to plate
For more about Gatronomica Istria visit the official tourism website of Istria.
Disclaimer: My trip to Istria was funded by the Istrian tourism board.
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