Istria – 7 tips for gourmets

Gently rolling hills, where olive groves merge smoothly into vineyards and the sea glistens golden in the evening sun on the horizon. The view from Motovun over the hinterland of Istria makes us pause for a moment. Charming! Istria not only offers fantastic postcard motifs, but also inspires with its excellent cuisine. This is where sea meets inland and tradition meets young, innovative restaurateurs. A successful mix, in our opinion. From our three-day short trip through Istria, we have brought you seven culinary tips that you should definitely not miss.

#1 Truffle Hunting Adventure

Autumn is the season when people sniff for the white and black gold in the ground in the forests around Motovun and Buzet. In 1999, Giancarlo Zigante, a restaurant owner, found a white truffle weighing 1.3 kilograms in the Livade area. A major find is not known to date. He shared the treasure with 100 people at a dinner. We also want to track down the valuable tubers and have arranged to meet Visnja Prodan from Prodan Tartufi in Buzet. The young woman perfectly embodies what inspired me so much about the production companies in Istria: a lot of heart and soul for the great nature right on the doorstep and daily commitment to the production of high-quality products.

Visnja studied mechanical engineering and worked as an engineer for some time until she decided to get 100% involved in the truffle business of her parents’ business. Your two fluffy four-legged friends, Pico and Hermès, can’t wait for us to open the truffle hunt. Visnja is out in the forest with her dogs several times a day to find truffles and train eight-month-old Pico. He easily fulfills the most important requirement – he loves truffles more than anything. We follow the dogs into the forest, where they sniff around wildly. As soon as one of them starts digging, Visnja runs to it. It’s not easy to keep an eye on both dogs at the same time. Less than ten minutes into the forest, Hermès has already sniffed out a black truffle and Pico leads us to a white one right next to it. After an hour, we return from the forest with three white and one black truffle tubers. After we have carefully cleaned them with water, it’s time to try them. Visjna makes various fine spreads from the truffles and her mum prepares the best scrambled eggs ever. To do this, she first slowly stews black truffles in a hot pan and then adds the egg mixture.

#2 High-proof

After the sumptuous truffle breakfast at Prodan Tartufi’s, a schnapps comes just in time. In the middle of Buzet, the Aura distillery produces spirits. The assortment includes almost 20 different brandies. The blockbuster “Terranino” – a mixture of Teran wine and 10 different herbs – is a touch too sweet for us. Honey schnapps or wild pear are more palatable. And of course, we also have to try a sip of mistletoe brandy “Biska”, which is considered a panacea in Istria.

#3 Cheers Malvasia – Malvasia Wine

Malvasia Istriana is the most typical Istrian wine variety. Another old, autochthonous variety is the Terrano. We paid a visit to the winery of the Cattunar family northeast of Novigrad and tasted four special wines. In cooperation with the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Zagreb, they produce a special edition of four different Malvasia wines «4 zemlje» with vines cultivated on different types of soil (red earth, white earth, grey earth, black earth). It’s exciting to see how a different taste results depending on the soil conditions. I like the one of the red earth best.

#4 The best of the best – olive oil from Ipsa

Along with truffles and wine, olive oil is one of the top products of Istrian gastronomy. The olive oil of the Ipsa family farm near Motovun was recently named one of the 15 best olive oils in the world by the olive oil guide Flos Olei. Since the Roi family introduced us to professional olive oil tasting in Liguria in September, we feel like old hands when tasting the Ipsa olive oils. Warm the cup with the oil in it in your hand, take a sip in your mouth and breathe in and out through your mouth at the same time. The racy finish of the pure Istarska Bjelica olive oil is unexpected – but makes the oil really exciting. We have just caught the last days of harvest and are allowed to taste the freshly pressed oil of the 2016 harvest. If you stop at the Ipsa family for an olive oil tasting, you will also be spoiled with pickled vegetables from the garden. And recently, they have also been experimenting with wine. We were allowed to taste a sip of the in-house Malvasia wine. It is not yet for sale, but I am convinced that this wine will be the next Ipsa success product. Whether olive oil or wine, their most important credo remains: quality over quantity.

#5 Air-dried spicy

The “Prsut” is the culinary yardstick. The locals serve the air-dried raw ham from the “Bora” not without pride. The meat comes from selected pigs and is subjected to a maturation period after air drying. The result: heavenly spicy! The best ham was served to us by Drazenka Moll in her Agriturismo Stancija 1904 for an aperitif. Not only does she cook schampar, but since 2015 she has also been the hostess of the smallest honorary consulate in the Swiss Confederation. Since then, the hamlet of Smoljanci, with its 170 inhabitants, has been involved in the international arena. Ms. Moll tells me that in this position she is often confronted with sad stories. Sudden deaths, thefts, or travelers in distress seeking assistance from her. “Do we have enough to eat?” she wants to know from us and serves her friend a triple portion of pancakes without being asked. If you want to immerse yourself in Istrian country life, Ms. Moll is the right place for you. It is worth mentioning that all of their accommodation units are adapted for the disabled. In 2012/2013, it received the European Destination of Excellence Award in the category of sustainable tourism.

#6 Hideaway for gourmets in Istria

Another hideaway for gourmets is the Stancija Meneghetti. The estate is surrounded by olive groves and vineyards near the coast between Rovinj and Pula. A nice base to discover Istria and at the same time relax and unwind. The interior design has met my taste throughout and the kitchen crew also does an excellent job. To our surprise, the Chef de Service greets us in the broadest Bavarian. The Croatian has worked as a seasonal worker in the Alpine region for over 20 years. We enjoy a seasonal, regional lunch with our own olive oil and would have loved to move in for a whole week.

#7 Boy, wild at the stove

Of course, it is not possible to travel to Istria, but not to try freshly caught fish or other sea creatures. After concentrating mainly on the hinterland on this trip, we dedicated ourselves to the delicacies from the Adriatic Sea at the last dinner. The restaurant San Rocco in Brtonigla is a member of the Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe and actually made me eat squid. That’s a real achievement. Chapeau for that.

Note: this research trip was supported by the Croatian National Tourist Board and Istrian Tourism. Thank you very much for this. All impressions/opinions are, as always, ours