Traditional Easter food in Croatia
Since Good Friday is a fasting day, the continental part of Croatia prepares dishes such as stewed vegetables, dough with nuts and poppy seeds as well as fish. People in coastal part of Croatia enjoy in seafood and different fish.
Before eating, the food is blessed in churches during the Easter Mass. Variety of dishes is brought to the blessing. A tradition is to eat ham on Easter Sunday as well as the baked bread and cakes. The main course is usually roasted chicken, turkey, lamb or fish.
Croatian tradition is to decorate eggs. They used to be decorated with natural colors using the shell onions, beetroot and spinach, but today this tradition is no longer so well preserved.
A special fruit-studded yeast-raised Easter bread called pogača, pinca or sirnica is the highlight of the meal. It is usually round in shape with the sign of the cross.
Traditional Christmas food in Croatia
Since Christmas Eve is a fasting day, traditionally on this day Croatians eat a small meal in the evening. Bakalar (dried cod-fish) is served with potatos in households all over the country.
On Christmas Day Croatians traditionally prepare roasted turkey, lamb or pig, sarma (minced meat wrapped in cabbage leaves), peppers stuffed with minced meat, salads, freshly baked bread and traditional Christmas desserts such as fritule (pastry resembling doughnuts), strudel, walnut and poppy-seed cakes and many, many more delights.
Christmas cakes
One popular Christmas sweet in the central region of the country is a chocolate pie called mađarica.
In the coastal areas, fruitcakes are common, as well as rafioli. Rafioli are a traditional Dalmatian sweets made from fine thin dough which is filled with ground almonds and other condiments, and then rolled into small crescent-shaped pastries.
Traditional Easter food in Croatia
Since Good Friday is a fasting day, the continental part of Croatia prepares dishes such as stewed vegetables, dough with nuts and poppy seeds as well as fish. People in coastal part of Croatia enjoy in seafood and different fish.
Before eating, the food is blessed in churches during the Easter Mass. Variety of dishes is brought to the blessing. A tradition is to eat ham on Easter Sunday as well as the baked bread and cakes. The main course is usually roasted chicken, turkey, lamb or fish.