12 Istrian dishes to try on holiday

Istria sits where Italy, Croatia and Central Europe meet, and you can taste it. Menus mix pasta and risotto with goulash, Adriatic fish with mountain ham, and almost everything is finished with local olive oil. Here are twelve dishes to look for.

Pasta and starters

1. Fuži

Small quills of fresh pasta, rolled by hand around a stick. Fuži are served with truffles, with a rich sauce of beef or game (often called gulaš), or with chicken in a tomato sauce.

2. Pljukanci

Short hand-rolled pasta, thicker at the middle and tapered at the ends. Try them with asparagus in spring, with seafood on the coast or with truffles in autumn.

3. Istrian pršut

Istria’s air-dried ham is cured with salt and spices and dried in the bora wind. Unlike some Dalmatian ham it is not smoked. It is served thinly sliced with sheep’s cheese and olives as the classic starter.

4. Istrian cheese

Look for sheep’s cheese from the inland farms, young or aged, often served with honey or fig jam.

5. Truffles

In autumn, white truffles are shaved over pasta, eggs or beef; black truffles appear on menus for much of the year. See our truffle season guide.

Soups and mains

6. Maneštra

A thick soup of beans, corn, potatoes and vegetables, often with a piece of smoked pork. It is the dish Istrian grandmothers made every week, and it is perfect on a cool evening.

7. Boškarin

The Istrian ox, a large, grey, long-horned breed once used to work the fields, is now raised for meat. Boškarin appears as carpaccio, as a slow-cooked sauce for pasta, or as steak.

8. Fritaja

A soft omelette made with whatever the season brings: wild asparagus in spring, truffles in autumn, sausage or mushrooms in between. Read about wild asparagus season.

9. Pod čripnjom

Meat or fish slow-cooked under a heavy iron or clay lid covered with embers. It usually needs to be ordered a day ahead, so ask when you book a table.

10. Fish and seafood

On the coast, the best fish is often the simplest: grilled whole with olive oil, garlic and parsley, served with blitva (chard and potatoes). Also look for mussels and oysters from the Lim bay and shellfish cooked na buzaru in wine and garlic. More in our seafood guide.

Sweet things and drinks

11. Fritule and kroštule

Fritule are small doughnuts flavoured with citrus zest and brandy; kroštule are thin twists of fried pastry dusted with sugar. Both are traditional around Christmas and carnival but sold all year.

12. Supa

A curious and very old tradition: warm red wine, usually Teran, with olive oil, pepper and a little sugar, served in a ceramic jug called a bukaleta with toasted bread for dipping. It is shared around the table.

Where to eat it

The best place for most of these dishes is a konoba, a family-run tavern, especially inland. Read our guide to what a konoba is and how to order. To cook your own, pick up pršut, cheese and oil from local producers. All our villas have a full kitchen and an outdoor grill, and our summer kitchen guide has ideas for an Istrian evening at the villa.