The local cuisine offer is characterized by top attributes of the healthy and simple Dalmatian cuisine. Our cuisine is based on fresh fish and seafood which can be found at local market places every day, fresh out of the sea. The locals are proud of their “stingy” island earth, which surprises them with many gifts throughout the year. Boiled vegetables are the most common side dish. You can buy vegetables organically grown by local farmers in the local market places on a daily basis – fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, chard, potatoes, and various other vegetables, the scent of which reflects the love with which they were grown and nurtured.
Famous ‘Paški sir’
The majority of Pag inhabitants are involved with livestock farming and traditional cheese production. The wonderful taste of the cheese and its widely recognized quality is the result of specific pasture – the sheep graze self-grown aromatic herbs, such as chicory, immortelle, and sage, the quality of which owes much to the frequent bora winds that lift up the sea salt and spread it into the pores of rocks and grass.
Fresh fish
The fish is prepared in the traditional style – grilled (“gradele”), boiled, brodetto, alla buzara, or under the “peka” (baking lid).
Guests can also buy home-produced white wine of Gegić variety and red wine of Plavina variety, as well as home-made sweet dessert wine – Prošek.
Povljana lamb
For authentic gourmet experience you must taste the famous Pag lamb, traditionally spin-roasted, boiled or prepared under the “peka”. The Pag lamb owes its quality to a specific type of organic farming.
The traditional spices most commonly used in our cuisine are rosemary, laurel, basil, fennel, sage, parsley and red garlic.
Olive oil
The farmers are particularly proud of their home-made olive oil. Olive farming in this territory is not an ancient activity – it is only recently that it suddenly became popular, and local olive farmers attentively observe the trends in the production of olive oil and the market, which results in the formation of small olive-groves.
Asparagus
If you visit Povljana during springtime, you’ll have a chance to taste highly appreciated home-grown and wild edible herbs such as fennel and tasty wild chicory, which adds a unique mild bitterness to salads. The widely-known is self-grown asparagus, famous for their savoury taste. Take a relaxing walk through the landscape and you might return home with a herbs for a tasty dinner.
‘Rakija’ – Schnapps
The market places also offer a variety of the famous home-made spirit “rakija” produced from grapes and herbs: winter savoury, fennel, thyme. Every year, rakija is traditionally distilled in barrels.