Traditional Croatian treats are a reflection of local culture and gastronomy of a particular region which blend together ingredients available only in certain parts of Croatia. In Zagreb and its surrounding area, for Christmas, treats from all the regions are made, since the capital absorbed them, just like some other customs from different parts of our beautiful country.

Traditional sweets from our shore mainly contain a fruit ingredient, or the fruits of autochthonous Mediterranean cultures, such as figs, almonds or oranges. Arancini are typical of Dubrovnik region, boiled and sweetened strips of orange peel. Also, there is the famous rožata of Dubrovnik, a sort of pudding with a caramel topping, which reminds of the French crème brûlée. A little more to the north of the Adriatic shore, treats made of almonds and figs come onto the menu of the Christmas table.

There are different variations of smokvenjaci (sweet little cones made of grappa, ground dried figs and almonds), candied almonds, fig roll and almond ravioli. Treats that are deep fried in oil – kroštule (fritters) and fritule (beignets) are characteristic for the northern part of the Adriatic. Kroštule are crisp pastry shaped like a rose, and fritule are sweet donuts that can contain raisins in some regions.

In the Lika region, traditional bazlamača pie is made, and in the northern parts of Croatia, there is the well-known bučnica – pumpkin pie, made in the style of Međimurje region. This pie contains, apart from pumpkin, poppy seeds, which are a frequent ingredient of other pastries typical of the continental part of Croatia: zlevanke with poppyseed, poppyseed pies and famous gibanica pie of Međimurje. Of course, there are the inevitable gingerbreads. In the east of the country, we have cakes coming onto out plate made with one more local derived product – pork grease and pork fat. Tasty bear paws, a pastry rich in walnuts and pork grease is baked in molds shaped like a paw. Salenjaci are another pastry that is covered in pork fat in several layers during preparation, and in the end filled with jam, walnuts, poppyseed or ground carob. In the rich offer of various treats, paprenjak holds an important place among traditional Croatian treats.

Sanja Opačak, owner of Paprenjak brand, has brought the production of this sweet, peppery cookie, Croatian product and one of Zagreb’s most distinguishable souvenir to life. In Paprenjak’s offer, there are hand-made cakes with the flavour of lavender, chocolate and carob, in original and whole-grain version. The Original and Integral version consist of thin, crisp cookies, with a sweet-peppery flavour, offered in the original and whole-grain version of the recipe. They go ideally with tea, coffee, a glass of wine, a good conversation or a book. Along with delicious Paprenjaci, wishing to enrich and expand their theme assortment, they have created a line of beautiful porcelain decorative items, adorned with traditional Paprenjaci motifs: vases, plates, platters, ashtrays and little bowls with little plates. These products can be a really elegant Christmas present, be it a personal or professional gift, and you can find them at the Paprenjak store at Esplanade hotel, as well as various other places. Depending on your affinities and time at hand, you can get all of these treats at well-stocked shops, or you can decide to make them at home. The recipes are available on numerous websites. In both cases, we wish you a bon appétit with the treats that taste like tradition!