Fresh from the sea

During our holidays in Croatia, we had the most delicious seafood - charcoal-grilled fish, fried squid, octopus salad, mussels with spaghetti... All locally caught, of course, everything was so fresh and succulent. I think what I enjoy most about travelling is eating. Seeking out local specialities is just as interesting as visiting historical monuments. Besides seafood, other local food we tried included pašticada (beef stew with gnocchi), ćevapi (minced meat shaped into sausages), Zagreb steak (breaded veal escalope stuffed with cheese), punjena parika (stuffed peppers), paški sir (cheese from Pag), Dalmatian pršut (smoked ham) and Dalmatian stuffed bread (focaccia-like bread stuffed with tomatoes, anchovies and onions). A visit to the market brought back watermelons, peaches and heaps and heaps of figs! Figs were so plentiful that we just picked them off trees as we walked around!

Back to fish. Still dreaming of our holidays, it was "fish week", with sole meunière, baked salmon and with the leftover baked salmon, salmon cakes and melon salsa!

Salmon cakes

400 g salmon filet, cooked

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 egg

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon chopped dill

juice and grated rind of 1 lime

salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together and shape into patties. Fry on a non-stick pan until golden brown.

Melon salsa

1/2 melon

2 tomatoes

1 small cucumber

1 spring onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Chop the melon, tomatoes, cucumber and spring onion into small cubes. Mix together with olive oil and Tabasco sauce.