Pašticada

Pašticada is a stewed beef dish cooked in special sauce, popular in Croatia. It is often called Dalmatinska pašticada because it originates in Dalmatia. It requires long and meticulous preparation: first, the meat is pierced and stuffed with garlic, cloves, carrot and bacon, then salted and marinated in vinegar overnight. The marinated beef is then roasted and cooked with roasted bacon, onions, parsley root, nutmeg, prunes, tomato paste, water and prošek up to five hours, depending on meat. After cooking, vegetables is blended in a sauce. In Dalmatia, it is a meal for important feasts, including weddings. It is usually served with gnocchi or homemade pasta.

It is similar to daube provençale, although it is not clear whether they share a common origin.

In the Dalmatian village of Veliko Brdo, on the foothills of Biokovo above the coastal town of Makarska, pašticada is traditionally served to mark the feast day of Sveti Jeronim (Saint Jerome), the village's patron saint on September 30th.

Bibliography

• Marjanović-Radica, Dika 1988. Dalmatinska kuhinja. Zagreb: Mladost
• http://gastrodiva.bloger.index.hr/post/pasticada/1026539.aspx