Our dinner platter.
One of the very best meals I’ve had on this trip was at a konoba – a trattoria or taverna that’s often family run and serves local dishes. On our way from Split to Dubrovnik, we stopped at Konoba Peka. It was 7 on a Sunday evening and we weren’t even sure if the place was open, but we went to the door and were warmly greeted by the owner who guided us into a small dining room at the front of her house. In shy, broken English, she helped us with our order and then gave us a bowl of mandarin oranges to eat that were so fresh that the leaves were still on.
The house wine.
The produce stand outside the konoba.
Quickly, she brought us her house red wine and some homemade bread. Then she came back some five to 10 minutes later with a platter full of meats, cheeses, grilled pepper, figs and tomato – all the produce was from her garden. The cheese was also homemade and from her grandmother’s recipe, she explained. There was nothing fancy about any of it, but it was all amazingly good and fresh. For dessert, she brought out a pomegranate from her garden, cut into chunks.
The mystery fruit that looks kind of like a pear and turns out to be quince.
The menu outside the konoba.
As we left, her husband, son and mother all said goodbye and presented us with some dried figs as well as some fruit from the garden, which we don’t know the name of, but apparently are good baked. We felt like we had been welcomed into their home, which in a way, I guess we had been.
Fresh picked mandarins.
{ 6 comments }
Lovely stuff Sandra. I loved Croatia when I was there in August and honestly did not have a bad meal there.
Your dinner looks amazing — so simple and fresh and made with love.
The fruit is quince in English and kvitten in Swedish. Our neighbor makes a chutney with this and serves with good cheese – excellent!
It looks like your trip is just wonderful – so happy for you both!
Dulce de membrillo is served with manchego cheese in Spain – YUM!
Looks like you and Robert had a beautiful getaway, Sandy!
They beat me to it!
Quinces also make a good marmalade, cooked with ginger to spice it up as they are very mild in flavour. I make membrillo too.
I haven’t been there for years, it brings it all back to me, the little tavernas. They all seemed to be run by grandmothers and grandfathers when I was there, of the sort of age at which my compatriots would have been retired.
Thanks for the lovely comments everyone. I have to say that I was mighty impressed by Croatia.
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